Out of every 100 infected persons in China, 3.75 persons have died. In USA, the number is almost double.

The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, which was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China, is seen in an illustration released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, US January 29, 2020/Reuters

China is the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus, and most fatalities are reported there. Despite the fact that the highest number of coronavirus-infected people are in China, fatality rate in the country is rather on the lower side. So which country has the highest fatality rate? It is the USA.

Out of every 100 infected persons in China, 3.75 persons have died. In USA, the number is almost double. There, 6.92 persons have died out of every 100 infected persons.

Australia and Iraq are also ahead of China in this regard. In Australia, 3.85 persons and in Iraq 5.71 persons have died out of every 100 people infected with the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19.

The countries which have high infection rates have lower fatality rates. An exception is Italy where both the number of infected people (3,089) and fatality rate (3.46 persons in 100) are high.

Coronavirus is no longer a public health problem of China, it has turned almost pandemic and a global problem by affecting 87 countries so far. Hence, The Business Standard has mapped the COVID-19 outbreak across the globe to have a better understanding about how the deadly virus is changing its patterns and lethality in different countries.

What is more surprising, the mapping shows the countries that have less confirmed cases are tend to have more fatality rates. Take for an instance, there are only three confirmed cases in the Philippines but they topped the fatality rate list in percentage points. Even though in terms of number China is still on the top of the list, with the death toll reaching 3,013 till March 05.

In terms of recovery rate of the infected patients, Vietnam has an impressive rate. A total of 16 people were detected with COVID-19 in the country and all of them have recovered making the country to successfully have 100 percent recovery rate.

Bloomberg in a recent report said the novel coronavirus has been quite merciful towards lower-income countries, even though the virus has already hit India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Hence, it calls for a big question – whether those countries have really been immune to the novel virus or their poor detection system is at the play for the lack of evidence.

However, in one way or another, the lower-income or developing countries have been affected by the virus. As most developing countries are China-reliant in terms of manufacturing, commodity or everyday essentials, their economy suffered. As a global village, the small and medium economies are dependent on the big economies.

Nevertheless, the Economist pointed out an interesting thing – besides taking a toll on public health, this virus has exposed the strengths and weaknesses of China's authoritarianism. It will eventually test the political systems of the other countries as well – both developed and developing one – whoever comes in contact of the virus.