West declares war on virus

Western powers said they were on a war footing against the coronavirus as they unleashed nearly one trillion dollars to rescue the global economy, with Italy reporting the highest single-day death toll of the pandemic.

The spiraling crises in Europe, the United States, and other countries contrast sharply with the improving situation in China.

China on Thursday reported zero new domestic cases for the first time since the outbreak first erupted in the central city of Wuhan in December.

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First recorded death

Sub-Saharan Africa has recorded its first COVID-19 death, a high-ranking politician in Burkina Faso said, as the head of the World Health Organization urged the continent to “prepare for the worst.”

“Africa should wake up,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday, pointing out that “in other countries, we have seen how the virus actually accelerates after a certain tipping point”.

Africa has lagged behind the global curve for coronavirus infections and deaths, but in the past few days has seen a significant rise in cases.

Lockdown

Some 500 million people have been subject to lockdown measures around the world because of the coronavirus outbreak that started in China and has quickly ballooned globally, according to an AFP count.

From China to the Czech Republic to Venezuela, governments have told their citizens to stay indoors to try and slow the spread of the pandemic.

Milestone

China on Thursday marked a major milestone in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic as it recorded zero domestic infections for the first time since the outbreak emerged, but a spike in imported cases threatened its progress.

The stark reversal comes as nations across the world have shut down in a desperate effort to contain the pandemic, with more people now infected and having died abroad than in China.

There were no new cases in Wuhan”•the central city where the virus first emerged in December”•for the first time since authorities started publishing figures in January, according to the National Health Commission.

First members

Two US lawmakers, including a Florida representative, on Wednesday, became the first members of Congress to announce they have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart’s office said in a statement that “just a short while ago, he was notified that he has tested positive for COVID-19.”

The Republican who represents part of Miami follows that city’s Mayor Francis Suarez, who announced that he had tested positive for coronavirus last week.

‘Authoritative’ content

Facebook said Wednesday it would place “authoritative” coronavirus content at the top of user feeds as it scrambled to keep up with increased usage and stem the flow of misinformation on its platform and WhatsApp messaging.

The leading social network said it has nearly doubled server capacity to power WhatsApp as people in isolation place more voice and video calls using the popular messaging service. 

Facebook also donated $1 million to the International Fact-Checking Network to expand the presence of local fact-checkers and curb misinformation on WhatsApp said Facebook head of health Kang-Xing Jin.

“Teams are hard at work to make sure all the services run smoothly because this is clearly a time when people want to stay connected,” Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said while updating reporters on the company’s efforts. 

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