Coronavirus now killing one every 16sec

NEW YORK: The global coronavirus death toll topped a million yesterday, according to a Reuters tally, a bleak statistic in a pandemic that has devastated the global economy, overloaded health systems and turned daily life upside down.

The number of Covid19 deaths this year is now double the number of people who die annually from malaria — and the death rate has increased in recent weeks as infections surge in several countries.

‘‘Our world has reached an agonising milestone,’’ UN Secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

‘‘It’s a mindnumbing figure. Yet we must never lose sight of each and every individual life.’’

It took just three months for

Covid19 deaths to double from half a million, an accelerating rate of fatalities since the first death was recorded in China in early January.

More than 5400 people are dying around the world every 24 hours, according to Reuters calculations based on September averages, overwhelming funeral businesses and cemeteries.

That is about 226 people an hour, or one person every 16 seconds. In the time it takes to watch a 90minute football match, 340 people die on average.

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity, said the ‘‘unrecorded’’ death toll was much higher than a million.

‘‘We must not forget that this pandemic is still accelerating and shows no signs of slowing down,’’ he said in a statement, calling for $US35 billion ($NZ53 billion) in urgently needed contributions for the WHO’s ACTAccelerator programme to back vaccines, treatments and diagnostics.

Experts remain concerned that official figures for deaths significantly underrepresent the real tally because of inadequate testing and the possibility of concealment by some countries.

The response to the pandemic has pitted proponents of health measures such as lockdowns against those intent on sustaining politically sensitive economic growth, with approaches differing from country to country.

The United Kingdom yesterday recorded a record 7143 new daily coronavirus cases.

Before that, the highest number of new daily cases in the UK was 6201 on May 1.

Cities around the UK are now imposing coronavirus restrictions.

The United States, Brazil and India, which together account for nearly 45% of all Covid19 deaths globally, have all lifted social distancing measures in recent weeks.

US deaths stood at 205,132 and cases at 7.18 million on Tuesday.

India has recorded the highest daily growth in infections in the world, with an average of 87,500 new cases a day since the beginning of September.

Despite that, India’s death toll of 96,318 and pace of growth of fatalities remains below those of the US, Britain and Brazil.

In Europe, which accounts for nearly 25% of deaths, the WHO has warned of a worrying spread in western Europe just weeks away from the winter flu season.

The WHO has also warned major control interventions are needed amid rising cases in Latin America.

Much of Asia, the first region affected by the pandemic, is experiencing a relative lull after emerging from a second wave. — Reuters