Coronavirus deaths gather pace in Europe as world struggles to contain pandemic
- The death toll in Italy has passed that in China, while France and Spain have also seen fatalities increase tenfold over the space of about 10 days
- More lockdowns have been imposed across the globe, including in India and in California and New York
The worst-affected Western countries have been hit by a tenfold surge in the number of Covid-19 infections and fatalities over 10 days as they struggle to cope under the onslaught of a pandemic that has killed more than 10,000 worldwide.
Italy has overtaken China in reporting more than 4,000 deaths, while Spain passed Iran to record close to 20,000 people testing positive in a further reflection of the severity of Europe’s outbreak, which has driven Britain to extend its social distancing measures to most of the year.
The situation in the US continued to worsen, as California imposed an indefinite statewide “stay-in-place” order on its 40 million residents, becoming the first state to restrict people’s movements. New York also instituted strict new measures on Friday. “We’re all in various levels of quarantine and it’s hard,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo.
New lockdowns have also been announced across the globe, from India and Argentina to the wealthy German region of Bavaria, further straining the global economy.
Even though China – the world’s second biggest economy – recorded no new domestic cases for two days in a row on Friday, critics have questioned the accuracy of its data due to concerns that the numbers are influenced by political considerations and that people with mild symptoms are being excluded.
Official figures show the pandemic has taken more than 10,000 lives so far, around half of which are in Europe with 3,400 or so in Asia. It has also left many more in intensive care, put unprecedented pressure on medical workers and caused shortages of hospital beds, ventilators and protective equipment.