Almost 1 billion people are under lockdown worldwide as COVID-19 death toll soars

If you're under lockdown wherever you are, you're not alone.

Close to one billion people are currently indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

As of March 23, 2020, AFP reports that 35 countries have implemented restriction of movement locally as the total death toll of the virus soars to 13,000.

Countries such as China, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, and Spain imposed a lockdown.

The novel coronavirus has caused numerous disruptions to businesses, schools, individuals, organizations, and nations as a whole.

In Malaysia alone, some 33,000 people have been told to go on unpaid leave as the virus casts fears of a possible global recession happening soon.

While many who died from the virus were elderly, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that younger people are also susceptible to the virus.

"Today I have a message for young people: you are not invincible. This virus could put you in hospital for weeks - or even kill you," WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

"Even if you don't get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else."

Despite the surge in COVID-19 cases, many young people have been pictured and recorded partying in large gatherings in some parts of the world.

There is some positive news as China has reported zero COVID-19 cases for straight three-days in a row after the virus broke out in November, 2019.

However, healthcare experts worldwide are bracing for a third wave with fears of the virus striking from within Europe.

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Cover image sourced from Getty Images.