Global COVID-19 cases top 6 mn as leaders disagree on pandemic response
In Brazil -- the epicentre of South America’s outbreak with nearly 500,000 confirmed cases -- disagreement among its leaders over lockdown measures has hampered efforts to slow a virus that has cost nearly 30,000 lives
THE number of coronavirus cases worldwide topped six million on Sunday as Brazil registered another record surge in daily infections and divisions deepened on how to deal with the pandemic.
Latin American countries are bracing for difficult weeks ahead as the virus spreads rapidly across the region.
This contrasts to other parts of the world where the pace has eased and permitted a cautious exit from lockdowns that have wrecked economies and stripped millions of their jobs.
In Brazil -- the epicentre of South America’s outbreak with nearly 500,000 confirmed cases -- disagreement among its leaders over lockdown measures has hampered efforts to slow a virus that has cost nearly 30,000 lives.
President Jair Bolsonaro, who fears the economic fallout from stay-at-home orders will be worse than the virus, has berated governors and mayors for imposing what he calls “the tyranny of total quarantine.” Even as his country surpassed France to have the world’s fourth-highest death toll, Bolsonaro called for Brazil’s football season to resume.
Fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump meanwhile came under fire for permanently cutting funding to the World Health Organization.
Trump accused the WHO of not doing enough to curb the early spread of the virus and being too lenient with China, where the COVID-19 disease emerged late last year.
It is a major blow for the UN’s health agency -- the US is by far its biggest contributor -- at a time when it needs funding the most.
The European Union called on the US president to reconsider, calling for international solidarity during the crisis.
The pandemic has killed nearly 370,000 people and infected more than six million worldwide, according to an AFP tally.
As the virus progresses at different speeds around the globe, there has been pressure to lift crippling lockdowns, despite the lack of a vaccine and experts warning of a possible second wave of infections.
In Britain, which recorded 960 new deaths on Saturday ahead of starting to lift its lockdown on Monday, senior advisors to the government warned that it was moving too quickly.
“COVID-19 spreading too fast to lift lockdown in England,” tweeted Jeremy Farrar, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.
With infection numbers falling in many of Europe’s most affected countries, restrictions are being steadily eased.
Parks opened in Paris on the weekend for the first time in months, ahead of restaurants, cafes and bars reopening on sidewalks and terraces on Tuesday.