Brazil’s death toll from the novel coronavirus on Thursday surpassed Italy’s to become the third-highest in the world as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a “people’s vaccine” to stem the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bleak figures from Brazil underlined the grim toll the disease is taking in Latin America, the latest epicenter in the pandemic, even as Europe seeks to re-emerge from lockdowns — including with a massive new 600 billion euro (US$679.5 billion) economic stimulus measure announced by the European Central Bank.
However, on the medical side, the outlook remains blurry.
Photo: Reuters
Even as researchers worldwide race to develop and test vaccines, new — sometimes contradictory — information on the coronavirus continues to emerge.
In the latest case, the medical journal Lancet retracted a study that raised safety fears about hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by US President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19, after the paper’s authors said that they were no longer confident in underlying data provided by a Chicago-based healthcare analytics firm.
The paper had led the WHO to suspend clinical trials of the drug, and its retraction added fuel to a politically charged debate over how to respond to the pandemic.
Since emerging in China late last year, the coronavirus has infected at least 6.6 million people, killed more than 390,000 and wreaked havoc on the global economy by forcing millions to stay inside their homes.
Brazil reported a new 24-hour record death toll, bringing the total number killed in the nation to more than 34,000.
That was behind only the US, with more than 108,000 deaths, and Britain, with nearly 40,000.
Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has fiercely criticized stay-at-home measures, even as the number of infections and deaths continues to soar, saying that they are needlessly hurting the economy.
Brazil is the hardest-hit country in Latin America, although the tolls are also rising sharply in Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Chile.
Mexico reported a record number of new infections for the second straight day at 4,442.
In Peru, desperate residents lined up to buy oxygen tanks for their loved ones, while the government declared oxygen a “strategic health resource” amid an acute shortage.
With the pandemic starting to hit the developing world with full force, Guterres said that a new vaccine had to be available to everyone worldwide.
“A vaccine must be seen as a global public good — a people’s vaccine, which a growing number of world leaders are calling for,” he said in a message to a virtual summit hosted by Britain that aims to raise funds for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The talks brought together more than 50 countries and people such as billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates.
Governments pledged US$8.8 billion for Gavi’s work.
Italy on Wednesday welcomed travelers from elsewhere in Europe, while Austria on Thursday scrapped entry checks at its borders — except for the one with Italy.
The US remains the hardest-hit nation and its economic losses continued to pile up.
With new jobless claims filed last week, the number of US workers laid off amid the pandemic now exceeds 42 million, the US Department of Labor said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
VIOLATION OF NORMS: China’s CCTV broadcast claimed that Beijing could use Interpol to issue arrest warrants, which the MAC slammed as an affront to order The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for attempts to intimidate Taiwanese through “transnational repression.” The council issued the remarks after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) yesterday during a news broadcast aired a video targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), threatening him with “cross-border repression” and saying: “Stop now, or you will be next,” in what Taipei officials said was an attempt to intimidate not only Shen, but also the broader Taiwanese public. The MAC in a statement condemned the threat, accusing Beijing of trying to instill fear and self-censorship among Taiwanese and
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