Brazil posted a record number of 10,503 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday and 615 deaths in the last 24 hours – or at least one death every two minutes.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s spokesman was among those who tested positive for COVID-19, the latest case to hit close to the far-right leader who rejects social distancing measures.
Army General Otavio Rego Barros, 59, one of the administration’s top public figures, “is home following all recommended protocols” after his positive test result was confirmed.
More than 20 top Bolsonaro officials have tested positive for the virus, including communications chief Fabio Wajngarten and National Security Minister Augusto Heleno.
Bolsonaro has condemned the “hysteria” around COVID-19. He says social distancing measures are needlessly hurting the economy, and regularly flouts them himself, hitting the streets in Brasilia and working the crowd in close quarters at rallies by his supporters.
UN seeks extraordinary measures
The United Nations on Thursday issued a new appeal for $4.7 billion in funding to “protect millions of lives and stem the spread of coronavirus in fragile countries.”
The money is on top of the $2 billion the UN already called for when it launched its global humanitarian response plan on March 25. It has received about half of that money so far.
“The most devastating and destabilizing effects” of the novel coronavirus pandemic “will be felt in the world’s poorest countries,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock said in the statement.
“Unless we take action now, we should be prepared for a significant rise in conflict, hunger and poverty. The spectre of multiple famines looms,” he warned.
The full $6.7 billion is expected to cover costs of the humanitarian response plan until December.
COVID-19 infections are expected to peak in the world’s poorest countries in the next three to six months, according to UN estimates.
‘Worse’ than Pearl Harbor
Donald Trump has said the coronavirus pandemic is a worse “attack” on the United States than either Pearl Harbor or 9/11, taking aim once again at China, which he said should have stopped the disease in its tracks.
The president has ramped up his rhetoric against Beijing in recent weeks, as the death toll in the US has continued to climb, and as he agitates to re-open the shuttered – and stuttering – economy.
“It should have never happened,” Trump said of the disease that emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year. “Could have been stopped at the source. Could have been stopped in China.”
“This is really the worst attack we’ve ever had,” Trump told reporters. “This is worse than Pearl Harbor. This is worse than the World Trade Center.”
Not reinfections
Coronavirus patients declared recovered who later test positive for the disease are still expelling dead lung cells rather than getting a new infection, the World Health Organization told AFP on Wednesday.
South Korean health officials reported more than 100 such cases in April, raising concerns that patients who had recovered could become reinfected.
“We are aware that some patients test positive after they clinically recover,” a WHO spokesperson told AFP, without making specific reference to the South Korean cases. “From what we currently know – and this is based on very recent data – it seems they these patients are expelling left over materials from their lungs, as part of the recovery phase.”
People infected with the new coronavirus build up antibodies starting a week or so after infection or the onset of symptoms, research has shown.
But it is still not clear, experts say, whether the body systematically builds up enough immunity to ward off a new attack by the virus or, if it does, how long such immunity lasts.
Remdesivir approval
Japan plans to authorize Thursday the antiviral drug remdesivir to treat coronavirus patients, the government said, with an eye to approving another medication Avigan this month.
This would make Japan the second country to approve the drug after US regulators authorized it on Friday for emergency use against severe cases of COVID-19.
“If there is no problem we hope to swiftly approve (the drug) today” at the health ministry’s regulatory panel, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last week the government was getting ready to give a speedy green light to the experimental drug developed by US firm Gilead Sciences.
The US go-ahead came after a major clinical trial showed remdesivir – originally developed to treat Ebola – shortened the time to recovery in some patients by a third.
Decline in international tourism
The number of international tourist arrivals will plunge by 60 to 80 percent in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Tourism Organization said Thursday, revising a previous forecast of a 20-30 percent drop.
Tourist arrivals fell by 22 percent in the first quarter of the year, with Asia and Europe suffering the biggest declines, the Madrid-based UN body said in a statement.