Coronavirus latest: Europe’s death toll surges as world plunges into recession
- A global economic recession was announced on a day when both Italy and Spain reported their highest daily death tolls yet amid the pandemic
- US President Donald Trump signed a US$2.2 trillion emergency bill into law and 174 stranded tourists were flown off Mount Everest in Nepal
Europe was reeling from a staggering surge in coronavirus deaths on Saturday, still days or weeks from what experts desperately hope will be the epidemic’s peak.
Grim new tolls from Italy and Spain came as the IMF confirmed the world economy has plunged into a historic slump, and the US invoked wartime procurement powers.
More than 600,000 cases of the new coronavirus have been officially recorded around the world since the outbreak of the epidemic.
Variations in testing regimes mean the true number is likely far higher still, and confirmed deaths are mounting.
Spain recorded 832 fatalities in 24 hours, bringing its toll to 5,690, second in the world only to Italy, which confirmed a one-day record of 969 on Friday.
Elsewhere, Iran announced 139 more deaths and India sealed off a dozen Punjab villages that had been visited by a guru now known to be infected and a possible “super-spreader”.