Dhaka, April 4 -- In the space of just 24 hours, 6,095 infected people died - nearly twice the total number of deaths in China, where the virus and COVID-19, the disease it causes, originated.

Atop the grim tally of officially reported data are Italy, with 13,915 deaths, and Spain, with 10,935. But the United States is becoming the new epicentre, with 243,635 cases - by far the most of any nation - and 5,887 deaths.

In China, where draconian containment measures stabilised the epidemic, coronavirus "martyrs" will be mourned on Saturday with a three-minute silence.

Though the official figures are shocking enough, health experts and even some governments acknowledge they do not capture the full spread. The virus mostly goes undetected in...