Global cases cross 500,000
Global toll crosses 23,000; Italy, Spain yet again record huge single-day fatalities
NEW YORK / COPENHAGEN: The number of coronavirus infections touched a half-million cases worldwide on Thursday, with both Italy and the US on track to surpass China. Virus-related deaths also passed 1,050 in the US.
WASHINGTON/LONDON: More than a staggering 500,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world while at least 22,000 have died as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to batter Europe and the US.
On the European continent, Italy and Spain reported 662 and 498 single-day deaths respectively on Thursday, while across the Atlantic, the US saw its death toll shoot past 1,000. More than 15,000 new infections were confirmed in the US over a 24-hour period.
China, Italy, the US, Spain and Germany are now the five worsthit nations in terms of confirmed cases. Spain reported 498 new fatalities on Thursday as its death toll climbed to 4,145, while the Netherlands confirmed more than 1,000 new cases -and 78 single-day deaths.
In the UK, the streets are empty but hospitals are filling up to the extent that health officials describe the registration of new cases as a “continuous tsunami”. Deaths in the UK rose to 477 and close to 10,000 cases have been reported. Britain brought in tough measures on Thursday to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The new powers allow police to issue instant fines to those who leave their homes without good reason or gather in groups of more than two people.
As the US continued to witness an exponential increase in the number of cases, White House experts warned of a second wave that could come later in the year as demonstrated by previous pandemics of this magnitude.
Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, at a daily briefing, spoke of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that had killed 50 million people worldwide. That epidemic had come in three waves.
Anthony Fauci, another member of the task force, said the coronavirus could become a “seasonal cyclic thing”.
These warnings came as the US continued to deal with a ballooning crisis that caused 1,080 deaths until Thursday and infected over 70,000 people.
New York City continued to be the hardest hit with at least 280 reported dead. The spiralling cases are severely straining medical supplies such as ventilators and masks and hospital beds, despite government support.
New York state has had the highest number of confirmed cases with more than 33,000, which was nearly half of the nationwide cases, with nearly 400 deaths. The adjoining state of New Jersey is next with over 4,400 cases, followed by California with more than 3,100 cases and Washington with 2,600 cases.
New Orleans, where large crowds celebrated Mardi Gras a month ago, was on track to become the next US epicentre, as Louisiana’s Gulf Coast metropolis recorded the world’s highest growth rate in cases.
In new restrictions ordered to slow down and stop the spread of the coronavirus, the Pentagon on Wednesday barred all overseas travel for its troops for the next 60 days. “The purpose is to make sure that we’re not bringing the virus back home, infecting others, that we’re not spreading it around the military,” US defence secretary Mark Esper said. He added that an exception would be made for the drawdown under way in Afghanistan.