The United States recorded 1,920 deaths related to the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, while China recorded its highest daily toll of imported virus cases, confirming 97 new infections but no deaths reported on Sunday.
Johns Hopkins University said the number of fatalities was lower than the previous day’s record toll of 2,108 while China, where the disease first emerged in December 2019, claims it has brought its domestic outbreak under control although it admits it faces a fresh battle against imported cases from overseas, mostly Chinese nationals returning home.
The outbreak has now claimed the lives of at least 20,506 people in the US, the most of any country.
The US also leads the world in the number of confirmed infections, with 527,111 by the Baltimore-based school’s count.
43 die in Mumbai
Coronavirus cases in Mumbai’s densely populated Dharavi slum – one of Asia’s biggest – have risen to 43 including four deaths, officials said Sunday as they ramp up testing in a race to contain the spread of the illness.
Since the first virus death in early April, Indian authorities have stepped up measures to close off areas where cases have emerged in Dharavi, which is home to around a million people.
But 15 new cases and one death were reported overnight, taking the number of infections to 43 in the district made famous by the 2008 Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire,” Mumbai council spokesman Vijay Khabale-Patil said Sunday.
Testing sites have also been set up in recent days to pick up on asymptomatic carriers of the virus, Khabale-Patil said, adding that “as a result more positive cases have emerged.”
Local officials also closed all shops, except pharmacies, near so-called “containment zones” in Dharavi from Friday to limit the number of people in public spaces.
Lockdown to be extended
India has been in a nationwide lockdown since March 25.
Some states including Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located, said Saturday that the strict measures – due to be lifted on April 15 – would be extended until the end of the month.
“The state will show the way to the country even in these tough times,” Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on extending the lockdown in his state.
“On Monday, we will complete five weeks since the first case of coronavirus was reported in the state. We can say that till now we have been successful in preventing the multiplication of the number of cases up to some extent.”
Maharashtra has the highest number of cases among India’s states and territories, at 1,761 including 127 deaths. India’s overall toll on Sunday stood at 8,356 infections including 273 deaths.
Preventing second wave
Britain announced Sunday hundreds of millions of pounds in additional aid to groups including the World Health Organization and the Red Cross to help prevent a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The government said £200 million ($249 million, 228 million euros) would go to British charities and international organizations to assist developing countries fight COVID-19.
It hopes tackling the virus, which first emerged in the Chinese city Wuhan in December, in the world’s poorest countries will prevent future waves of infection coming to Britain.
The country has recorded tens of thousands of cases and thousands of deaths from coronavirus since it spread beyond China in recent months.
“Our ability to protect the British public will only be effective if we strengthen the healthcare systems of vulnerable developing countries too,” International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said in a statement.
The funding will see £130 million given to United Nations agencies – including £65 million for the WHO – after they made an urgent appeal for financial support.
For international NGOs
Some £50 million will go to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, while another £20 million is earmarked for other international NGOs and British charities.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the “generous contribution” as “a strong statement that this is a global threat that demands a global response.”
“We are all in this together, which means protecting health around the world will help to protect the health of people in the UK,” he said.
In the United States – a principal donor of the WHO – President Donald Trump has threatened to cut funding, accusing it of pro-China bias during the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said on Friday that he will make an announcement next week on the US funding.