The country reported its first death about three months ago. (File)
Washington:
Unthinkable just four months ago, the United States crossed the dark threshold of 100,000 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday as the pandemic tightened its grip on Latin America.
As the European Union unveils a massive stimulus package to accelerate its recovery from the crisis, the catastrophic US figure recalled the devastation that hit the ocean across the hard-hit Americas.
Confirmed deaths in the United States just before 2200 GMT were 100,047, with 1.69 million infections, according to count compiled by Johns Hopkins University
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi paused at a press conference to note the overwhelming number of “villainous viruses” as states cautiously reopen their devastated and closed economies.
“We did not know that we would arrive here almost at the exact moment when our country would register 100,000 people who died from coronavirus,” said Pelosi.
Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic Party presidential candidate, underscored this gruesome landmark by speaking directly to suffering families.
“For those who suffer, I am truly sorry for your loss,” said the former vice president via tweet. “The nation is crying with you.”
“Still accelerating”
South America, particularly its largest country, Brazil, has sounded the alarm.
While many western countries are shrinking toward some form of normalcy, the virus has continued to spread in Latin America, which overtakes Europe and the United States in daily infections.
“We are particularly concerned that the number of new cases reported last week in Brazil has been the highest in seven days since the start of the epidemic,” said Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Organization for Washington-based healthcare.
“Peru and Chile also report a high incidence, indicating that transmission continues to accelerate in these countries.”
Brazil reported the highest number of daily deaths in the world for the fifth consecutive day, bringing its toll to 24,512, with infections rising to more than 390,000.
The virus is also fueling a political crisis in Brazil, where right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro downplayed the threat and attacked state governors who asked people to stay at home.
Meanwhile, Europe has slowly started to reopen its businesses as epidemics on the continent slow, but Italy and Spain don’t have the firepower of wealthier European nations to rebuild their economies.
The EU has unveiled a historic recovery plan of 750 billion euros (825 billion dollars) to get the continent back on its feet.
It follows other unprecedented emergency measures introduced worldwide to save the economies shattered by the disease, which claimed the lives of more than 353,000 people as infections exceeded 5.6 million.
“It is the time of Europe,” said the head of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, calling for solidarity.
“We are all going to go it alone, leaving countries, regions and people behind us … or we are walking together on this road.”
The proposed package is expected to launch difficult negotiations as donors try to win the support of some northern EU states which oppose the payment of subsidies to countries already in debt.
The proposal comes as the continent – which has lost at least 173,000 people due to COVID-19 – is grappling with human tragedy and economic destruction.
‘Next steps’
Spain began Wednesday 10 days of official mourning for the more than 27,000 dead in the country, with all flags on public buildings at half mast.
The Iberian nation and others hit particularly hard, including Italy, Germany, France and Britain, have started to loosen their locks, as people go to shops, sunbathe on beaches and run in parks after months of confinement.
While desperately seeking to revive their economies, particularly the tourism sector, most governments in Europe are also trying to act cautiously for fear of a second wave of infections.
In Cyprus, the hard-hit tourism sector came back to life with the opening of the beaches – but with sunbeds and umbrellas spaced out to avoid crowding.
“We are here, we are having a good time … we are taking our safety precautions,” said Georgios, a young gym trainer.
In order to attract tourists, the government has said it will pay for the medical costs of anyone who tests positive for the virus while on vacation on the island.
Elsewhere in Europe, there were confident signs of a return to normal. Poland has removed a rule requiring that public face masks be worn, while Switzerland has announced that it will remove its virus restrictions by June 6.
In Moscow, stores will reopen and people will be allowed to walk around starting in June, as the Russian capital has announced the easing of its lockout.
“Today we can already talk about the next steps to get out of the crisis,” said Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin after the country reached its peak of infection.
“Lock generation”
The United States remains the hardest-hit nation, with President Donald Trump being heavily criticized for handling the crisis – and for not wearing a mask in public despite recommendations from his administration.
Trump’s main concern has been a rapid recovery of the severely battered U.S. economy, and he has put pressure on local and state leaders to facilitate the closings.
But his main medical advisor, immunologist Anthony Fauci, warned against “leapfrog” directives to open faster.
“This is truly a tempting fate and in trouble,” Fauci told CNN.
Trump courted controversy this month when he said he was taking the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure against the coronavirus.
France said on Wednesday that it is banning the drug as a COVID-19 treatment, following a similar decision by the World Health Organization amid fears about dangerous side effects.
Even with positive economic signs in countries like France, the International Labor Organization has warned of the global fallout among young workers who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic, a cohort it has dubbed the “Lock generation”.
“As we recover from the pandemic, many young people will simply be left behind. Many,” said ILO head Guy Ryder.
The agency estimates that one in six people under the age of 29 has been forced to leave work due to the crisis – and that the impact could last “a decade or more”.
A new tragedy struck Thursday in Asia, when five people were killed in a hospital in Bangladesh after a fire swept through a makeshift coronavirus isolation unit.
