Global Coronavirus Deaths Hit 100,000

By Staff, Agencies

The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus hit 100,000 as Christians around the globe marked a Good Friday unlike any other - in front of computer screens instead of in church pews - and some countries tiptoed toward reopening segments of their battered economies.

Around the world, public health officials and religious leaders alike warned people against violating the lockdowns and social distancing rules over Easter and allowing the virus to come storming back. Authorities resorted to roadblocks and other means to discourage travel.

The holiday observances came as the worldwide number of deaths tracked by Johns Hopkins University hit a bleak milestone of 100,000 since late December, when the outbreak emerged in China. More than 1.6 million people around the globe have been infected, by the university's count.

The true number of lives lost is believed to be much higher because of limited testing, cover-ups by some governments, and different counting practices. For example, in places like New York, Italy and Spain, many victims who died outside a hospital - say, in a home or a nursing home - have not been counted.

Deaths in the US reached about 18,000, putting it on track to overtake Italy as the country with the highest death toll, and about a half-million Americans were confirmed infected. More than 40% of the dead in the US were in New York state. Still, there were signs of hope.

In Europe, the 19 countries that use the euro currency overcame weeks of bitter divisions to agree on spending $550 billion to cushion the recession caused by the virus. Mario Centeno, who heads the eurozone finance ministers’ group, called the package "totally unprecedented. ... Tonight Europe has shown it can deliver when the will is there."

Meanwhile, Italy reported 570 additional deaths for a running total of more than 18,800 but said the number of hospital admissions is falling along with the number of patients in intensive care.

In Spain, the 605 new announced deaths were the lowest in more than two weeks. The coronavirus has claimed more than 15,800 lives there, though the rates of contagion and deaths are dropping.

Britain recorded 980 new deaths, its highest daily total, for close to 9,000 in all.