World Coronavirus Cases Top Six Million
BRASILIA (AFP) -- The number of coronavirus cases worldwide topped six million Sunday as Brazil registered another record surge in daily infections and divisions deepened on how to deal with the pandemic.
Latin American countries are bracing for difficult weeks ahead as the virus spreads rapidly across the region.
This contrasts to other parts of the world where the pace has eased and permitted a cautious exit from lockdowns that have wrecked economies and stripped millions of their jobs.
In Brazil -- the epicenter of South America’s outbreak with nearly 500,000 confirmed cases -- disagreement among its leaders over lockdown measures has hampered efforts to slow a virus that has cost nearly 30,000 lives.
President Jair Bolsonaro, who fears the economic fallout from stay-at-home orders will be worse than the virus, has berated governors and mayors for imposing what he calls "the tyranny of total quarantine.”
Even as his country surpassed France to have the world’s fourth-highest death toll, Bolsonaro called for Brazil’s football season to resume.
Fellow right-wing populist U.S. President Donald Trump meanwhile came under fire for permanently cutting funding to the World Health Organization.
The pandemic has killed nearly 370,000 people and infected more than six million worldwide, according to an AFP tally.
As the virus progresses at different speeds around the globe, there has been pressure to lift crippling lockdowns, despite the lack of a vaccine and experts warning of a possible second wave of infections.
In Britain, which recorded 960 new deaths on Saturday ahead of starting to lift its lockdown on Monday, senior advisors to the government warned that it was moving too quickly.
South Africa will also reopen its economy on Monday, the continent’s hardest-hit country moving to level three of a five-tier lockdown.
India announced it would begin relaxing the world’s biggest lockdown in stages from early June, even as it marked another record daily rise in infections.
The world’s faithful have been slowly re-congregating as countries such as Iran and Turkey in recent days have allowed mosques to reopen under strict conditions.
The latest was Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site, which opened on Sunday for the first time in two months.
"God is greatest, we will protect Al-Aqsa with our soul and blood”, dozens of mask-wearing worshippers chanted before being let in for the first prayers of the day.
With infection numbers falling in many of Europe’s most affected countries, restrictions are being steadily eased.
Parks opened in Paris on the weekend for the first time in months, ahead of restaurants, cafes and bars reopening on sidewalks and terraces on Tuesday.
Across the Atlantic, the U.S. capital Washington also resumed outdoor dining, while on the West Coast, restaurants and hair salons in Los Angeles reopened.
New York City, the worst-hit American city with about 21,500 coronavirus deaths, is on track to begin reopening the week of June 8.
The overall U.S. death toll has topped 103,000 out of more than 1.7 million cases.
Global sport has also started to kick back into action, with Britain approving the return of domestic competitive sport on June 1 -- with no fans present.
And fans returned to football stadiums in Hungary on the weekend, a European first.
But the economic damage from weeks of lockdowns continues to pile up, with India, Canada, Brazil, France and Italy registering shrinking GDP figures in the first quarter ahead of an expected worldwide recession.
Latin American countries are bracing for difficult weeks ahead as the virus spreads rapidly across the region.
This contrasts to other parts of the world where the pace has eased and permitted a cautious exit from lockdowns that have wrecked economies and stripped millions of their jobs.
In Brazil -- the epicenter of South America’s outbreak with nearly 500,000 confirmed cases -- disagreement among its leaders over lockdown measures has hampered efforts to slow a virus that has cost nearly 30,000 lives.
President Jair Bolsonaro, who fears the economic fallout from stay-at-home orders will be worse than the virus, has berated governors and mayors for imposing what he calls "the tyranny of total quarantine.”
Even as his country surpassed France to have the world’s fourth-highest death toll, Bolsonaro called for Brazil’s football season to resume.
Fellow right-wing populist U.S. President Donald Trump meanwhile came under fire for permanently cutting funding to the World Health Organization.
The pandemic has killed nearly 370,000 people and infected more than six million worldwide, according to an AFP tally.
As the virus progresses at different speeds around the globe, there has been pressure to lift crippling lockdowns, despite the lack of a vaccine and experts warning of a possible second wave of infections.
In Britain, which recorded 960 new deaths on Saturday ahead of starting to lift its lockdown on Monday, senior advisors to the government warned that it was moving too quickly.
South Africa will also reopen its economy on Monday, the continent’s hardest-hit country moving to level three of a five-tier lockdown.
India announced it would begin relaxing the world’s biggest lockdown in stages from early June, even as it marked another record daily rise in infections.
The world’s faithful have been slowly re-congregating as countries such as Iran and Turkey in recent days have allowed mosques to reopen under strict conditions.
The latest was Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site, which opened on Sunday for the first time in two months.
"God is greatest, we will protect Al-Aqsa with our soul and blood”, dozens of mask-wearing worshippers chanted before being let in for the first prayers of the day.
With infection numbers falling in many of Europe’s most affected countries, restrictions are being steadily eased.
Parks opened in Paris on the weekend for the first time in months, ahead of restaurants, cafes and bars reopening on sidewalks and terraces on Tuesday.
Across the Atlantic, the U.S. capital Washington also resumed outdoor dining, while on the West Coast, restaurants and hair salons in Los Angeles reopened.
New York City, the worst-hit American city with about 21,500 coronavirus deaths, is on track to begin reopening the week of June 8.
The overall U.S. death toll has topped 103,000 out of more than 1.7 million cases.
Global sport has also started to kick back into action, with Britain approving the return of domestic competitive sport on June 1 -- with no fans present.
And fans returned to football stadiums in Hungary on the weekend, a European first.
But the economic damage from weeks of lockdowns continues to pile up, with India, Canada, Brazil, France and Italy registering shrinking GDP figures in the first quarter ahead of an expected worldwide recession.