Coronavirus: Global confirmed death toll passes 250,000
Grim milestone comes as world races to develop vaccine
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Your support makes all the difference.The global death toll from coronavirus has surpassed 250,000, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.
The grim milestone came amid efforts by a number of the worst-hit countries to ease some of the stringent lockdown measures intended to slow the spread of the virus.
The US has the highest confirmed toll, with nearly 69,000, followed by Italy, the UK, Spain and France, who have all recorded between 25,000 and 29,000 deaths.
In total, there have been more than 3.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, of which almost a third have been in the US, and 251,580 confirmed deaths.
But deliberately concealed outbreaks, low testing rates and the strain on health care systems mean the true scale of the pandemic is much greater.
More than 110 days have passed since the first death was reported in Wuhan, China, on 10 January. It took 91 days for the global death toll to pass 100,000, 16 days to reach 200,000, and a further nine days to reach a quarter of a million.
The crisis has prompted an alliance of world leaders to hold a virtual summit on Monday in which they will discuss funding for a vaccine as well as developing better treatments and more efficient testing.
People in many countries across the globe, and notably in Europe this week, are cautiously returning to work, but authorities remain wary of a second wave of infections, and a vaccine is the only real silver bullet to allow something like normal life to resume.
The video-conference’s aim is to gather around €4bn (£3.5bn) for vaccine research, some €2bn (£1.75bn) for treatments and €1.5bn (£1.32bn) for testing. Officials say that amount is just the start, as much more will be needed in the months ahead to scale up production and distribution.
In a statement ahead of the meeting, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Norway and top European Union (EU) officials said the money raised will be channeled mostly through recognised global health organisations. No new structure would be set up to handle the funds raised.
“If we can develop a vaccine that is produced by the world, for the whole world, this will be an unique global public good of the 21st century. Together with our partners, we commit to making it available, accessible and affordable to all,” the leaders said.
Leaders from Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Jordan, South Africa and Turkey are also due to speak, along with China’s EU ambassador.
The EU had been in contact with the White House and was keen for the US, where more than 67,000 people have died, to take part but no US official will speak at the event.
Additional reporting by AP
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