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GENEVA: The coronavirus may never go away, and populations will have to learn to live with it just as they have HIV, the World Health Organization warned, as the global number of deaths from the disease approaches 300,000.
There were also bleak forecasts from the United States Federal Reserve, which said that prolonged closures to stop the spread of the virus could cause lasting economic damage in the United States.
Washington increased tensions over the pandemic by accusing China of trying to steal research into a vaccine, while United States President Donald Trump increased the rhetoric with a colorful phrase that could anger Beijing.
“We just made a great trade deal, the ink was barely dry and the world was hit by the Chinese plague. 100 trade deals wouldn’t make up the difference, and all those innocent lives lost! Trump tweeted.
The United States recorded more than 1,800 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the nation’s total to 84,059.
The president has increasingly sought to blame China, where the virus first emerged late last year.
Two US security agencies. USA They piled up more pressure on Beijing on Wednesday by saying that Chinese hackers were trying to steal treatment-related intellectual property.
“China’s efforts to target these sectors pose a significant threat to our nation’s response to Covid-19,” said the FBI and the Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Security Agency (CISA).
Neither agency offered evidence to support the accusation.
“It may never go away”
A vaccine could allow countries and economies to completely reopen from blockades and potentially earn millions of dollars for their creators.
But the WHO said the virus can never be completely removed.
“This virus can become another endemic virus in our communities and this virus will never go away,” said Michael Ryan, director of emergencies for the global health body in Geneva.
“HIV has not disappeared, but we have come to terms with the virus.”
The possibility of the disease wandering leaves governments around the world facing a delicate balancing act between suppressing the pathogen and kick-starting economies.
Trump has been pushing for a rapid resumption of economic activity in the United States, often against the advice of health officials, as he tries to boost the world’s largest economy ahead of the November election.
Chief infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said the reopening too soon runs the risk of triggering uncontrollable outbreaks, but the president on Wednesday rejected the caution call as “not acceptable.”
In an excerpt from an interview with Fox Business aired entirely on Thursday, Trump said: “I totally disagree with him in schools.”
On Wednesday, tensions between health and the economy were sharply relieved when Federal Reserve chief Jay Powell warned of a possible “wave of bankruptcies” that could cause lasting damage to the world’s largest economy.
Powell, who launched a series of key programs to support credit markets and provide funds directly to companies, said there are limits to how far the Fed can go.
“We can make loans to creditworthy companies,” Powell said, but warned that “the passage of time is all it takes for a liquidity problem to become a solvency problem.”
Border controls
The reopening continued across Europe, with officials pushing plans to restore summer tourism, even as fears of a second wave of infections persist.
Desperate to save millions of jobs, the European Union put forward proposals for a gradual restart of travel, with border controls eventually to be lifted, along with measures to minimize transmission.
Some beaches reopened in France on Wednesday, but only for swimming and fishing, and people in England were allowed to leave their homes more freely.
But in Latin America, the virus continued to increase, with a 60% jump in infections in the Chilean capital of Santiago, which led the authorities to impose a total blockade on the city.
In Argentina, officials watched Buenos Aires cautiously after one of its poorest and most densely populated neighborhoods showed an increase in cases.
Sick rejected
Health experts have warned of potentially devastating consequences as the virus spreads throughout the developing world, where medical systems are underfunded and effective quarantine is often not possible.
In northern Nigeria, concern that the virus is spreading has even seen hospitals close their doors to the sick.
Official Binta Mohammed said she had to see her husband die of “diabetic complications.”
“The four private hospitals we took him to refused to admit him for fear that he had the virus,” he said.
But there were also bright spots in the battle.
Mauricio declared a temporary victory against the virus, saying he had “zero” patients and had not documented a single new case in 17 days.
The Indian Ocean island nation had initially outstripped other East African countries in terms of workload, peaking at 332 six weeks after its outbreak.
Ten people died.
But after one of the strictest blockades in Africa, the country has changed course.
“We have won the battle thanks to the cooperation of the public,” said Health Minister Kailesh Jagutpal.
“But we have not yet won the war.”
