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News

Global coronavirus death toll passes 600,000

July 19, 2020 12:41 PM


The new coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 600,000 lives worldwide, an AFP tally showed Sunday.

A total of 600,523 deaths were recorded globally out of 14,233,355 cases, a count based on official data showed, including 205,065 deaths in Europe -- the worst-affected continent.

The virus is spreading rapidly in Latin America -- the region with the second-most recorded deaths -- where 160,726 people have died.

The United States is the country with the most deaths with 140,103, followed by Brazil (78,772), Britain (45,273), Mexico (38,888) and Italy (35,042).

The number of deaths linked to COVID-19 has doubled in just over two months, and more than 100,000 new deaths have been registered in the three weeks since June 28.

US records 60,207 cases

The United States on Saturday recorded 60,207 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University reported in its real-time tally.

That put the total number of cases in the US, the nation hardest-hit by the global pandemic, at 3,698,209, the Baltimore-based university said at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Sunday).

Another 832 deaths were reported, bringing total fatalities to 139,960.

The latest numbers capped a week which saw the US set records in new cases for three consecutive days, topping out at 77,638 infections recorded on Friday.

The country has seen a resurgence of cases in the so-called Sun Belt, stretching across the south from Florida to California.

In Texas and Arizona, authorities are bringing in refrigerated trucks to cope with the body count.

The surge in cases has prompted some states to backtrack on loosening their anti-virus restrictions -- or to reinstate tougher measures.

EU leaders squabble
EU leaders return for a tense third day of summit talks on Sunday amid a clash over the scale and rules of a huge planned coronavirus economic rescue package.

For two days, the Netherlands and its "frugal" allies have resisted the pleas of Germany and France, the bloc's most powerful members, to agree a plan to lift the countries hardest hit by the pandemic -- most notably Spain and Italy.

The Dutch had demanded that member states wield a veto over national bailouts to ensure countries carry out labour market reforms, and Austria, Finland, Denmark and Sweden want to see the up to 750-billion-euro package of loans and subsidies cut down to size.

But, after two days of meetings between various groups of the 27 leaders, EU Council President Charles Michel was left working through the night to draw up a compromise that could be satisfactory to all when the leaders reconvened in a plenary session at noon (1000 GMT) on Sunday.

"The consultations are at an important stage," said a member of the German delegation. "It cannot yet be said whether there will be a solution tomorrow, but it is worth continuing to work."

A French diplomatic source said that President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel refused pressure by Rutte and his allies to cut the grants in the scheme to below 400 billion euros ($460 billion).

The offer was made in a meeting that pitted Macron and Merkel against Rutte and the other leaders of his "Frugal Five" allies -- Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

- 'No ultimatum' -
Speaking to reporters, Rutte acknowledged that his French and German counterparts left the late-night meeting looking irritated. But "this wasn't only because of me," he said.

"Tomorrow we continue," he said. "I haven't heard any ultimatum".

Europe is in the throes of a massive recession and leaders are trying to approve a plan that could quickly send EU cash to countries hit the hardest, most notably Spain and Italy.

Michel, who chairs EU summits, was obliged to propose a fresh plan after previous versions were refused by the Netherlands on the grounds that they gave away too much cash as grants, instead of lending it as loans.

Rutte is also wary about the plan's governance and insists that national governments get a veto on the spending plans of governments receiving cash from the Brussels package.

Underlying his concern is the reputation of Spain and Italy for lax public spending in the minds of voters in northern Europe, and Rutte wants them to reform their labour and pensions rules. 

"We're in a stalemate, it's very complicated, more complicated than expected," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.

In a concession to Rutte's demands, Michel's latest plan includes a "super emergency brake" that gives any country a three-day window to trigger a review by all member states of another's spending plans.

An official from a non-frugal state insisted this was not a veto, and it appeared late on Saturday that the idea may have survived, sources said.

But the frugal countries were still not happy and were seeking more cuts late into Saturday.

- Right of veto -
The Michel proposal would have kept the total recovery budget at 750 million euros, but shift the balance slightly from grants -- down from 500 million to 450 million -- to loans, which rise from 250 million to 300 million, according to a document seen by AFP.

