The global COVID-19 death toll topped 100,000 as Easter weekend celebrations around the world started in near-empty churches with billions of people stuck indoors to halt the pandemic.
Extraordinary measures from New York to Naples to New Delhi have seen businesses and schools closed in a desperate bid to halt the virus’s spread, and the IMF has warned that the world now faces the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
More than 102,000 people have died of COVID-19 with 1.7 million infections detected globally, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, with nearly 70 percent of the fatalities in Europe.
Photo: AFP
The US, now the pandemic’s epicenter, became the first country to record more than 2,000 virus deaths in one day and is closing in on Italy’s 18,849 fatalities — the highest national figure.
With more than 500,000 reported infections, the US already has more cases than anywhere else in the world.
However, US President Donald Trump said that with the US infection trajectory “near the peak” and social distancing working well, he was considering ways to reopen the world’s biggest economy as soon as possible.
He acknowledged the risk of higher death tolls if businesses restart too soon.
“But you know what? Staying at home leads to death also,” Trump said, pointing to the massive economic suffering for millions of Americans.
It is unclear when that will be possible, with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying millions in the state — the hardest hit in the country — would have to be tested before it can reopen.
Easter celebrations that would normally see churches packed with parishioners were replaced by an eerie emptiness on Friday.
Worshipers in Germany embraced social distancing orders to celebrate Good Friday at a drive-in service in Duesseldorf.
“It was a sad feeling at first,” Catholic priest Frank Heidkamp told reporters as hundreds gathered in a parking lot.
More than 4 billion people are confined to their homes as governments worldwide have imposed measures to halt the virus.
Like Trump, governments in Europe are under pressure to strike a balance between keeping people safe and keeping already battered economies stable.
Some countries, especially in Asia, are worried about a possible second wave of infections imported from travelers.
While Trump has discussed a rapid return to economic stability, the US government’s top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci said that despite signs of progress, “this is not the time... to be pulling back at all” on social distancing efforts.
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