indica News Bureau-
COVID-19 has now infected 4,178,156 people worldwide and 286,353 people have been killed due to this pandemic. Around 1,456,318 people of that tally have recovered. More than 81,000 people out of 1,347,936 cases are known to have died from the disease since it hit America’s shores. In a study, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of dead in worst-hit New York could be around 30 percent more than the official toll.
The United States logged a second consecutive day of fewer than 900 coronavirus deaths (800 deaths), as the World Health Organization hailed global progress but warned of the need for “extreme vigilance” against a second wave.
An average of 80,000 COVID-19 cases was reported each day in April to the World Health Organization, the top UN health agency has said, noting that South Asian nations like India and Bangladesh are seeing a spike in the infections while the numbers are declining in regions such as Western Europe.
South Korea returns largely to normal as workers go back to offices, and museums and libraries reopen under eased social distancing rules.
US President Donald Trump has said the coronavirus outbreak has hit America harder than the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II, or the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001, pointing the finger at China, TOI reported.
A few days ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) had claimed how lifting lockdowns too early could lead to a second wave and would be a catastrophe. The epicenter of the pandemic has shifted twice, first from China to Europe, and then from Europe to North America. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders give the Bundesliga the green light to restart behind closed doors from mid-May, making it the first of Europe’s five major football leagues to return to the playing field. Belgium, however, announces it will suspend all sporting competitions until July 31, effectively putting an end to its football season.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease expert, has warned Congress that if the US reopens too soon during the coronavirus pandemic, it will result in “needless suffering and death.”
Situation in India
A total of 70,756 coronavirus cases and 2,293 deaths have been reported across the country. The government is ramping up the testing facilities to curb the infection in the country. India can now do one lakh Covid-19 tests per day, said Union health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan while interacting with senior officials of various districts of Jammu and Kashmir over coronavirus via video-conferencing. The minister also said that the country’s Covid-19 mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world with 3.2 percent. The ICMR announced that it is conducting a community-based sero-survey to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Indian population.
Poor countries face famine and unrest risks
Conflicts and global economic recession have already decimated their homelands and jobs, but the COVID-19 might to push people in poor countries over the edge. They are now facing more grievous risks caused by the COVID-19-triggered lockdown: famine and unrest reported CGTN.
The head of the UN food agency warned Tuesday that as the world is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, it is also “on the brink of a hunger pandemic” which could lead to multiple famines within a few months if immediate action isn’t taken.
The World Health Organization’s COVID-19 special envoy David Nabarro also warned that people in poorer nations would lose faith in authorities and the world could see ungovernability in many nations without effective action to combat the coronavirus.
In India, millions of laborers flee for the rural areas where they could find food at homes after hearing the news of an impending national lockdown, and they likely carried the coronavirus with them.
The World Food Program analysis shows that about 265 million people around the world would face acute food insecurity by the end of this year, a doubling of the 130 million estimated to suffer severe food shortages last year.
Lockdown efforts to halt the disease have shut down large swaths of the global economy, with developing countries likely to be hardest hit. And widespread defiance of those lockdowns is increasing, the report said.