"The ratio of grants versus loans simply has to be different," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told reporters.

To further entice Austria, the Netherlands and the other "frugals" -- Sweden and Denmark -- Michel promised to hike the rebates they get on their EU contributions.

"That's not quite enough for us. We want a bit more, but the direction is a good one," Kurz said.

But the "frugals" are not the only problem. What EU officials call the "Rule of Law" issue will also be a stumbling block. 

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- backed by Poland -- could yet veto any attempt to tie budget funds to states upholding European legal standards. 

"No political pre-conditions can be accepted," said Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for Orban.

And the rescue package is in addition to the planned seven-year EU budget -- worth more than one trillion euros -- that the leaders must also discuss if and when they agree the rescue package.

'It's a hoax'
For Davey, a resident of the city of Huntington Beach in southern California, the requirement to wear a mask to curb the spread of coronavirus is not something he takes seriously.

"It's a hoax," the 51-year-old told AFP as he exited a clothing store maskless, referring to a state rule that people in most public places wear face coverings.

"The more you test people, the more you come up with new cases," he said, echoing words from President Donald Trump as he attempted to explain the record number of infections recently recorded in California and several other states.

Davey is not the only resident of this city in Orange County, which has a large Republican presence, to revolt against lockdowns and mask rules.

"It's my constitutional, God-given right not to wear a mask," said Davey, who declined to give his last name.

While the number of COVID-19 cases in Orange County has not exploded like in some particularly hard-hit cities across the country's south and west, the disease's incidence is still worrisome.

An employee at a nearby shop said many business owners had given up trying to ensure mask compliance, given how sensitive the issue has become.

"We had a lot of protests against beach closures and masks here," said the employee, who did not wish to be named. "Basically, a lot of shops around here are doing what they can not to lose customers."

Few people encountered along city streets on a recent afternoon wore masks.

Among them was Tracy, a 25-year-old walking back from the beach carrying her surfboard.

She said she initially tried to convince friends to wear masks but eventually gave up.

"It sometimes ended up quickly in a fight," she said. "I don't know why, but the issue is totally sensitive. I decided to let it go."

- 'New behavior for Americans' -
Controversy over the issue prompted the county's chief health officer, Nichole Quick, to resign last month after weeks of defending her countywide face mask order.

Her successor scrapped the mandate, saying that masks would be "strongly recommended," not required.

Meanwhile, County Sheriff Don Barnes has said he won't enforce the statewide mask order, opting instead for "education first."

Wendy Wood, a psychology professor at the University of Southern California, compared the pushback against masks to the opposition that emerged when laws first required the use of seat belts.

"This is a new behavior for most Americans," she told AFP. "And you can think of it like seat belts."

Complicating the face mask issue, Wood acknowledged, is the mixed messaging that has come from local, state and particularly the federal government.

"It's become politicized and actually has come to represent your political orientation," she said, with Democrats more inclined to follow the mask-wearing exhortations from health experts like top US infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci, and Republicans more likely to be influenced by Trump's skepticism and mixed signals on masks.

UK reluctant to use lockdown again

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will only impose another nationwide coronavirus lockdown as a last resort, comparing the tool to "a nuclear deterrent" in a Sunday newspaper interview.

Johnson, who is hoping Britain can return to "normality" by Christmas despite fears of a second wave of cases over winter, insisted the country was getting better at tackling the virus. 

The UK has been among the worst-hit countries in the world by COVID-19, registering the highest death toll in Europe.

Meanwhile, its economy has been battered by a months-long lockdown that has only been gradually eased over recent weeks -- and which Johnson is desperate to repair by avoiding another national shutdown. 

"I can't abandon that tool any more than I would abandon a nuclear deterrent," he told the Daily Telegraph in a wide-ranging interview to mark the end of his first year in Downing Street. 

"But it is like a nuclear deterrent, I certainly don't want to use it.  And nor do I think we will be in that position again."

Johnson insisted health authorities were "getting much better at spotting the disease and isolating it locally" while also learning more about who it affects most and how it is spread.



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