Global pandemic death toll soars to over a million with no let-up

PARIS: More than one million people have died from the coronavirus, according to an AFP toll, with no let-up in a pandemic that has ravaged the world economy, inflamed diplomatic tensions and upended lives from Indian slums and Brazilian jungles to America’s biggest city.

Sports, live entertainment and international travel ground to a halt as fans, audiences and tourists were forced to stay at home under strict measures imposed to curb the contagion.

Drastic controls that put half of humanity — more than four billion people — under some form of lockdown by April at first slowed the spread, but since restrictions were eased, infections have soared again.

Yesterday, the disease had claimed 1,001,093 victims from 33,112,474 recorded infections, according to an AFP tally collected from official sources by journalists stationed around the world, and compiled by a dedicated team of data specialists.

The United States has the highest death toll with more than 200,000 fatalities, followed by Brazil, India, Mexico and Britain.

Europe, hit hard by the first wave, is now facing another surge in cases, with Paris, London and Madrid all forced to introduce controls to slow infections threatening to overload hospitals.

Mid-September saw a record rise in cases in most regions and the World Health Organisation has warned virus deaths could even double to two million without more global collective action.

Infections in India, home to 1.3 billion people, surged past six million yesterday, but authorities pressed ahead with a reopening of the battered economy.

Santosh, a creative writing student in India, said the virus was now “part of our lives”.

“You cannot shut down every business, because the economy cannot collapse... Covid-19 is not going to pay the rent.”