Coronavirus deaths around the world cross the 1 million mark: AFP report

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More than a million deaths from the new coronavirus have been recorded worldwide.

Paris, France:

The global death toll from the new coronavirus, which emerged less than a year ago in China and has swept the world, surpassed one million on Sunday.

The pandemic has ravaged the global economy, ignited geopolitical tensions and disrupted lives, from Indian slums and Brazilian jungles to America’s largest city, New York.

Global sports, live entertainment and international travel have come to a halt as fans, the public and tourists have been forced to stay at home, kept indoors by strict measures imposed to curb the spread of the virus.

Drastic checks that put half of humanity – more than four billion people – in some form of lockdown in April initially slowed its pace, but since restrictions were relaxed cases have exploded again.

As of Sunday 22:30 GMT, the disease had claimed 1,000,009 victims out of 33,018,877 recorded infections, according to an AFP count using official sources.

The United States has the highest death toll with over 200,000 deaths, followed by Brazil, India, Mexico and Great Britain.

For Italian truck driver Carlo Chiodi, those grim figures include both of his parents, who he says he lost within days of each other.

“What I find it hard to accept is that I saw my dad come out of the house, get into the ambulance, and all I could say to him was ‘goodbye’,” Chiodi said. , 50 years.

“I regret not having said ‘I love you’ and I regret not having hugged him. It still hurts me,” he told AFP.

As scientists still struggle to find an effective vaccine, governments are once again forced to strike a difficult balancing act: Virus controls are slowing the spread of the disease, but they are already hurting economies and businesses already under pressure. shock.

The IMF warned earlier this year that economic upheaval could trigger a “crisis like no other” as global GDP collapses.

Europe, hit hard by the first wave, now faces a further increase in cases, with Paris, London and Madrid all forced to introduce checks to slow cases threatening to overload hospitals.

Masks and social distancing in shops, cafes and public transport are now part of everyday life in many cities.

In mid-September, the number of cases rose to record highs in most regions and the World Health Organization warned that virus deaths could even double to two million without more global collective action.

“One million is a terrible number and we have to think about it before we start to consider a second million,” WHO emergency director Michael Ryan said on Friday.

“Are we collectively prepared to do what it takes to avoid this number?

Waking up to Covid-19

The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease known as Covid-19 made its first known appearance in the city of Wuhan, in central China, the zero point of the epidemic.

How it got there is not yet clear, but scientists believe it originated in bats and could have been transmitted to humans via another mammal.

Wuhan was shut down in January as other countries looked in disbelief at China’s draconian controls even as they continued their business as usual.

On March 11, the virus emerged in more than 100 countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic, expressing concern at “alarming levels of inaction”.

Patrick Vogt, a family doctor in Mulhouse, a city that became the epicenter of the epidemic in France in March, said he realized the coronavirus was everywhere when doctors started to fall ill, with some dying.

“We saw people in our surgery who had very big breathing problems, young and old who were exhausted,” he said. “We had no therapeutic solution.”

Frustrations, protests

The virus hasn’t spared the rich or the famous this year either.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a week in hospital. Madonna tested positive after touring France, as did Tom Hanks and his wife who recovered and returned home to Los Angeles after being quarantined in Australia.

The Tokyo Olympics, the famous Rio Carnival and the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca are among the major events postponed or disrupted by the pandemic. Premier League football has restarted but with empty stadiums. The Roland-Garros tennis tournament limits its audience to 1,000 per day.

Israel has been completely locked down again and vulnerable people in Moscow have been ordered to stay in their homes.

As restrictions tighten, protests and anger increase as businesses worry about their survival and individuals frustrated with their jobs and families in the face of yet another round of lockdowns.

Anti-lockdown protesters and police clashed in central London on Saturday as officers dispersed thousands during a protest.

“It’s the last straw – we were starting to get back on our feet,” said Patrick Labourrasse, restaurateur in Aix-en-Provence, a French town near Marseille which is once again forced to close bars and restaurants. .

Along with the turmoil, however, there is some hope.

The IMF says the economic outlook looks brighter today than it was in June, although it remains “very difficult”.

Importantly, nine candidate vaccines are in late stage clinical trials, with hopes that some will be launched next year, although questions remain about how and when to distribute them globally.

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