COVID-19: Global fatalities pass 600,000; virus a leading cause of worldwide deaths

As of July 18, the global coronavirus tally surpassed 600,000 hitting another tragic milestone as the pandemic became the leading cause of deaths. While the United States reported more than 100,000 fatalities from the coronavirus, the highest toll in the world, as many as 188 countries registered coronavirus fatalities. So far, only 17 countries have remained exempt from any COVID-19 related deaths, according to a report. 

With over 77,499 new cases of the novel coronavirus, the United States on July 17 registered record highest single-day surge. The pandemic swept through major US cities, wreaking havoc on rural communities, overwhelming the health care systems, and burdening the state government. On July 18, amid the shocking surge in the hospitalization rate of the critical COVID-19 patients, Atlanta and more than a dozen other cities and counties issued local orders to make the masks mandatory in public against the Republican Governor Brian Kemp stance. Further, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms accused President Donald Trump of violating the city’s mask requirement. “I pointed out that Donald Trump violated that order when he landed at our airport and did not wear a mask,” she said. 

Developed countries failed to deliver the support needed to help the developing world through these dangerous times—UN Chief, Antonio Guterres.

Similarly, due to the sudden spike in the deaths related to COVID-19, more than 5 million students in Texas were asked to remain indoor and pursue classes online as the state scrambled to contain one of the largest resurgences of the coronavirus in all of the US, as per local reports. The state of Texas set its new daily record for virus deaths, with 126 succumbing to the disease in the past 24 hours. “The health & safety of students, teachers & parents are the top priority,” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted shortly after the announcement. 

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Read: Guterres: Virus Highlights Deep Gobal Inequalities

Coronavirus exposing "fallacies"

Criticizing countries of a lackadaisical response to the global pandemic, and hinting at the anti-racial protest assembly, the UN secretary-general said, “COVID-19 has been likened to an X-ray, revealing fractures in the fragile skeleton of the societies we have built.” Further, Antonio Guterres said, as he delivered the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, “Coronavirus is exposing fallacies and falsehoods everywhere: The lie that free markets can deliver health care for all, the fiction that unpaid care work is not work, the delusion that we live in a post-racist world, the myth that we are all in the same boat.” 

Read: Coronavirus Patients Swamp Emergency Rooms In Some US States

Read: Breathtaking Virus Numbers Show Normal Life Still Far Away

(Image credit: AP)