Global coronavirus death toll crosses 150,000

The global death toll from coronavirus surged past 150,000 Friday.

COVID-19 fatalities mounted in the United States and hard-hit Western Europe countries, but fresh data on rising infections and deaths in Africa showed the virus is leaving no continent uscathed in its global march.

More than half of humanity — 4.5 billion people — were confined to their homes, with evidence mounting of social distancing´s success in slowing the pandemic.

But widespread nervousness remained over when and how to ease confinement measures to revive the world economy, battered by what the International Monetary Fund has dubbed the “Great Lockdown.”

2.2 million cases worldwide

More than 2.2 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in 193 countries and territories, according to figures collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The figures probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections however, because many countries are testing only the most serious cases.

For example, a new Stanford University study testing Silicon Valley residents for viral antibodies suggested that the true number of COVID-19 infections was at least 50 times higher than the official figure.

The daily number of confirmed deaths across the globe remained high at over 8,800. Out of more than 150,000 total deaths since the outbreak erupted, the United States has recorded 36,773, Italy 22,745, Spain 19,478 and France 18,681.

Illustrating the increasing threat in countries less in focus, Africa reported its 1,000th death on Friday.

China meanwhile raised its estimate of deaths to 4,636 on Friday. That came after it increased the official toll for the city of Wuhan by 1,290 — a precise 50% — to 3,869.

Vulnerable economies

Signs of the economic damage of the pandemic also mounted.

China reported Friday its GDP shrank 6.8% in the first quarter, the first contraction since quarterly growth data started in the early 1990s.

Lockdown measures were starting to pinch some of the world’s most vulnerable economies.

Tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe fear a delayed start to the normally busy auction season, the lifeblood for thousands of growers in impoverished rural regions, due to lockdown measures.

“This year our harvest hasn´t been good at all,” farmer Shaw Mutalepo told AFP, as workers in face masks crunched cured leaves into large bales.

In Washington, the Trump administration announced another $19 billion in relief for farmers, who have been hit by a massive shift in food consumption with schools and restaurants shuttered across the country.

“Having to dump milk and plow under vegetables ready to market is not only financially distressing, but it’s heartbreaking as well to those who produce them,” Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said.

Some $3 billion will be used to buy up surplus dairy products and produce that farmers have been destroying, unable to get it to consumers or food processors.

Meanwhile the IMF and World Bank said that Africa needs another $44 billion to fight the pandemic, even after a freeze in debt payments for many countries and massive support pledges.