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PARIS: More than a million people have died from coronavirus, according to a AFP toll, after the deadly disease emerged less than a year ago in China and spread around the world.
The pandemic has devastated the global economy, stoked geopolitical tensions and disrupted lives, from Indian slums and jungles of Brazil to the largest city in the United States, New York.
Sports, live entertainment and international travel came to a halt when fans, the public and tourists were forced to stay home, kept indoors by strict measures imposed to curb the spread of the virus.
The drastic controls that put half of humanity, more than four billion people, under some form of lockdown in April initially slowed their pace, but since the restrictions were eased, cases have skyrocketed again.
On Sunday 2230 GMT (6:30 a.m. Malaysia time) the disease had claimed 1,000,009 victims of the 33,018,877 registered infections, according to a AFP count using official sources.
The United States has the highest death toll with more than 200,000 deaths, followed by Brazil, India, Mexico and Great Britain.
For Italian trucker Carlo Chiodi, those grim numbers include his parents, whom he says he lost within days of each other.
“What I find difficult to accept is that I saw my father leave the house, get into the ambulance and all I could say was ‘goodbye’,” said Chiodi, 50.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say ‘I love you’ and I’m sorry I didn’t hug you. That still hurts, ”he said. AFP.
With scientists still racing to find a vaccine that works, governments are again forced into an uncomfortable balancing act: Virus controls slow the spread of the disease, but hurt already faltering economies and businesses.
The IMF warned earlier this year that economic turmoil could cause a “crisis like no other” as world GDP collapsed.
Europe, hit hard by the first wave, is now facing another surge in cases, with Paris, London and Madrid forced to introduce controls for the slow infections that threaten to overwhelm hospitals.
Masks and social distancing in shops, cafes, and public transportation are now part of everyday life in many cities.
Mid-September saw a record rise in cases in most regions and the World Health Organization warned that virus deaths could even double to two million without further global collective action.
“One million is a terrible number and we must think about that before we start considering a second million,” WHO emergency director Michael Ryan told reporters.
“Are we collectively prepared to do whatever it takes to avoid that number?”
Waking up to Covid-19
The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease known as Covid-19 made its first known appearance in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, ground zero of the outbreak.
How it got there is not yet clear, but scientists believe it originated in bats and could have been transmitted to people through another mammal.
Wuhan was shut down in January as other countries stared in disbelief at China’s draconian controls, even as they went about business as usual.
By March 11, the virus had appeared in more than 100 countries and the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, expressing concern about “alarming levels of inaction.”
Patrick Vogt, a GP in Mulhouse, a city that became the epicenter of the outbreak in France in March, said he realized the coronavirus was everywhere when doctors started getting sick, some died.
“We saw people in our practice who had really big breathing problems, young and not so young that they were exhausted,” he said. “We had no therapeutic solution.”
Frustrations, protests
The virus also did not spare the rich or famous this year.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a week in the hospital.
Madonna tested positive after a tour of France, as did Tom Hanks and his wife, who recovered and returned to Los Angeles after quarantine in Australia.
The Tokyo Olympics, the famous Rio Carnival and the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca are among the main events postponed or interrupted by the pandemic. Premier League football has restarted but with empty stadiums.
The French Open tennis tournament is limiting its audience to 1,000 per day.
Israel has once again been completely blockaded and the vulnerable in Moscow have been ordered to stay home.
As restrictions tighten, protests and anger mount as companies worry about their survival and people become frustrated with their jobs and families in the face of another round of lockdown measures.
Anti-blockade protesters and police clashed in central London on Saturday when officers dispersed thousands in a demonstration.
“This is the last straw. We were starting to recover, ”said Patrick Labourrasse, a restaurant owner in Aix-en-Provence, a French city near Marseille that is again forced to close bars and restaurants.
However, along with the confusion, there is some hope, as Wuhan appears to have brought the disease under control.
“Life has returned to the kind of taste we had before,” said resident An An. “Everyone who lives in Wuhan feels at ease.”
And the IMF says the economic outlook looks better now than in June, even if it remains “very challenging.”
Crucially, nine vaccine candidates are in late-stage clinical trials, with the hope that some will be rolled out next year, although questions remain as to how and when they will be distributed worldwide. – AFP
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