Europe’s death toll tops 75,000
Billions around the world celebrated Easter Sunday from lockdown at home as the European death toll from the virus topped 75,000 despite cautious hope that the pandemic is slowing in the continent.
More than half the world -- over four billion people -- are in lockdown worldwide as governments scramble to halt the pandemic's deadly march across the globe.
The death toll from the virus soared past 110,000, with more than 1.7 million reported infections globally.
Europe is by far the hardest-hit continent and yesterday marked a grave milestone with more than 75,000 dead, according to an AFP tally.
The United States was quickly emerging as a hotspot as well, and on Saturday marked its own grim landmark: more than 20,000 dead, out of around half a million infected.
The US now has the highest death toll and the most cases out of any country in the world.
In Britain, the death toll continued to mount and fatalities are likely to soon top 10,000.
Virus-stricken Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from hospital yesterday after he was admitted for coronavirus last Sunday, and spent three days in intensive care.
He praised his medical team Sunday before he left hospital.
"I can't thank them enough. I owe them my life," said 55-year-old Johnson.
Unprecedented scenes of empty churches emerged from Italy to Panama and the Philippines, as religious leaders found creative ways to address parishioners marking the holiday weekend from the confines of their homes.
Speaking from a near-empty Saint Paul's Cathedral, Pope Francis' Easter Sunday message was largely focused on the pandemic, offering prayers for the ill and urging a united European front to fight the pandemic.
"For many, this is an Easter of solitude lived amid the sorrow and hardship that the pandemic is causing, from physical suffering to economic difficulties," he said, in a livestreamed message beamed around the world.
He called for European "solidarity" in the face of the virus, adding: "After the Second World War, this beloved continent was able to rise again."
As virus-tinged Easter celebrations were held worldwide, leaders in some hard-hit countries expressed cautious optimism the number of deaths and infections could be starting to peak.
Spain saw its daily death toll drop for three days straight -- but reported a slight spike again with 619 fresh fatalities.
And though Italy was nearing the 20,000 dead mark, its daily death toll and rate of new infections has started to level off.
In France, newly reported coronavirus deaths fell by one-third from Friday to 635 on Saturday.
"A very high plateau for the epidemic appears to have been reached, but the epidemic remains very active," said French health official Jerome Salomon, urging people to remain vigilant.
In the United States, New Orleans and hardest hit New York saw a slowdown in the number of new infections, deaths and hospitalisations, offer a shred of hope.
There were worrying signs the virus could be taking hold in new -- and vulnerable -- parts of the world, from the crowded slums of Mexico City, Nairobi and Mumbai to conflict hotspots in the Middle East.
In Mumbai's crowded Dharavi slum -- one of Asia's biggest and the inspiration for the 2008 Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" -- more than 43 cases were confirmed.
Many experts and the World Health Organization are cautioning countries against lifting lockdown measures too quickly to avoid a second wave of infections.
China, where the virus first emerged at the end of last year in the central city of Wuhan, has seen in increase in imported infections as it starts to ease strict lockdown measures.
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