GENEVA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased by 10,955 to 72,469 in the past 24 hours as of 10:00 CET Sunday, according to the daily situation report released by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The report showed a total of 153,517 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection have been reported globally as of Sunday morning.
Outside China, 333 more patients died of COVID-19 compared to the previous day, bringing the death toll to 2,531.
Additional nine countries and regions have reported confirmed cases of COVID-19, lifting the number of affected countries and regions globally to 144.
In Europe, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 45,000 cases were reported by over 50 countries and regions as of Sunday morning.
The most affected European countries with over 1,000 cases each -- Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Britain -- have reported over 37,000 infections in total as of Sunday morning.
Besides, the report showed 80 countries and regions outside China have seen local transmission of COVID-19.
