The U.S. now leads the world in COVID-19 (coronavirus) deaths. The grim milestone hit right after President Donald Trump announced that his “opening our country” task force would start work this week, despite insisting current restrictive measures would remain in place.
What We Know:
- As of Saturday, the coronavirus has now killed more than 21k people in the United States, surpassing Italy for the first time. Easter Sunday was the date President Trump had hoped people in certain parts of the country might begin to return to work, but that outlook came to abrupt stop as the infamous “curve,” has yet to be flatten in the U.S.
- He stated Friday he would continue to listen to health experts in reference to the coronavirus taskforce. The president’s comments were reiterated by the World Health Organization (WHO), which also warned that lifting lockdown restrictions prematurely could spark a “deadly resurgence”.
- In other parts of the world such as the Vatican, Pope Francis gave his annual Easter address to an empty St. Peter’s Basilica due to millions of Christians under stay at home orders. This was similar to how he encouraged Catholic followers in a broadcasted sermon on Palm Sunday last week.
- In Europe, Italy extended its country-wide lockdown Friday night until May 3, with very limited openings of businesses next week. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also announced the creation of a 17-person task-force that would help manage “phase two” of the crisis.
- In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson‘s improvement in health allowed him to move from the ICU to a regular hospital ward. Friday saw the U.K.’s deadliest day with 980 deaths in hospitals, higher than the deadliest day in Italy.
On the other hand, other countries are just now starting to combat the coronavirus. An unsettling example is the first reported case on Friday in war-torn Yemen. Aid groups are concerned the country has the perfect conditions for a large outbreak due to the instability conflict has caused.
