WASHINGTON: Global COVID-19 pandemic fatalities have increased over 60,000 on Saturday as US surpassed 300,000 infections with more than 8,300 deaths, there was some encouraging news in Italy and Spain.
There are now more than 1.17 million confirmed coronavirus cases around the world and there have been 63,437 deaths since the virus emerged in China late last year.
Europe continues to bear the brunt of the epidemic, however, accounting for over 45,000 of the worldwide deaths, and Britain reported a new daily high in fatalities.
China came to a standstill on Saturday to mourn those killed in the outbreak that started in the city of Wuhan before sweeping the globe. Across the nation, cars, trains and ships sounded their horns, and air-raid sirens wailed.
Billions of people are living under some form on lockdown. Roughly half the planet is confined at home with schools and businesses closed, at huge cost to the global economy.
US Presodent Donald Trump, speaking at a White House briefing, said the United States was entering “a time that’s going to be very horrendous” with “some really bad numbers.”
“This will probably be the toughest week,” he said. “There will be a lot of death.”
At the same time, Trump said the US cannot remain shut down forever. “Mitigation does work but again, we’re not going to destroy our country,” he said. “I’ve said it from the beginning — the cure cannot be worse than the problem.
“At a certain point some hard decisions are going to have to be made.”
Pandemic-hit Italy cheered on Saturday after seeing its number of intensive care cases for coronavirus drop for the first time — from 4,068 on Friday to 3,994 on Saturday.
Even some of the most cautious Italian health officials seized on the figures as evidence that the tide may be turning in the deadliest disaster the country has faced since World War II.
“This is a very important data point,” said civil protection service chief Angelo Borrelli, adding that it “allows our hospitals to breathe.”
The daily rise in new infections across Italy has also slowed. The country reported 681 new deaths on Saturday, down from a peak of almost 1,000 just over a week ago.
Spain, which is under a near-total lockdown, saw a second successive daily fall in coronavirus-related deaths with 809 fatalities.
The total number of deaths in Spain now stands at 11,744, second only to Italy.
The World Health Organisation is reviewing its guidance but has said it worries that masks could give “a false sense of security,” leading people to be more casual about hand washing and social distancing.
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