Coronavirus Pandemic: Latest Update (April 6, 2020)
As the Covid-19 pandemic makes it terrifying march around the globe, ravaging the economy along with it, we are at a point where things could still get worse before they get better.
There was some positive news to be heard this weekend, with the situation in Italy and Spain appearing to stabilize. But as widespread lockdowns continue in much of the developed world, many people are beginning to ask if the economic damage could be more painful than the virus itself.
More than 1.3 million cases have now been confirmed worldwide with close to 73,000 deaths (as of 18:00 BST, April 6).
In the United Kingdom, there were 439 new cases on Monday, bringing the total to more than 51,000 cases - including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was hospitalized Sunday and taken into intensive care Monday evening, the BBC reported.
"Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital," a spokesperson said in a statement quoted by the BBC.
Mr. Johnson is the first G7 leader to contract the virus.
According to modeling by the Financial Times (see graph below), the UK appears on similar path to Italy, suggesting ~2 weeks from peak daily deaths.
In the United States, Americans brace to face a "Pearl Harbour moment" this week as deaths increase, the surgeon general warned. The country is now recording more daily deaths than any country in the world since outbreaks began, and according to the FT, is on a much steeper slope than Italy was at this stage. It could have the highest total death toll globally within a week.
“The challenge is to make sure we don’t lose anyone who could have been saved if our healthcare system was operating fully”
As of Monday 13:00ET, the US surpassed the grim milestone of 10,000 coronavirus deaths, CNN reported. There are now at least 347,000 cases in the US.
“The challenge is to make sure we don't lose anyone who could have been saved if our healthcare system was operating fully," said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who presides over the US Covid-19 epicentre.
A worrisome development in Singapore - where the case load is spiking even though the country took early and aggressive action. After keeping cases to below 200, the city state announced 65 new cases on Monday, bringing the total to 1375. Because many new infections occurred in workers’ dormitories, its has ordered several thousand migrant workers into mandatory quarantine.
The number of cases in Hong Kong is also on the rise, reaching 914 on Monday. The territory moved only on Friday to shut bars and pubs for 14 days. People who violate the measures are subject to a maximum fine of US$6,400 and imprisonment for six months. Hong Kong has also shut its airport to foreigners indefinitely after it was determined that most cases over the past two weeks have come from overseas.
Elsewhere:
SPAIN: The daily number of deaths in Spain has fallen for a fourth consecutive day. Monday’s figure of 637 is the lowest recorded since 24 March.
AUSTRIA: Chancellor delays plan to ease lockdown
ITALY: The death toll there is the highest in the world, standing at 15,887. But infections and daily deaths are dipping, and the number of people in intensive care in Lombardy - the worst affected region in Italy - is decreasing.
FRANCE: reports 833 deaths in 24 hours, its highest since the outbreak began. The French Economy and Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire has warned that the country is facing its worst post-war economic downturn since the end of World War Two - surpassing the -2.2% slump that followed the 2009 global financial crisis.
JAPAN: Japan is to declare a state of emergency in the capital Tokyo and six other regions as soon as Tuesday in an attempt to tackle the rapid spread of coronavirus. The country has not implemented social distancing measures and is suspected of classifying Covid-19 cases as pneumonia.
Except for a handful of US states, most Americans are under shelter-at-home orders.
Several countries, including Germany, are looking at loosening lockdowns as soon as next week. And over the weekend, US President Donald Trump again suggested that the US economy cannot tolerate widespread lockdowns for much longer - saying the US wasn’t built to be shut down.
Almost 90 per cent of the world’s students - that’s more than 1.5 billion children and young people - are now affected by nationwide school closures, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday.
A senior WHO official also said Monday that governments needs to proceed cautiously when lifting lockdowns - including at schools. It is unadvisable to make a sudden change, said Dr. Mike Ryan, adding that a “step-wise approach’ is the best option.
Dr. Ryan said that if 100 per cent of hospital beds are occupied with Covid-19 cases, countries should wait until they have free beds in the system. He added that some of the most damaging lockdowns are in developing countries, where many people live “hand-to-mouth” and not even ‘pay cheque-to-pay cheque.”
According to data sourced from Google, a FT journalist found that people in the US and in the UK “are still going out more than those in locked-down European countries” - including to parks and retail and entertainment venues.
The WHO’s Dr. Mike Ryan
As governments move quickly to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, it has emerged that several authoritarian leaders - from Hungary to Turkey to parts of Africa - are using the crisis to tilt the playing field in their favour. Draconian measures - such as suspending elections or regulating the flow of information - have been introduced with no expiration dates.
As I argued in my recent CNN Opinion OpEd:
“If the international community stays silent while people's rights are being eroded, it sends a worrisome signal to strongmen from Brazil to Hungary that major rollbacks of civil liberties are acceptable. Worse, it gives them little motivation to repeal the measures once the public health emergency ends.
“Strongmen may be deaf toward their constituents' pot-banging. But when threats of targeted and well-coordinated economic sanctions, especially aimed at those reliant on devalued petrol dollars and expulsion from coveted clubs, are dangled in front of them, it can help protect the hard-won liberties of citizens whose voices have been temporarily silenced by lockdowns, quarantines, illness and death.
“The worst collateral damage from the Covid-19 pandemic is that states and leaders emerge from this with the feeling they have unchecked powers for the foreseeable future.”
Finally, as many of us endure lockdowns, quarantine and stay-at-home orders, an inspirational message from Vivianne Kieffer, a Poland-based executive coach and equality advocate. “I do not know a moment in history when a huge part of humanity has been asked to stay home…There is a lot of isolation and feeling alone..but it is up to us to understand that we can still achieve our bigger purpose in life.
“This lockdown might help us to understand who we want to become and how we can achieve it.”
Sources: FT, BBC, CNN, Twitter