China leaders celebrate Covid-19 success

China's leaders yesterday held a triumphant ceremony to celebrate beating the coronavirus, as billions of people around the world still suffer the fallout from the pandemic and the global death toll nears 900,000.

The upbeat mood in Beijing comes as concerns grow about a resurgence of Covid-19 across Europe, with France tightening restrictions, cases in Britain spiking and schools resuming around the region in recent days.

Worldwide infections to date now stand at more than 27 million and over 893,000 people have died from the disease, with the pandemic showing no sign of peaking.

But in China the virus has been all but banished through a combination of lockdowns and travel restrictions earlier in the year that have officials touting the nation as a coronavirus success story.

President Xi Jinping said China had passed "an extraordinary and historic test" during an awards ceremony for medical professionals decorated with bugle calls and applause.

"We quickly achieved initial success in the people's war against the coronavirus," Xi said.

"We are leading the world in economic recovery and in the fight against Covid-19."

Xi had stern words for China's doubters, saying "selfish moves, any buck-passing and deeds that confuse right and wrong" risked inflicting damage across the world.

Beijing is also touting progress on its vaccines as a sign of global leadership and resilience.

China put its homegrown Covid-19 vaccines on display for the first time at a Beijing trade fair this week and authorities hope the jabs will be approved for use by year-end.

The vaccines are among nearly 10 worldwide to enter phase 3 trials, typically the last step ahead of regulatory approval, as countries race to stub out an illness that continues to ravage large parts of the globe.

EUROPE SUFFERS

Spain on Monday became the first country in Western Europe to pass half a million infections. The nation had largely gained control over its outbreak but cases have surged since restrictions were removed at the end of June.

In neighbouring Morocco, the government shut all schools and imposed a lockdown on Casablanca on the day classes were supposed to resume after cases surged in the city.

Officials said the virus risked overwhelming the North African country if it was not controlled, but some parents were left fuming, reports AFP.

"They were on cloud nine over returning to school tomorrow," one father wrote of his children on Twitter.

"How do you explain this to a six-year-old and an eight-year-old?"

And in England, officials fiddled with overseas quarantine rules again, imposing curbs on travellers from seven Greek islands popular with holidaymakers, after Britain at the weekend registered a level of infection not seen since late May.

In Asia, India recorded its highest daily deaths from coronavirus in more than a month yesterday, even as new infections slowed, data from the health ministry showed.

The health ministry said 1,133 people had died of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, the highest since July, taking total mortalities to 72,775. But new daily cases were at 75,809, the lowest in a week.

The country's top tourist attraction the Taj Mahal was set to reopen on September 21, more than six months after closing down, said officials.

"All Covid-19 protocols, like physical distancing, masks, will be followed,"  Uttar Pradesh state's Tourism Department deputy director Amit Srivastava said.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday the world must be better prepared for the next pandemic, as he called on countries to invest in public health.

"This will not be the last pandemic," Tedros told a news briefing in Geneva. "History teaches us that outbreaks and pandemics are a fact of life. But when the next pandemic comes, the world must be ready – more ready than it was this time."

In Syria, more than 40 members of UN staff and their families have caught the coronavirus, a UN official said, warning the illness was spreading in the war-torn country.

Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said three people had to be medically evacuated, but most of the others had only "mild" symptoms.