Japanese comedian, U.S. singers among 30,000 lives claimed by virus

Japanese comedian Ken Shimura, U.S. singers Alan Merrill and Joe Diffie, and U.S. architect Michael Sorkin died from COVID-19, as confirmed infections soared to claim 30,000 lives around the globe.

Ken Shimura, 70, enjoyed high popularity in Japan and participated in many hot variety shows in the past 50 years.

He developed a fever on March 19 and was diagnosed with severepneumonia and hospitalized a day later. He tested positive for novel coronavirus on March 23 before he died on Sunday, becoming the first Japanese celebrity to die from the virus.

His death madeabig splash in Japan from entertainment circles to common people. Renowned Japanese actor and singer Kimura Takuya paid tribute to him on Sina Weibo saying: "He made me laugh a lot since I was a child. Pray for him."

"I was really shocked. He used his life to tell us the horror of novel coronavirus. I hope young people can learn from it," said a Japanese netizen on Facebook.

Although the recordings of variety shows were cancelled after Shimura became ill, he took part in recording three shows for different TV stations in March, according to Japanese media.

The government's top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a news conference "I pray for the repose of his soul but want to say on top of this that we are at a very critical period and need to make every effort to prevent the spread of this disease."

Confirmed cases in Japan have soared from 1,102 to 1,724 in the last week.

Across the Pacific, Alan Merrill, co-songwriter of the hit song "I Love Rock 'N' Roll" also died on Sunday in New York of complications from thecoronavirus at the age of 69.

His daughter Laura confirmed the news on Facebook, and said: "He played down the 'cold' he thought he had… I've made a million jokes about the 'Rona' and how it'll "getcha"... boy do I feel stupid."

"You don't think It'll happen to you or your strong family. It has," she added. "Stay home if not for you, for others. For my dad. This thing is real."

On the same day, another U.S. singer,

Joe Diffie

, 61, who wonthe 1999Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, died due to complications from COVID-19, two days after he announced his coronavirus diagnosis.

According to the real-time data dashboard hosted by Johns Hopkins University, confirmed cases in the U.S. exceeded 140,000 on Sunday from 40,000 a week ago, the highest in the world.

On Thursday, U.S. legendary architect Michael Sorkin died in New York because of complications caused by thecoronavirus at age 71.

In a tribute published in the American Institute of Architects' journal, architect Michael Murphy wrote that Sorkin had undergone multiple rounds of cancer treatment.

An advocate in designing sustainable cities, Sorkin participated in designing a large number of urban planning projects in the U.S. and around the world, including master plans for the Brooklyn waterfront and Queens Plaza in New York, and plans for Xi'an Airport Office Building and Wuhan Qingtan LakeEcologicalTech Park in China.

The number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus across the world reached 638,146 with 30,105 deaths in 202 countries and regions as of 18:00 CET (1600 GMT) Sunday, according to the situation dashboard by the World Health Organization (WHO).

(Cover image: Chrysanthemums to pay tribute to the dead. /VCG)