States roll out more measures as corona deaths pass 14,000
By People Daily, March 23, 2020Rome, Sunday
Nearly a billion people around the world were confined to their homes on Sunday, as the coronavirus death toll crossed 13,000 and factories were shut in worst-hit Italy after another single-day fatalities record.
The raging pandemic has forced lockdowns in 35 countries, disrupting lives, travel and businesses as governments scramble to shut borders and unleash hundreds of billions in emergency measures to avoid a widespread virus-fuelled economic meltdown.
More than 300,000 infections have been confirmed worldwide, with the situation increasingly grim in Italy where the death toll spiked to more than 4,800—over a third of the global total.
Italy Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced a closure of all non-essential factories in a late-night TV address Saturday.
Italy, with a population of 60 million, is now the epicentre of the disease, which first emerged in central China late last year before marching out to the rest of the world.
Italy has now reported more deaths than mainland China and third-placed Iran combined, and it has a death rate of 8.6 per cent among confirmed COVID-19 infections—significantly higher than in most other countries.
Across the Atlantic, more than a third of Americans were adjusting to life in various phases of lockdown, including in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Other parts of the United States are expected to ramp up restrictions as well.
“This is a time of shared national sacrifice, but also a time to treasure our loved ones,” US President Donald Trump said.
As world leaders have vowed to fight the pandemic, the number of deaths and infections has continued to rise, especially in Europe—now the coronavirus hotspot.
Spain on Sunday announced 394 new deaths, a 30 percent increase over the previous day, raising to 1,720 the official death toll in Europe’s worst-hit country after Italy.
Spain PM Pedro Sanchez warned that the nation needs to prepare for “very hard days ahead”.
Unprecedented measures
Fatalities in France jumped to 562 as police officials said helicopters and drones were being deployed to boost the government’s attempts to keep people at home.
The unprecedented measures to counter the spread of COVID-19 have shredded the international sports calendar, and pressure is mounting on Olympic organisers to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The pandemic has bludgeoned global stock markets, and the United States is preparing a huge emergency stimulus package that could top $1 trillion.
Millions have been ordered to stay home in the United States. New Jersey on Saturday followed several states in telling residents to stay indoors.
And in neighbouring New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that the disruption is likely to last for months, not weeks.
“I don’t think it’s possible in a city of this size for people to maintain it for much longer than three weeks before they start losing it,” Yona Corn, a 35-year-old singer, sais. “I think there’s going to be a big mental health crisis.”
US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife tested negative for the coronavirus. The couple had taken the test after one of Pence’s staffers contracted the illness.
Britain has told pubs, restaurants and theatres to close and warned citizens to stop panic-buying.
While the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions are the hardest hit by the virus, the WHO has warned that young people are also vulnerable. -AFP