With global COVID-19 cases climbing further past 1 million today, the World Health Organization's (WHO's) director-general today said the pandemic has become much more than a health crisis and is exacting a heavy economic toll on individuals, families, communities, and nations.
As of this afternoon, the global total had climbed to 1,083,084 cases in 181 countries, including 58,243 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard.
WHO, IMF highlight pandemic's economic toll
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said the restrictions countries have placed to protect their citizens' health had a profound effect on incomes and economies. "We are in a shared struggle to protect both lives and livelihoods," he said at a media telebriefing today.
He reiterated that in the short term, countries can ease the burden with social welfare programs that provide food and other essentials. But he added that some nations will need debt relief to avoid economic collapse, a topic the WHO, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank are addressing.
Tedros said the best way for countries to end restrictions is to aggressively attack the virus, and he warned that lifting them too quickly could worsen and prolong the economic impact.
At the briefing today, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, PhD, urged all countries to put health expenditures at the top of their priority lists, while the IMF and its partners rush support to desperate countries. So far, 85 countries have approached the IMF for emergency financing.
She said the group is deploying its $1 trillion capacity, which includes doubling fast disbursements from $50 billion to $100 billion.
Surges reach across Europe
Pandemic activity continued its surge across several European hot spots, with thousands of new cases reported, led by Spain with 5,656 cases and 587 more deaths. France reported 5,233 more cases, with Italy adding 4,585 more.
Germany recently became the third European country to pass China's total, and the country today reported 5,044 new cases, as well as 123 more deaths. Germany has now confirmed 90,964 total cases. The United States has by far the most reported cases, at 266,671.
In the United Kingdom, cases and deaths were up from the number reported yesterday, with 4,450 illnesses and 684 more deaths reported. Meanwhile, Turkey, where cases have been recently surging, reported 2,786 new cases, along with 69 new deaths. Belgium and the Netherlands each reported more than 1,000 new cases.
Mideast cases nearly double
The number of cases in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region has almost doubled over the past week, jumping from 32,422 to 58,168 cases, the group's director, Ahmed Al-Mandhari, MD, PhD, said in a statement yesterday.
"Even in countries with stronger heath systems, we have seen a worrying spike in the numbers of cases and deaths reported," he said, adding that though the situation is urgent, countries still have a window of opportunity to limit COVIE-19 spread.
Iran, still the region's main hot spot, today reported 2,715 more cases and 134 more deaths, raising its respective totals to 53,183 and 3,294.
Activity escalates in Latin America
Ecuador has among the most cases in Latin America, and an outbreak in Guayaquil, a port city that is home to 2.3 million people, has led to at least 80 deaths so far, with reports of people dying at home and some families placing bodies on the streets for authorities to collect, Reuters reported today.
Hospitals are overwhelmed and increasing numbers of health workers infected. Ecuador's government today announced the construction of a camp to house people people infected with the virus. The country so far has 3,368 cases, according the Johns Hopkins online tracker.
Singapore announces new distancing measures
Amid concerns about a rise in local COVID-19 transmission over the past week, Singapore's government today announced new physical distancing measures, including the closure of nonessential businesses and schools.
The measures, which go into effect on Apr 7, last for a month, and affect 5.6 million people. Singapore was one of the countries that was first affected after China and received praise for the strong public health measures it took to trace cases and keep cases low. Over the past several weeks, however, it has reported a rise in imported cases and is now experiencing rising numbers of local infections.
The country's health ministry today reported 65 new cases, 9 imported and 56 local. Of the local cases, 40 are linked to earlier cases or clusters, and sources are under investigation for 16. So far, Singapore has reported 1,114 cases, 5 of them fatal.
Elsewhere in Asia:
- Japan reported 236 more cases today, 15 of them asymptomatic carriers, including 1 from airport quarantine, the health ministry
- South Korea reported 86 more cases today, 38 of them imported cases, the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention said today. On Mar 22, the country enhanced its social distancing measures, in effect until Apr 5. It also announced strict quarantine measures for most foreign travelers.
- Hong Kong today reported 43 more cases, 34 of them with a travel history, the Centre for Health Protection
- China today reported 31 new cases, 29 imported and 2 local cases, 1 each in Liaoning and Guangdong provinces, the National Health Commission It also reported 60 new asymptomatic cases, 7 of them imported.
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April 04, 2020 at 04:49AM
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Nations grapple with COVID-19 economic toll amid case escalations - CIDRAP
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