Global daily deaths top 10K for 1st time

new york — New York battled to fend off a second wave of coronavirus infections with new restrictions on bars and restaurants on Friday, as the pandemic rages across the US and global daily deaths topped 10,000 for the first time.

Cases are surging throughout America and Europe, with governments forced to take more drastic action despite fears about the devastation inflicted on economies.

The disease has claimed 1.3 million lives worldwide and infected close to 53 million people since it first emerged in China.

The US Secret Service, which guards President Donald Trump, President-elect Joe Biden, and the White House, has been struck by an outbreak of Covid-19.

The Washington Post said that more than 130 Secret Service agents were infected by coronavirus or in quarantine. New York raced to cut off a second wave of coronavirus infections and a top WHO expert warned growing public distrust risked rendering even the most effective treatments useless against the pandemic. Bars and clubs in the Big Apple, the epicentre of the US spring outbreak, were ordered to close at 10pm on Friday and the state governor warned schools could move to online as early as Monday.

Lebanon entered a new twoweek lockdown on Saturday after reported infections crossed the 100,000 mark, with hospitals in the crises-wracked country almost at capacity. The western Chinese city of Lanzhou said it had detected the new coronavirus on the packaging of a batch of shrimp imported from Saudi Arabia, as China ramps up testing of frozen foods. —