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Coronavirus latest: worldwide deaths pass 250,000, with US fatalities predicted to hit 3,000 a day
- China reports one new case; world leaders pledge US$8 billion in vaccine cash
- WHO says US has given no proof on Wuhan lab claims; survey finds health fears outweigh concern for global economy
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The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed a quarter of a million on Tuesday, with the US government predicting a further surge in fatalities as an international vaccine drive garnered US$8 billion in pledges.
The dire forecast from the United States came as much of the Western world emerged from weeks of lockdown, with hopes that the disease may have peaked in Europe, where deaths in the worst affected countries have dropped after nearly two months of confinement.
But the global progress did little to cool a war of words between the US and China over responsibility for the pandemic – a feud that has been fuelled by US claims the virus originated in a Chinese laboratory – a theory the World Health Organisation labelled “speculative”.
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Lockdowns imposed on half of the planet have derailed economies, and politicians are now grappling with how to get the wheels turning again without sparking a second wave of infections.
Italy – second only to the US in its Covid-19 death toll and the first to impose a national lockdown – was gingerly emerging into the spring sunshine on Monday, with construction sites and factories resuming work.
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Many other European countries are also relaxing lockdowns, even as they continue to advocate social distancing, masks and more testing to try to track infections.
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