Coronavirus cases and deaths are now higher OUTSIDE of China than inside the nation where the outbreak began as global death toll soars past 6,600 with 170,000 patients infected

Coronavirus cases and deaths are now higher outside of China than inside, figures show, as the global death toll soars past
6,600 today.Recorded cases across 152 countries have now reached almost 90,000 compared with China's 80,900 - an additional 8,000 or so more.  

For a long time, China made up the majority of cases, as the deadly bug emerged in the city of Wuhan in December 2019. 

But as COVID-19 rapidly spread globally in a matter of weeks, Europe has now become the 'new epicentre', the World Health Organisation says

Italy is nearing 23,000 confirmed cases, making it the worse affected by the disease outside of China, followed by South Korea and Iran.Since COVID-19 was first detected in December, more than 170,400 people have been infected, 80,955 of which are in China. 

The nation makes up 47 per cent of the total cases, while Europe accounts for a third of cases, with more than 58,000. 

Coronaivrus cases peaked in China in mid-February, when the country was recording around 3,500 new cases a day. This dramatically slowed, with only 27 new cases recorded yesterday. 

Meanwhile, Europe is in the grips of a crisis as cases reach record-breaking levels every day.   

Countries have followed draconian measures that have appeared to successfully curb the epidemic in China, such as whole-nation lock downs and the closure of schools, transport networks and tourist attractions. 

However, the extent to which these dramatic interventions work to stem the  pandemic are yet to be officially revealed

The UK has been slow to follow suit, as Government ministers claim to be 'following the science'.