Coronavirus infections top 5 million worldwide

Global infections from the novel coronavirus surpassed five million on Thursday as the pandemic played out unevenly across the planet, with China eager to declare a victory, Europe tentatively emerging from its shell and deaths still rising in hotspots in Latin America.  

The grim milestone is still only a fraction of the true number of infections from a virus that has claimed more than 328,000 lives in its whirl around the globe, according to AFP tally of official sources.  

And while many hard-hit European countries have significantly curbed the rise of cases, Latin America has been in the grip of an infection surge.  

Brazil is leading the pack, logging the third-highest number of cases in the world after the US and Russia. Peru, Mexico and Chile have also seen steady increases in infections.  

Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro continues to scorn experts’ advice on lockdown measures, pressing regional governors to end stay-at-home measures.  

like US President Donald Trump, he has promoted the use of anti-malaria drugs against the virus despite studies showing they have no benefit and could have dangerous side effects.  

Trump, for his part, insists the US is “Transitioning back to Greatness” as states reopen at different paces.  
The optimism cuts a sharp contrast with the bleak health situation in the country, which leads the world in cases and deaths.  

While daily death tolls are no longer on a steady rise, the losses are still punishing with more than 1,500 additional fatalities reported in 24 hours on Wednesday, bringing to the total number in the US to more than 93,400.  

Trump, who is desperate to boost his political fortunes ahead of the November election, has also doubled down on his finger-pointing at China, who he blamed for “this mass Worldwide killing”.  

Beijing tells a different story, with President Xi Jinping determined to project a success story over the outbreak that started on his country’s soil late last year before wreaking havoc around the globe.  

Though China has faced criticism of its initial handling of the outbreak, the country has since brought domestic cases down to a trickle and kept deaths far lower toll than in the worst-hit countries, according to its official figures.  

In a new sign of normalisation, on Thursday China opened its biggest political event of the year -- the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) -- after months of delay over coronavirus fears. 
21 May 2020 (AFP)