Washington : United States topped world charts after recording more than 2,000 deaths in a single day on Saturday, inching its taly close to 20,000.
Data released from Johns Hopkins University shows 2,108 people died in the past 24 hours and there are now more than 5,00,000 confirmed infections in the country.
Adding to the tally are today’s 500-odd deaths taking US ahead of Italy for coronavirus deaths worldwide
The Expert Task Force instituted by the White House meanwhile says the outbreak is starting to level off across US meaning there are signs of stabilizing. However many experts also agree the peak is yet to come.
Researchers had predicted the US death toll to hit peak on Friday and then decline gradually to levels of around 970 people a day by 1 May – the date Trump administration indicated as possible one to reopen the economy.
Among other developments :
ð The World Health Organisation has warned against lifting lockdown measures too early as it could spark a ‘deadly resurgence’.
ð Turkey clamped a 48-hour curfew in 31 cities including Istanbul and Ankara beginning Sunday midnight.
ð Lack of quarantine and testing facilities in Pakistan has hit repatriation of its citizens stranded in UAE. More than 25,000 Pakistanis have registered with diplomatic missions in UAE to return home.
ð In her first-ever Easter address, Queen Elizabeth II told Britons that the “coronavirus will not overcome us”.
ð In India, red, orange and green – the colour code in traffic signals – will be used throughout country’s maps to mark Covid-19 and virus free zones to regulate people’s movement. The move follows consensus arrived at PM’s meeting with 13 CM, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to extend the lockdown with relaxations proportionate to vulnerability of regions to the virus.
