Global corona deaths top 400,000

ISLAMABAD: Global deaths from the novel coronavirus topped 400,000 on Sunday, as case numbers surge in Brazil and India, according to international media reports.

The United States is responsible for about one-quarter of all fatalities but deaths in South America are rapidly rising. The number of deaths linked to COVID-19 in just five months is now equal to the number of people who die annually from malaria, one of the world’s most deadly infectious diseases.

Global cases have crossed 7 million, with nearly 2 million, or 30 percent of those cases in the United States. Latin America has the second-largest outbreak with over 15 percent of cases.

The first COVID-19 death was reported on Jan 10 in Wuhan, China but it was early April before the death toll passed 100,000. It took 24 days to go from 300,000 to 400,000 deaths.

The United States has the highest death toll in the world with over 112,000 deaths. Fatalities in Brazil are rising rapidly and the country may overtake the United Kingdom to have the second-largest number of deaths in the world. The total number of deaths is believed to be higher than the officially reported 400,000 as many countries lack supplies to test all victims and some countries do not count deaths outside of a hospital.

The number of coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia surpassed 100,000 on Sunday, the health ministry said, amid a new surge in infections just weeks ahead of the start of the Haj. The total number of infections rose to 101,914 -- the highest in the Gulf -- while the death toll climbed to 712, the ministry added.

The kingdom has seen infections spike as it eases stringent lockdown measures, with the number of daily cases exceeding 3,000 for the second day in a row on Sunday. On Friday, the kingdom announced a renewed lockdown in the city of Jeddah, gateway to the annual pilgrimage to Makkah, to counter the jump in cases.

The measures include a curfew running from 3 pm to 6 am, a suspension of prayers in mosques and a stay-at-home order for public and private sector workers in the Red Sea city whose airport serves pilgrims.

After an easing of precautions in the kingdom in late May, the ministry said that strict measures could also soon return to Riyadh, which was "witnessing a continuous increase during the last days" of critical cases of the pandemic.

The kingdom has said it will continue to suspend the year-round "Umrah" to Makkah and Madina over fears of the coronavirus pandemic spreading in Islam´s holiest cities. Authorities are yet to announce whether they will proceed with this year´s Haj, scheduled for the end of July, but have urged Muslims to temporarily defer preparations for the annual pilgrimage.

Last year, some 2.5 million faithful travelled to Saudi Arabia from across the world to take part in the Haj.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis said on Sunday the worst of the coronavirus crisis was over in Italy, addressing the faithful for the first time in Saint Peter´s Square since the health emergency began.

The pontiff´s address came a day after the Vatican said there were no more cases of COVID-19 within its population. "Your presence in the square is a sign that in Italy the acute phase of the epidemic is over," Francis told those assembled for his weekly Angelus prayer.

"But be careful... do not celebrate victory too soon," he added, warning of the need to continue following social distancing rules. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement late Saturday that the last person found to have been infected with the coronavirus in recent weeks had tested negative.

"Today there are no more cases of coronavirus among employees of the Vatican," or within Vatican City, he said. Twelve people in total within the Vatican had been infected by the virus. The UK government said it will reopen places of worship for individual prayer on June 15 as it reportedly looks to speed up easing measures in order to save jobs.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson´s office said services and worship groups will still be banned for the time being due to concern that the new coronavirus spreads more quickly in enclosed spaces.

"People of all faiths have shown enormous patience and forbearance, unable to mark Easter, Passover, Ramazan or Vaisakhi with friends and family in the traditional way," Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said in a statement.

"We are now able to move forwards with a limited but important return to houses of worship." Britain´s official COVID-19 death toll of 40,542 is second only to that of the United States. But cases across Europe have fallen off sharply and Britain is now cautiously proceeding with partial school reopenings and the resumption of basic business activity that ended when the country shut down on March 23.

Meanwhile, three concurrent crises scarring the United States -- a deadly health pandemic, economic despair and widespread social unrest -- have reframed this year´s presidential contest and prompted national reflection over racial inequality in America.

Is the country on the cusp of a transformation, or will systemic inequalities exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis persist, allowing alienation and marginalization to fester? In weeks, the unprecedented strain has become the focal point of the ferocious White House campaign between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, two politicians approaching the disasters with very different strategies.

It has been several generations since the country has experienced such a sharp and rapid confluence of major emergencies, a national low point that philosopher Cornell West has branded "America´s moment of reckoning."

Over 112,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, and tens of millions are jobless due to pandemic-prompted lockdowns. At the same time, unrest has gripped dozens of US cities where protesters demand justice over the killing by Minneapolis police of unarmed black man George Floyd.

Repeated episodes of police brutality caught on camera, even as most demonstrations have been peaceful, have further laid bare the nation´s deep social wounds. While Trump on Friday touted a surprise drop in the overall jobless rate from 14.7 percent in April to 13.3 percent in May, black unemployment actually rose, to 16.8 percent.

The injustice that erupted into ugly view when a white police officer pressed his knee onto Floyd´s neck for almost nine minutes is the latest manifestation of a systemic racism that has persisted for generations.

Trump could have delivered an Oval Office address to the nation this week to smooth tensions. Instead he has exploited discord and launched a "law and order" crusade. Trump has walled off the White House from protesters and launched fiery accusations that do little to calm the storm.

"The problem," he tweeted Thursday about recent controversial tactics deployed in Washington, "is the arsonists, looters, criminals, and anarchists, wanting to destroy it (and our country)!"

Trump´s provocative walk from the White House to a nearby church for a photo opportunity minutes after the area was forcibly cleared of protesters contained clear signals to conservative and evangelical voters in his base: security and faith remain paramount.

