According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than a million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally on April 2, 2020.
This is another grim milestone as the world grapples with the spreading pandemic.
More than 51,000 people have died and more than 208,000 have recovered.
The US accounts for the most cases and Italy has the highest death toll.
Covid-19 first emerged in central China three months ago.
Though the tally kept by Johns Hopkins records one million confirmed cases, the actual number is thought to be much higher.
It took a month and a half for the first 100,000 cases to be registered, but one million was reached after a doubling in cases over the past week.
Nearly a quarter of cases have been registered in the US, while Europe accounts for around half.
On April 2, Spain said 950 people had died in the previous 24 hours – thought to be the highest number of deaths of any country in one day.
The number of confirmed Spanish cases rose from 102,136 on April 1 to 110,238 – an 8% rise that is similar to the rate recorded in previous days. Spanish authorities believe the virus is now peaking and say they expect to see a drop in figures in the days ahead.
Spain is the second-worst hit nation in terms of deaths. It has also lost nearly 900,000 jobs.
Italy’s worst-hit region of Lombardy has
introduced stricter measures in a bid to tackle the spread of coronavirus.
Under the new rules announced on March 21, sport and physical activity
outside, even individually, is banned. Using vending machines is forbidden.
The move comes as Italy reported nearly 800 coronavirus deaths on March 21
and saw its toll for the past month reach 4,825, the highest in the world.
Lombardy is the worst-affected region in the country with 3,095 deaths.
The region’s President Attilio Fontana announced the new measures in a
statement.
Businesses have been asked to close all operations excluding “essential”
supply chains. Work on building sites will be stopped apart from those working
on hospitals, roads and railways.
Across Italy there have been 53,578 total cases to date, with about 6,000
people having recovered.
The region of Lombardy has been under a lockdown since March 8 and the
government had hoped to see results there first.
On March 21, Italian PM Giuseppe Conte ordered the closure of all
“non-essential” businesses in the country. However, the prime
minister did not specify which businesses would be considered essential.
Supermarkets, pharmacies, post offices and banks will remain open and public
transport will continue to run.
During a TV address to the nation, PM Conte said: “We will slow down the country’s productive engine, but we will
not stop it.”
He described the situation as “the most difficult crisis in our
post-war period”.
Despite the measures introduced so
far, the number of new cases and deaths in Italy has continued to grow.
Meanwhile, Spain’s health ministry
has reported a 32% spike in new deaths from Covid-19 with 1,326 confirmed
deaths, the second highest in Europe after Italy.
In a news conference on March 21, PM
Pedro Sánchez warned “the worst is yet to come” and that “very
difficult days lay ahead”.
The Spanish government has issued a
lockdown for some 46 million people who are only allowed to leave their homes
for essential work, food shopping, medical reasons or to walk the dog.
Global cases pass 300,000 with more than 13,000 deaths around the world; 92,000 people have recovered.
In an unprecedented move, the
European Union will ban travelers from outside the bloc for 30 days in order to
seal its borders amid the coronavirus crisis.
The measure is expected to apply to
26 EU states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. UK
citizens will be unaffected.
The travel ban came as deaths
continued to soar in Italy and Spain, and France began a strict lockdown.
Europe, which is now the “epicenter
of pandemic”, has been badly hit by the coronavirus, which has killed 7,500
globally.
Meanwhile, the Euro 2020 soccer
championship has been postponed by a year.
According to the WHO, the virus has
infected more than 185,000 people worldwide.
The travel ban will affect all
non-EU nationals from visiting the bloc, except long-term residents, family
members of EU nationals and diplomats, cross-border and healthcare workers, and
people transporting goods.
Free travel is a cherished principle
within the European border-free Schengen area. However, in recent days many
countries have unilaterally imposed full or partial border shutdowns in a bid
to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
This prompted the EU Commission to
propose that the bloc act in a more unified fashion and restrict entry to the
union as a whole, at the urging of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The measures were agreed in a video-summit between EU leaders on March 17
and will now have to be implemented by member states.
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference: “They said they will immediately do
that.
“This is good, so that we have a
unanimous and united approach [where] the external borders are concerned.”
The UK and the Republic of Ireland – which is part of the EU but not Schengen – will be invited to join the measure.
Italy is now facing its biggest crisis since World War Two. The government
has pledged to spend €25 billion ($28 billion) to tackle it – three times more
than it estimated it would need just a week ago. The economy is now expected to
slide into deep recession.
However, the foreign minister sounded a note of optimism, with a message to
the international community that “Italy will make it and Europe will make
it – I’m sure”.
He offered to share the experience and knowledge that the Italian government
had built up since the outbreak began with any country that needed it.
Italy has now seen 1,016 deaths, amid a total number 15,113 infections.
Civil protection officials say 1,258 have recovered, although the number of cases
has gone up by 2,651 since March 11. Italy is the world’s worst-hit country
after China.
Countries across the world have grounded flights to Italy or banned entry to
Italians or anyone travelling from Italy. Austria and Slovenia are placing
restrictions on their borders with Italy.
Italian nationals living in other countries have also reported individual
acts of hostility towards them, deplored by the foreign minister as
“unacceptable discrimination”, prompting “interventions”
from his government.
A handful of politicians here have been infected with the virus or are in
preventative self-isolation, including the leader of the Democratic Party, part
of the governing coalition.
Italian authorities say it could take two weeks for the impact of the
restrictions to be seen on the coronavirus outbreak nationwide, which is still
surging in towns and cities outside the initial red zone.
It is placing exceptional strain on Italy’s healthcare system – one of the
best in Europe.
The government has named a new commissioner to deal with the virus, Domenico Arcuri. He will co-ordinate the program to resupply hospitals with equipment they urgently need.
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