A-listers including the Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift, Stevie Wonder and teen superstar Billie Eilish entertained fans with a six-hour online extravaganza celebrating healthcare workers. AFP
Coronavirus deaths surged past 100,000 in Europe as the world’s top musicians joined forces for a virtual concert, hoping to spread cheer to billions stuck at home under lockdown.
A-listers including the Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift, Stevie Wonder and teen superstar Billie Eilish entertained fans with a six-hour online extravaganza celebrating healthcare workers.
The event, set up by advocacy group Global Citizen with the World Health Organisation, aimed to cultivate a sense of community during the pandemic, which has ravaged the global economy with nearly 2.3 million confirmed infections in total.
At least 157,000 people have been killed by Covid-19 with two-thirds of the deaths in Europe, an AFP tally shows, and nearly a quarter of fatalities in the US, the worst-hit country.
The US has the highest caseload of any country, with more than 735,000 confirmed infections, and by Sunday had lost 38,910 people to the virus, a tally from Johns Hopkins University shows.
Progress was marked in some places, with New York state reporting the lowest number of deaths in weeks, which Governor Andrew Cuomo attributed largely to social distancing.
Mounting evidence suggests that social distancing slowed the pandemic after more than half of humanity – 4.5 billion people – were confined to their homes.
Stay-at-home orders have been enforced in Italy and Spain, both still the hardest-hit countries in Europe, with death tolls over 20,000, followed by France, which has recorded more than 19,000 fatalities.
As governments around the world grapple with when and how to ease lockdowns, Spain on Saturday extended its nationwide shutdown to May 9.
Mexico, Japan and Britain have all expanded their movement restrictions.
Yet elsewhere, signs that the outbreak could be easing prompted Switzerland, Denmark and Finland to begin reopening shops and schools this week.
Germany has declared the virus “under control” after 3,400 deaths and is beginning the delicate task of lifting some restrictions without triggering a secondary outbreak – with some shops allowed to reopen Monday, and some children returning to school within weeks.
Iran also allowed some Tehran businesses to reopen on Saturday despite the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak.
“How can I keep staying at home? My family is hungry,” said Hamdollah Mahmoudi, 45, a shopworker in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar.
Meanwhile, many of the world’s 260 million Orthodox Christians are preparing to mark Easter without attending church services.
In Zimbabwe, mass rallies and military parades to mark the country’s 40th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule were cancelled.
Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II will not mark her birthday on Tuesday with a traditional gun salute.
Vietnam has detected no new cases of Covid-19 for three consecutive days, the National Steering Committee on Covid-19 Prevention and Control announced on Sunday morning, reported Viet Nam News.
The total number of people who have contracted coronavirus in the country remains at 268, with 201 of those making a full recovery.
Currently, there are 67 patients in hospital with the virus. Of those, 14 have recorded one negative test and six have twice tested negative.
There are 62,998 people currently in quarantine nationwide, with 279 people monitored at hospitals, 11,338 people at health centres or other establishments and 51,381 people are self-quarantined at home.
Meanwhile, Laos’ Ministry of Education and Sports announced on Friday that all schools and tertiary centres of education will remain closed from April 22 to May 3 as part of government efforts to curb the Covid-19 outbreak, reported Vientiane Times.
While all places of education are temporarily closed, the Ministry of Education and Sports will continue to organise online teaching and learning.
In Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province, medical staff of Sa Kaeo Crown Prince Hospital led by hospital director Dr Surasit Jitpitak on Friday bid farewell to the last Covid-19 patient who was treated at the hospital, as he had fully recovered, reported The Nation.
He was the last patient under treatment in the province – across the border from Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey and Battambang provinces, and his recovery means Sa Kaeo currently has zero active cases of Covid-19. The accumulated number of confirmed cases in the province stands at 10.
