MOSCOW: Spain has become the third country to surpass China in coronavirus infections after the United States and Italy.
With only a population of 47 million to China’s 1.4 billion, Spain’s tally of infections reached 85,195 on Monday, a rise of 8% from the previous day. Spain also saw 812 new deaths in the last day, raising its overall fatalities from the virus to 7,300.
In an abrupt turnaround, President Donald Trump extended lockdown measures across the United States as deaths in New York alone from the new coronavirus passed 1,000. Moscow went on its own lockdown Monday as all of Russia braced for sweeping nationwide restrictions.
The health systems in Italy and Spain, which have been crumbling under the weight of caring for so many desperately ill patients at once, hoped that relief was coming as infection rates drop each day. Together the two European nations have seen more than half the world’s 34,000 deaths from the virus that has upended the lives of billions of people and devastated world economies.
In a situation unimaginable only a month ago, Italian officials were cheered when they reported only 756 deaths in one day.
In a stark reversal of his previous stance, Trump extended federal guidelines recommending that Americans stay home for another 30 days until the end of April to slow the spread of the virus. The comments came after Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said up to 200,000 Americans could die and millions become infected if lockdowns and social distancing did not continue.
“We want to make sure that we don’t prematurely think we’re doing so great,” Fauci said.
The US now has more than 143,000 infections and 2,500 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, while around the world almost 725,000 people are infected. The true number of cases is thought to be considerably higher because of testing shortages and mild illnesses that have gone unreported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked all citizens to stay at home,and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin began enforcing a strict lockdown for all city residents except those working in essential sectors.
“The extremely negative turn of events we are seeing in the largest European and US cities causes extreme concern about the life and health of our citizens,” Sobyanin said.
He said an electronic monitoring system will be used to control residents’ compliance with the lockdown and warned “we will steadily tighten the necessary controls.”
Moscow, a city of 13 million, accounts for more than 1,000 of Russia’s 1,836 coronavirus cases and the numbers have been rising rapidly. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has told regional governors to prepare for the same strict lockdown. —Agencies

KR Desk