Europe virus toll tops 30,000; world may face food crisis: UN
Half a million more people now need help to afford meals in Italy; Spain’s coronavirus cases top 100,000 as masks, sanitisers flown in; Germany extends virus curbs on public life until April 19, says Merkel
The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 30,000 people in Europe, more than threequarters of the deaths registered in Italy and Spain, according to an AFP tally on Wednesday using official figures.
The global death toll passed 43,000 on Wednesday. A total of 30,063 deaths have been recorded in Europe out of 458,601 cases, making it the continent hit hardest by COVID-19.
The heads of three global agencies warned on Wednesday of a potential worldwide food shortage if authorities fail to manage the ongoing coronavirus crisis properly.
Many governments around the world have put their populations on lockdown to slow the spread of the virus but that has resulted in severe slow-downs in international trade and food supply chains.
Meanwhile panic buying by people going into isolation has already demonstrated the fragility of supply chains as supermarket shelves emptied in many countries.
Half a million more people now need help to afford meals, Italy’s biggest union for the agriculture sector Coldiretti said, adding to the 2.7 million already in need last year.
Meanwhile, two planes packed with protective equipment arrived to restock Spain’s overloaded public health system on Wednesday as its confirmed coronavirus cases rose beyond 100,000 and it recorded its biggest one-day death toll from the outbreak.
Barring Italy, the virus has killed more people in Spain than anywhere else, triggering a lockdown that has brought economic activity to a virtual standstill. A survey showed Spain’s manufacturing sector is heading for a slump after shrinking in March at its steepest pace since 2013.
A record 864 fatalities overnight took the country’s overall toll to 9,053 while total infections rose to 102,136, health officials said, adding that the percentage increase in deaths was lower than in recent days.
“The central issue is no longer whether we’ve reached the peak or not, it seems like we are there,” health emergency chief Fernando Simon, who was himself diagnosed with the virus this week, told a briefing.
“The key issue is to make sure that the national health system is capable of guaranteeing adequate coverage of all our patients and treatment,” he said.
The streets of Madrid were virtually empty, with construction cranes standing idle and activity mostly found around hospitals, where health workers were setting up tents to expand capacity, and disinfection crews were spraying sanitiser.
Madrid’s regional government said it was treating more than 700 patients in 11 hotels requisitioned for the purpose.
Health Minister Salvador Illa said the growth rate of contagion was slowing and, after the peak was over, “the second stage will be to reverse it and the third to eradicate the virus.”
The latest European figures come just a few hours after the United States announced its death toll had risen to 4,076, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Britain recorded its biggest day-on-day jump in the number of deaths, with 2,352 people having succumbed to the disease.
In Italy, queues were lengthening at soup kitchens while some supermarkets were reportedly pillaged. Half a million more people now need help to afford meals, Italy’s biggest union for the agriculture sector Coldiretti said, adding to the 2.7 million already in need last year.
“Usually we serve 152,525 people. But now we’ve 70,000 more requests,” confirmed Roberto Tuorto, who runs a food aid association.
It was crucial to “ensure that the economic crisis unleashed by the virus doesn’t become a security crisis,” he warned. The economic pain of lockdowns is especially acute in poorer nations.
Germany extended to April 19 bans on gatherings of more than two people outdoors and other restrictions on public life.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said that this meant families may not be able to visit during Easter celebrations, stressing that “a pandemic does not recognise holidays.”
Turkey will have to take additional measures if the coronavirus outbreak grows and people don’t abide by a “voluntary quarantine,” President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.