The number of deaths worldwide linked to Covid-19 has passed 150,000.

Photo: AFP

The figure was reached on tallies kept by both Reuters news agency, and the widely- referred to dashboard run by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre.

The first death caused by Covid-19 was on 9 January, in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

It took 83 days for the first 50,000 deaths to be recorded, eight more for the toll to climb to 100,000, and another eight days to reach 150,000 dead worldwide.

The death toll is still far short of the Spanish flu, which is estimated to have killed more than 20 million people between 1918 and 1920.

Globally, more than 2.2m people have tested positive for the coronavirus now, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

Much remains to be determined about it, scientists say, including just how lethal it is.

In many countries, official data includes only deaths reported in hospitals, not those in homes or nursing homes.

The United States has recorded the most confirmed cases of Covid-19, more than 690,000, and more than 36,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins' tally. The country reached its highest death toll of any one day on Thursday this week, counting 4591 within 24 hours.

Spain has the next highest count, with just over 188,000 cases, followed by Italy.

New Zealand has recorded 1409 cases of Covid-19, and 11 deaths, with 816 people recovered from the virus.

- Reuters/RNZ

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