While Trump has trafficked in division, his November election rival has blasted him as "dangerously unfit" to lead. Biden, 77, was largely absent for two months, hunkered down in his Delaware home as the pandemic played out and Trump used his bully pulpit to push to re-open the country.

But the veteran Democrat is eyeing an opening by embracing a message of conciliation and reform -- something that could unite the moderate and liberal factions of the Democratic Party and draw independents appalled by Trump´s strongman style.

Meanwhile, Iran´s health ministry said a surge in new reported coronavirus infections was due to increased testing rather than a worsening outbreak.

After hitting a near two-month low in early May and a lifting of tough movement restrictions, cases of the COVID-19 illness have been rising in Islamic republic which is battling the Middle East´s deadliest outbreak of the disease.

"The main reason for rising numbers is that we started identifying (infected people) with no or light symptoms," said Mohammad-Mehdi Gouya, the health ministry´s head epidemiologist. He added that the gradual easing of lockdown measures had also contributed to higher infections "which has more or less happened all over the world," ISNA news agency reported.

Authorities have progressively lifted restrictions imposed to tackle the virus, and activity has almost returned to normal in most of the country´s 31 provinces. Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the situation had steadily improved with fewer hospitalisations, critical cases and deaths.

Israel said Sunday it had opened a factory to make millions of high-spec masks as it prepares for a possible "second wave" of coronavirus cases. After imposing tough measures to tackle the COVID-19 illness, Israel has fared relatively well in the initial months of the pandemic.

More than 17,700 infections have been registered among a population of nine million, with nearly 300 deaths. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 103,286 on Sunday after new infections were confirmed in the country, while the death toll stands at 2064.

As man y as 1,275 coronavirus patients are in critical condition in country. So far, 33,465 patients have recovered. The confirmed coronavirus patients include 38,903 in Punjab, 38,108 in Sindh, 13,487 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 6,516 in Balochistan, 4979 in Islamabad, 932 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 361 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The death toll from the virus stands at 2,064. The diseased persons from coronavirus include 683 in Punjab, 715 in Sindh, 575 in KP, 54 in Balochistan, 13 in Gilgit-Baltistan, eight in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 49 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

As many as 23,100 corona tests were carried out during the last 24 hours. So far total 683,608 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the country -- 21 percent of the cases have foreign travel history, while 79 percent of the cases are reported to be locally transmitted.

Punjab reported 1,782 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. A spokesperson said 24 more deaths from coronavirus in the past 24 hours took the total number of fatalities to 683 in Punjab. Of the new cases, 691 cases have emerged in Lahore.

The number of people recovering from the disease has risen to 8,109 while a total of 28,2807 tests have been conducted in the province (Punjab) so far. As many as 17,257 COVID-19 patients are quarantined at their homes, while 1362 have been treated at hospitals across the province.

Mushtaq Yusufzai adds from Peshawar: Fourteen more people died of coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, raising the toll from the viral infection to 575, the highest number of people died from the disease anywhere in the country.

Also, 486 more people were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the province, bringing the total number of positive cases to 13,487. The number of fatalities as well as positive cases is however stated to be much higher than the official figures released by the KP Health Department every day. The report is based on information of patients admitted to hospitals and died there. The majority of patients avoid going to hospitals, particularly in Swat and other parts of the Malakand Division as well as in other rural areas, with patients and their attendants complaining that the doctors don’t want examine them.

Similarly, all patients brought to hospitals with serious complications are treated as corona patients, without even being carefully examined or investigations by the doctors.

There is a general misconception that once you entered the hospital with any health complication, the doctors would declare you a corona patient. In KP’s oldest and largest public sector hospital - Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), the patients, their attendants as well the doctors have been complaining that PCR test results of the indoor patients haven’t been released since June 02, 2020. “LRH is the largest hospital with hundreds of doctors working here and where the government had spent billions of rupees in the last few years, but mismanagement and poor administration is wasting public resources.

Khyber Teaching Hospital is a small hospital with little resources, but PCR report is given to the patient in two hours,” a senior consultant told The News. In the official WhatsApp group of the LRH, the faculty members held medical director, Dr Suleman Khan responsible for the mismanagement and problems faced by the patients there.

The doctors said patients had not been given their PCR reports since June 02, wasting public resources as patients had occupied beds waiting for their reports. Also, the faculty members said that LRH should have played a leading role in the corona pandemic, but the poor administration and lack of team work didn’t let it happen.

“If there is any independent clinical audit, some people in LRH might face serious punishment. Some of them could even lose their PMDC licences,” said the consultant. The doctors in the LRH WhatsApp group said that LRH should have initiated plasma facility but since it failed to professionally handle the corona pandemic, therefore it lost trust of the patients as well as of the government.

The Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) is the only hospital in the province that started the plasma facility. The issue of delaying PCR reports to patients in LRH was brought into the notice of Health Minister Taimur Jhagra and he said he would investigate it.

Meanwhile, of 14 patients died of COVID-19, seven of them belonged to Peshawar, two to Bajaur, one each to Nowshera, Mardan, Dir Lower, Malakand and Kohat.

With the seven deaths reported on Sunday, the death toll from COVID-19 in Peshawar reached 307. It is still ahead of all other districts in the country in terms of fatalities from the viral infection. Of 486 positive cases, Peshawar contributed alone 217. It has reported 4,974 positive cases since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Two other districts including Mansehra and Abbottabad each reported 38 cases. Nowshera reported 36 cases, Mardan 30, Swabi 26, Kurram 24, Shangla 16, Haripur 14, Dera Ismail Khan 12, Dir Lower 10, Swat and Buner and Tank four each. Also, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Sunday made it compulsory for all the people to wear facemasks if they wanted to go to any public sector hospital in the province. The government in a notification said that people without wearing face masks would not be given access to any hospital in KP.