Cases across world reached 2,603,987, out of which 7,12,254 have been recovered so far
The fate of a $484 billion stimulus package was in the hands of the US House on Wednesday as the nation’s death toll surpassed 46,000 and a top public health official warned that a second coronavirus wave could be worse than the current crisis.
It also now appears that the first US death took place in California, three weeks before what was believed to be the nation’s first fatality in Washington state.
The Senate approved the stimulus package Tuesday; a House vote is scheduled for Thursday. President Donald Trump has signaled he will sign it. A majority of the Paycheck Protection Program would direct more than $320 billion to small businesses with $60 billion being set aside for community-based lenders, smaller banks and credit unions to assist businesses that don’t have established relationships with banks.
The financial relief comes as Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that a combination flu season and second round of the coronavirus next winter could overwhelm the health care system.
Spain: Spain on Wednesday said another 435 people died in the past 24 hours, a slight increase in the figures for a second day running and bringing the overall death toll to 21,717.
Spain has suffered the third-highest number of deaths in the world after the United States and Italy, with infections now hitting 208,000 cases, health ministry figures showed. Monday’s figure of 399 deaths was the lowest in four weeks, but a day later, it rose to 430 with officials explaining the numbers tend to go up slightly on Tuesdays following delays in receiving regional data on weekend deaths.
Italy: Deaths in Italy related to the coronavirus pandemic topped 25,000 on Wednesday. The number of dead and new positives continue to plateau for Italy, the first western country to be hit by the crisis. The civil protection agency reported 437 people had died with the virus in the last 25 hours, a 1.7% increase in the death toll to 25,085. The number of positive cases rose 1.5% to 1,83,857.
Pressure on health services continued to ease, with fewer people both hospitalized and in intensive care. Italy’s interior minister, meanwhile, confirmed that none of some 150 migrants rescued by an aid group and quarantined at sea have tested positive for the virus.
Italy’s Government is looking at ways to quickly legalize unregistered farm workers - both foreign migrants and Italians - so they can harvest fruit and vegetables in Italy’s upcoming spring and summer harvest seasons.
Greece: Greek health authorities say there have been no deaths and just seven new confirmed coronavirus infections in the country in the last 24 hours. The health ministry’s spokesman for the coronavirus, infectious diseases specialist Sotiris Tsiodras, says the total number of deaths in the country remained at 121, while there were 2,408 confirmed infections.
Tsiodras said 55 people were intubated in intensive care units in the country, down from 59 the previous day.
UK: The British Government said 759 more people with the coronavirus have died in UK hospitals, taking the total to 18,100.
The daily increase reported was lower than the 823 in the previous 24-hour period.
The UK’s death toll is the fourth highest in Europe, behind Italy, Spain and France, all of whom have reported more than 20,000 deaths.
However, there has been increasing scrutiny of the UK figures in recent days for understating the actual number of people having died of Covid-19. The numbers don’t include those who have died in care homes or elsewhere in the community.
Germany: Germany’s Health Minister has regulatory approval for the first trial in the country of a vaccine for the coronavirus. Jens Spahn said the trial will involve 200 people ages 18-55. He cautioned the process of fully testing the vaccine would take months.
Germany’s regulatory authority, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, approved the trial for an RNA-based vaccine being jointly developed by BioNTech and Pfizer. Regulatory approval for trials is also being sought in the United States and China. Numerous companies are racing to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus that has infected more than 2.5 million people worldwide and caused at least 178,000 deaths in the past four months.
Iran: Iran announced on Wednesday 94 new deaths from the novel coronavirus but said the cases of people infected in the country was on the way down. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the fatalities detected in the past 24 hours took Iran’s overall death toll to 5,391. The number of people infected with the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease rose by 1,194, bringing the total to 85,996. “The gradual downward trend in cases of infections has been maintained,” Jahanpour told a televised news conference. President Hassan Rouhani however called on people to remain vigilant.