IMF warns world faces worst economic downturn since the Great Depression
Emergency medical technicians with Anne Arundel County Fire Department assess a young woman experiencing novel coronavirus symptoms in Glen Burnie, Maryland, USA.
ROME: The global coronavirus death toll topped 100,000 as Easter weekend celebrations around the world kicked off in near-empty churches with billions of people stuck indoors to halt the pandemic.
Extraordinary measures from New York to Naples to New Delhi have seen businesses and schools closed in a desperate bid to halt the virus’s spread, and the IMF has warned that the world now faces the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
More than 102,000 people have died of Covid-19 with 1.7 million infections detected globally, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, with nearly 70 per cent of the fatalities in Europe.
The United States, now the pandemic’s epicentre, became the first country to record more than 2,000 virus deaths in one day and is closing in on Italy’s 18,849 fatalities — currently the highest national figure.
With more than half a million reported infections, the United States already has more coronavirus cases than anywhere else in the world.
President Donald Trump, however, said that with the US infection trajectory ‘near the peak’ and social distancing working well, he was considering ways to re-open the world’s biggest economy as soon as possible.
Healthcare workers applaud in memory of their co-worker Esteban, a male nurse that died of the coronavirus disease at the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Leganes, near Madrid, Spain. — AFP photos
He acknowledged the risk of higher death tolls if businesses restart too soon.
“But you know what? Staying at home leads to death also,” Trump added, pointing to the massive economic suffering for millions of Americans.
It is unclear when that will be possible, with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying millions in the state — the hardest hit in the country — will have to be tested before it can reopen.
The World Health Organisation has warned that prematurely lifting lockdown restrictions — affecting more than half the planet’s population — could spark a dangerous resurgence of the disease.
A ‘I love NHS’ sign is draped with flowering plants at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London, where Johnson appears to be on the road to recovery from the novel coronavirus Covid-19.
Easter celebrations that would normally see churches packed with parishioners were replaced by an eerie emptiness on Friday.
Even hallowed traditions have been revamped — Pope Francis will livestream his Easter message from the seclusion of his private library.
“We have to respond to our confinement with all our creativity. We can either get depressed and alienated… or we can get creative,” the pontiff said.
More than four billion people are confined to their homes as governments worldwide have imposed never-before-seen measures to halt the virus, which first emerged late last year in central China.
Like Trump, governments in Europe are under pressure to strike a balance between keeping people safe and keeping already battered economies stable.
Some countries, especially in Asia, are worried about a possible second wave of infections imported from travellers as life creeps back to normal.
Glimmers of hope may be emerging in some countries.
Spain, the third-hardest-hit country, saw its lowest 24-hour toll in 17 days, after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the ‘fire started by the pandemic is starting to come under control’.
And the daily rises in new infections in hardest-hit Italy have slowed dramatically.
In Britain — where the government has resisted calls to ease lockdown measures — spirits were lifted on Friday when virus-stricken Prime Minister Boris Johnson showed signs of recovery after three days in intensive care.
The pandemic has shaken the global economy, and the International Monetary Fund — which has US$1 trillion in lending capacity — said it was responding to calls from 90 countries for emergency financing. — AFP