Economies brace for big hits
US, UK outbreaks worsen as daily fatalities break records
The US saw nearly 2,000 coronavirus deaths for a second day running as the toll soared again in Europe, despite US President Donald Trump’s insistence that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday pleaded for global unity in fighting the coronavirus, following Trump’s stinging attack on its handling of the pandemic.
Governments are grappling with how to balance public safety against the devastating economic impact of stay-athome orders that have erased millions of jobs in a matter of weeks.
More than 90,000 people worldwide have died in the virus crisis, which has sent the global economy spiraling and forced billions of people to remain at home as much as possible.
As the economic downturn starts to bite, health experts stressed that any premature loosening of restrictions could accelerate the spread of a contagion that has already infiltrated nearly every country.
In France, one of the hardest-hit nations in Europe with more than 10,000 deaths, President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation next week to explain the path forward.
The confinement order issued on March 17 “will be extended” beyond the current deadline of April 15, an official close to Macron told AFP.
The US reported the highest one-day toll on record, with 1,973 deaths over a 24-hour period – reaching nearly 2,000 for the second day in a row.
Italy and Spain are still recording hundreds of deaths a day, and the situation is also deteriorating in Britain, which saw a record 938 fatalities Wednesday as Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a third day in intensive care.
The 55-year-old leader’s condition is “improving” and he is in “good spirits,” officials assured the public.
In New York, the epicenter of the US outbreak, the state’s governor noted the new singleday high for viral deaths at 779, but offered an optimistic view for the weeks to come.
The head of the World Trade Organization, Roberto Azevedo, issued a dire warning, saying the economic fallout from the health emergency could be “the deepest economic recession or downturn of our lifetimes.”
Germany and France, the EU’s two largest economies, are bracing for a painful hit.
Gross domestic product in export powerhouse Germany is expected to shrink by nearly 10 percent in the second quarter, the country’s leading research institutes said.
France is already in a technical recession, the Bank of France said. Its first-quarter performance was its worst since 1945.
But officials at the US Federal Reserve said the wideranging closures of businesses should not have the lasting impact that was seen in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008.
As some European countries weighed easing lockdown measures to allow economic activity to resume in earnest, the WHO urged against it.
“Now is not the time to relax measures,” said WHO’s Europe director Hans Kluge in a statement.