GENEVA, March 17 -- The global death toll from COVID-19 increased by 475 to 7,426 in the past 24 hours as of 10:00 CET (0900 GMT) Tuesday, according to the daily situation report released by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The report showed a total of 179,112 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported as of Tuesday morning, an increase of 11,526 infections compared to the previous day, among which 11,487 new cases were reported outside China.
In the European region, now the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, 8,507 more cases were reported as of Tuesday morning, bringing the cumulative number of infections to 64,189, including 3,108 deaths.
The most affected European countries with over 2,000 cases each, namely Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland, reported nearly 52,000 infections in total.
Also, eight additional countries and regions reported their first confirmed cases, while 88 countries and regions have seen local transmission of COVID-19.
As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop, WHO is committed to working together with the travel, transport and tourism sectors on emergency preparedness and response, according to the report.