Global coronavirus death toll passes one million

AFP, 28TH SEPTEMBER, 2020 - More than one million people have died from coronavirus, according to an AFP toll, marking a grim milestone in the spread of the disease that has ravaged the world economy, inflamed diplomatic tensions and upended lives from Indian slums to New York City.

In the nine months since the virus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, schools, businesses, live entertainment, and international travel have been upended by strict stay-at-home measures designed 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.