Minneapolis: The coronavirus pandemic took an increasingly bleak toll on Sunday in the US and Europe, producing staggering caseloads in New York and Italy and setting off a desperate scramble to set up thousands of additional hospital beds as the disease notched another grim advance.
The pandemic has infected more than 3,07,200 people and killed over 13,000 worldwide.
Spain reports 394 new deaths, up 30 percent in 24 hours
Spain on Sunday announced 394 new deaths caused by the novel coronavirus, raising to 1,720 the official death toll in Europe's worst-hit country after Italy, a 30 percent increase over the previous day. The number of confirmed cases of the disease rose by 3,646, or 14.6 per cent, to 28,572, according to health ministry figures, with officials warning infections will rise further in the coming days.
Italy breaks its own new records
Italy announced its biggest day-to-day increase of infections, which rose by 6,600 with nearly 800 new fatalities from the virus that causes COVID-19. The country's total death toll of more than 4,825 has surpassed the number of deaths in China, where the first cases emerged late last year.
Iran virus deaths up by 129
Iran on Sunday said that the new coronavirus has killed another 129 people, raising the death toll to 1,685 amid 21,638 confirmed cases.
That's according to health ministry's spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, who gave the figures at a televised news conference Sunday.
His comments came after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei refused US assistance to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America.
Medical supplies dwindle in US
In the US, where multiple states have ordered residents to stay indoors, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the government is “literally scouring the globe looking for medical supplies.” Health care workers from Oklahoma City to Minneapolis sought donations of protective equipment. Staff at a Detroit hospital began creating homemade face masks for workers. Even rural hospitals were strained as people increasingly felt the pandemic closing in.
In Washington, negotiators from Congress and the White House resumed top-level talks on a ballooning $1 trillion-plus economic rescue package, urged by President Donald Trump to strike a deal to steady a nation thoroughly upended by the coronavirus pandemic. Trump continued to strike a confident tone about the nation’s ability to defeat the pandemic soon, even as health leaders nationwide acknowledged that the U.S. is nowhere near the peak for the outbreak.
“We are going to be celebrating a great victory in the not too distant future,” he said.
The contagion is starting to be felt in US cities far from major metropolitan areas, including places that have resisted drastic shutdown measures. About 150 countries now have confirmed cases and deaths have been reported in more than 30 American states.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
No new cases in Wuhan
The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the global pandemic was first detected, went a fourth consecutive day on Sunday without reporting any new or suspected cases of the virus. Wuhan must go 14 straight days without a new case in order for draconian travel restrictions to be lifted, but already, a special train returned more than 1,000 car factory employees for the first time since the outbreak.
AP
