25mn: Covid-19 cases near yet another grim milestone

FEAR AND HOPE British government issues dire warning; original epicentre Wuhan city to reopen all its schools

LONDON/BEIJING/TORONTO: The coronavirus pandemic is on the verge of crossing yet another grim milestone as the total number of Covid-19 infections around the world is set to top 25 million.

According to the coronavirus tally maintained by the Us-based Johns Hopkins University, fatalities from the deadly respiratory disease have crossed 838,000.

The US remains the worst hit country so far, with more than 5.9 million confirmed cases and at least 182,000. Researchers, meanwhile, for the first time have identified someone in the US who was reinfected with the coronavirus, according to a study that has not yet been reviewed by outside experts. The report, published online, describes a 25-year-old man living in Reno, Nevada, who tested positive for the virus in April after showing mild illness. He got sick again in late May and developed more severe Covid-19.

Cases of presumed reinfection have cropped up in other parts of the world, but questions have arisen about testing accuracy.

On Saturday, the British government sent out a dire warning, saying England could face “national action” and “very extensive local lockdowns” in the event of a winter coronavirus wave, with a “worst-case scenario” of a further 80,000 deaths.

“A second wave is clearly visible in other parts of the world,” UK health secretary Matt Hancock told The Times. “Cases go up again, and we have to use very extensive local lockdowns or take further national action.”

Britain has been badly hit by the disease, with over 41,000 dead, but the government has eased many of the restrictions.