Global coronavirus death toll hits 400,000 as cases soar in Latin America

The global death toll from the coronavirus passed 400,000 on Sunday, with fatalities accelerating in Latin America. Brazil has the world’s third-highest death toll but President Jair Bolsonaro has threatened to pull out of the World Health Organisation (WHO) over “ideological bias”, following the example of the United States. Bolsonaro is among those arguing that the economic damage lockdowns are causing is worse than the virus itself. Coronavirus’ under-reported victims: people with disabilities The new coronavirus has infected more than 6.8 million globally, the worst health crisis in more than a century that has tipped the global economy into a crushing downturn and forced tens of millions out of work in the United States alone. The total number of deaths is believed to be higher than the officially reported figures as many countries lack supplies to test all victims and some countries do not count deaths outside a hospital. The US is the world’s hardest-hit nation, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally, with almost 110, 000 dead and more than 1.9 million infections. However, Trump said the economy was bouncing back. “We had the greatest economy in the history of the world. And that strength let us get through this horrible pandemic, largely through, I think we’re doing really well,” he told reporters. Trump, who is facing re-election in November, reiterated his calls to further ease stay-at-home measures, after surprisingly upbeat employment numbers showed the country gained 2.5 million jobs in May. In a sign of a slow return to normality in the US, Universal Orlando became the first of the giant theme parks in Florida to reopen – albeit with temperature tests at the entrance and mandatory face masks. In Europe, badly hit countries slowly continued on a path toward a post-pandemic normal, also seeking to revive key tourist sectors in time for the summer season. The European Union said it could reopen borders to travellers from outside the region in early July, after some countries within the bloc reopened to European visitors. A major Spanish tourism draw, Madrid’s Prado museum, reopened its doors to a handful of visitors on Saturday, putting together more than 200 masterpieces in a new exhibition. In France, the Palace of Versailles also reopened, but without the US and Chinese tourists that usually make up a third of its visitors. A top French expert said on Friday that dramatic drops in daily deaths and new cases in the country since their March peaks meant the worst was over. “We can reasonably say the virus is currently under control,” said Jean-Francois Delfraissy, the head of the government’s scientific advisory council. Still, bleak numbers streamed in from Latin America. Belgian shepherd dogs trained to sniff out coronavirus Brazil’s death toll passed 35,000 as Bolsonaro echoed criticism of the WHO by Trump, who has said the US will defund the organisation because it is too close to China. “I’m telling you right now, the United States left the WHO, and we’re studying that, in the future. Either the WHO works without ideological bias, or we leave, too,” the far-right leader told journalists. The nation reported on Saturday 27,075 new cases and 904 deaths from the coronavirus during the previous 24 hours, while omitting consolidated numbers. The government has stopped publishing the full set of data on Friday just as the country’s death toll surpassed that of Italy. Brazil ranks third in the world in death toll, trailing the US and the UK and is second only to the US in number of cases. Tolls are also rising sharply in Mexico, Peru and Ecuador. And in Chile, deaths have risen by more than 50 per cent in the past week. The first Covid-19 death was reported on January 10 in Wuhan, China but it was early April before the death toll passed 100,000. It took 23 days to go from 300,000 to 400,000 deaths. US sues Chinese firm over half a million ‘fake’ N95 masks China, meanwhile reported its first non-imported case of the new coronavirus in two weeks, an infected person on the island of Hainan off the southern coast. The National Health Commission said Sunday that there were also five imported cases in the previous 24-hour period, bringing the nation’s total case count to 83,036. China says it has largely stopped the spread of the virus at home, though it continues to have occasional localised outbreaks. It is on guard against imported cases as it begins to ease restrictions on flights and people arriving from abroad. The official death toll in China is 4,634. Additional reporting by Bloomberg, Reuters and Associated Press

Global coronavirus death toll hits 400,000 as cases soar in Latin America

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} US accounts for about one-quarter of all fatalities, but deaths in South America are rapidly rising Brazil threatens to quit WHO, Trump says US beating pandemic

US accounts for about one-quarter of all fatalities, but deaths in South America are rapidly rising

Brazil threatens to quit WHO, Trump says US beating pandemic