BRUSSELS: In Europe, Italy, Spain and France have recorded highest death tolls in a single day due to pandemic coronavirus.

Italy reported 368 deaths bringing its total to 1,809, Spain recorded 97 more deaths for a total of 288, and France reported 29 deaths, giving a total of 120.

The UK also saw a single-day record, with 14 new deaths.

Meanwhile, Germany, Portugal, Czech Republic, Austria and other European countries have tightened border control and clamp down as preventive measures.

The World Health Organization has now declared Europe the epicenter of the pandemic which originated in China.

So far, 173, 101 people around the world have been tested positive for coronavirus disease. 6,664 of them have died, which makes 3.8 percent of the total number of cases.

Also Read: World under lockdown over COVID-19

Social networks Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Facebook held a meeting in London to discuss how they can play role in the coronavirus crisis.                                  

They discussed modeling and tracking of data that may help prevent the virus.   

Facebook is already working with researchers at Harvard University and National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan sharing data about people’s movements and high-resolution population density maps, which helps them foresee the spread of virus.             

Meanwhile, to help people who want to track their own health Google is developing a small body-worn temperature patch that transmits data to a phone app. 

Earlier, a World Health Organization report said Artificial Intelligence and big data were a key part of China’s response to the virus.   

Leaders of Association of South Asian Regional Cooperation through a video link conference on Sunday called for collaborated and joint efforts to overcome the pandemic.

Debating the situation arising after spread of coronavirus in the region, they shared views for formulating a joint strategy to cope with the pandemic.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed creating a voluntary Covid-19 emergency fund in which India will contribute 10 million dollars as well as training of ‘medical response team’ for SAARC countries.

Speaking at the conference, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza said the regional countries should reach out to specialized development partners including WHO for mobilization for technical advice and resources.