Confirmed coronavirus cases approached one million around the world on Thursday as Europe reeled from the pandemic and the US prepared for what President Donald Trump warned would be “horrific” days ahead.
The virus claimed thousands more lives in its relentless march across the globe, including nearly 1,000 new deaths in Spain, despite more than half of the planet subjected to some form of lockdown.
And it continued to wreak havoc on the global economy, with Spain reporting its biggest monthly increase in jobless claims on record and the US expected to reveal more massive job losses.
Since emerging in China in December, COVID-19 has infected more than 940,000 people — including at least 500,000 in Europe — and claimed more than 47,000 lives, according to a tally by AFP from official sources.
World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been a “near exponential growth” in new cases over the past five weeks and a doubling of deaths in the past week alone.
“In the next few days we will reach one million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths,” he told a virtual news conference on Wednesday, warning that Africa and Latin America needed to be prepared for a wider impact.
