Global COVID-19 cases have exceeded 3 million as of Wednesday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Countries around the globe are fighting a two-front battle to save lives and restore livelihoods. Amid economic woes, some in Europe are tentatively easing anti-coronavirus restrictions, while calling for more discipline post-lockdown.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday reiterated his call for unity and solidarity, saying that he will reconvene the Emergency Committee on Thursday to evaluate the evolution of the pandemic and advise on updated recommendations.
GLOBAL PICTURE
The WHO COVID-19 dashboard updated at 8:00 CET (0500 GMT) Thursday showed that so far it has received reports of 3,024,059 confirmed cases and 208,112 deaths worldwide, with the United States ranking first in both categories.
According to the latest data by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. COVID-19 death toll has surpassed 60,000, reaching 60,966. Its total number of confirmed cases has arrived at 1,039,909.
Amid the COVID-19 impact, U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter contracted at an annual rate of 4.8 percent, the biggest decline in over a decade, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the record-low level of near zero due to concerns over the ongoing public health crisis.
In Britain, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that a total of 26,097 patients have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the country as of Tuesday afternoon.
It is the first time the government figures have included deaths in care homes and the community as well as those in hospitals.
The total number of confirmed cases in Brazil rose 9 percent from 71,886 to 78,162, the largest daily growth since the outbreak of the epidemic, while Yemen reported its first two deaths from COVID-19.
MORE DISCIPLINE
The European Commission said in a statement on Wednesday that the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in both the euro area and the European Union (EU) plummeted in April, marking the sharpest monthly decline on record.
The ESI in the euro area fell by 27.2 points from the previous month to 67.0 points in April, while the ESI for the EU sank 28.8 points to 65.8 points, the commission said.
With all the signs suggesting an economic recession, European countries are starting to loosen lockdowns, while governments are urging more discipline in post-lockdown days.
In Spain, where the pandemic has caused 24,275 deaths, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Health Minister Salvador Illa warned on Wednesday that scaling down anti-virus measures won't be easy.
"We should not fool ourselves, it is going to be difficult," said Grande-Marlaska in a joint press conference with Illa. "We can see the end of the road, but we can't forget the sacrifices that still lie ahead of us. Some of these stages are going to need more discipline than up to now."
In Poland, where the first stage of exit plan has been in effect since April 20, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki urged Poles not to get complacent in the face of the pandemic.
"We are opening up the economy, but we are not relaxing our safety measures by one inch," he said.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that the country will launch the second phase of re-openings after May 10 "slowly and controlled."
"We are still in a health crisis. We must not compromise the health of the Danes," she said, adding that the long-term health-related strategy will involve a more offensive testing strategy, more use of protective equipment, more hygiene, continuation of social distancing, and avoidance of "super-proliferation" at large assemblies.
CALL FOR SOLIDARITY
Noting that the WHO is committed to transparency and accountability, Tedros on Wednesday reiterated his call for unity and solidarity at a virtual press conference from Geneva.
"One thing that we would ask is unity at the national level, and solidarity at the global level. More than ever, the human race should stand together to defeat this virus," he said.
Apart from Tedros, Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Thomas Greminger said in a letter to Wang Qun, the Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, that conquering the pandemic requires solidarity and a combined response by governments and societies at the global level.
Cooperation rather than hasty denunciation is needed at the time of combating the pandemic, U.S. technology magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates told French daily Le Figaro in a recent interview, adding that finger-pointing, for example at China, is not constructive.
"The Chinese have made all the data accessible," Gates said, while praising the country for its contribution to global research on the disease as well as avoiding a market disruption for medical supplies.
"Our economy is at a standstill, the world is suffering -- the priority should be collaboration," he said.
The focus now is to beat the coronavirus, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday in an interview with the TASS news agency.
"I would like to say that we are upset by the attempts to point a finger at a particular country. You mentioned that the U.S. is blaming China. In Europe, there are also accusations against China," Lavrov said.
"We all see it. This, of course, is sad." Enditem
