US COVID-19 infections top three million as Trump pushes schools re-opening

The US has hit three million coronavirus cases as Donald Trump pushed for schools to re-open amid a resurgence in the south.

A Peruvian health worker checks temperatures at a market in Coata, near the border with Bolivia on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

US has topped three million confirmed coronavirus cases as President Donald Trump pushes for schools to re-open amid a COVID-19 ­resurgence in many southern ­hot spots.

The US remains by far the worst affected country, with over 132,000 deaths, while Brazil — whose virus-sceptic President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for the disease — is a distant second with close to 67,000 deaths from almost 1.7 million cases.

Latin America and the Caribbean on Tuesday surpassed three million cases. Mexico has the second-highest number of fatalities in the region with more than 32,000, and more than 275,000 cases. Peru has more cases at nearly 312,000, but fewer deaths at 11,133. It has shown no sign of easing its lockdown measures.

As infections rose by a further 55,000 to reach a total of 3,046,351 on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), Mr Trump called for students to return to their schools in the fall and lashed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for issuing guidance that he said was too restrictive.

Mr Trump threatened to cut federal funding for schools, tweeting reopening “is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!”

Harvard and MIT sued the administration after it threatened to revoke the visas of foreign students whose entire courses have moved online because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The virus has infected almost 12 million people worldwide and killed more than 500,000 since it emerged in China late last year.

Across the world, citizens chafe under renewed restrictions as countries experience fresh waves of the disease.

The Serbian capital Belgrade was a battleground for a second night as police skirmished with ­protesters outraged by the government’s handling of the pandemic.

France, which had flattened its curve by imposing a strict lockdown earlier in the pandemic, said on Wednesday night it was girding for a possible surge in cases.

But mindful of the potentially disastrous consequences of trying to thrust millions back into their homes, France’s new Prime Minister aimed to soothe fears by promising no new full shutdown.

“We’re not going to impose a lockdown like the one we did last March, because we’ve learned … that the economic and human consequences from a total lockdown are disastrous,” Jean Castex said, promising “targeted” measures instead.

Several US states and cities have likewise had to roll back their reopening measures. Houston, for example, cancelled the Texas Republican Party’s indoors state convention as COVID-19 cases surged in the city.

From just a handful of cases at the start of February, the US infection rate passed the one million milestone on April 28 and hit two million on June 11. All the while, the death toll has been creeping up to its current figure of more than 132,000, almost one-quarter of the global total.

The current US death rate is however substantially lower than it was in late spring. This is possibly because of a lag between infection and deaths among sick patients, but also because the country’s epidemic is affecting younger people, and because better treatments are now available. Doctors have found that placing patients with breathing troubles on their stomachs eases the burden on their lungs, and are using blood thinners preventively to stop catastrophic clots from forming as a result of the virus.

They are also using the steroid dexamethasone to stop a supercharged and destructive immune response, as well as the antiviral remdesivir to help ventilated patients recover faster.

Mr Trump has sought to blame China and the World Health ­Organisation for his country’s epidemic, and on Tuesday formally began the process of withdrawing from the body.

WHO chief Tedro­s Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in response on Thursday: “We cannot­ defeat this pandemic as a divided world … Together is the solution unless we want to give the advantage to the enemy, to the virus that has taken the world hostage.’’

He also announced in Geneva that the WHO had launched an independent pandemic response review panel headed by former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

“Through you the world will understand the truth of what happened and also the solutions to build our future better as one humanity­,’’ Dr Tedros said.

The EU is working on a $US843m ($1.2bn) package to help its economies. “We need extraordinary solidarity,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of an EU summit.

AFP