Trump ditches hopes of quick virus bounce-back for US

President Donald Trump has extended emergency coronavirus restrictions for the United States where his top scientist warned up to 200,000 people could die, as Africa’s biggest city readied to go into lockdown on Monday.

The reassessment by Trump, who had previously said he wanted the country back to work in mid-April, came as Britain and hard-hit Italy warned measures to prevent the spread of the disease would be in place for months to come.

AFP / Apu GOMESAcross the world, the virus has wiped out millions of jobs, postponed elections and cleared the sporting calendar

As of Sunday, more than 3.38 billion people were asked or ordered to follow confinement measures, according to an AFP database, as the virus infects every sphere of life — wiping out millions of jobs, postponing elections and clearing the sporting calendar.

Trump warned that the US crisis, which has seen a doubling of infections in only two days, would continue to get worse for some time.

AFP / Yuri DYACHYSHYNThe shutdown has seen huge chunks of the US economy grind to a halt

“Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won.”

The president was speaking after Anthony Fauci, who leads research into infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said he believed 100,000 to 200,000 Americans could die from the disease, and millions could be infected.

AFP /Countries and territories with confirmed new coronavirus cases as of March 29 at 1000 GMT

“We’re bidding against one another,” said Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

The human consequences of a shutdown that has seen huge chunks of the US economy grind to a halt were playing out at food banks in New York, where organizers say demand has exploded.

AFP / Tiziana FABIIn Italy, which has logged a third of the total global deaths, the government warned citizens should be ready for a ‘very long’ lockdown

“But we must not then suddenly revert to our normal way of living — that would be quite dangerous. If we stop then, all of our efforts would be wasted and we could potentially see a second peak.”

She said measures to contain the virus would be reviewed every three weeks, “probably over the next six months” or even longer.

AFP / BALDESCA SAMPERA burial in Spain, which along with Italy accounts for more than half of the world’s coronavirus deaths

“We are in a very long battle,” said government medical adviser Luca Richeldi. “Through our behaviour, we save lives.”

Yet the strains on Italian society imposed by measures that might have seemed unimaginable just weeks ago are gradually starting to show.

AFP / SAJJAD HUSSAINThree billion people around the world lack access to running water and soap, the most basic weapons of protection against the virus

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with some 190 million people, has so far registered just 97 confirmed infections and one death from COVID-19, but testing has been limited.

Officials have warned that the country risks seeing an “exponential” rise in cases unless contacts of suspected carriers are tracked down faster.

AFP / Mohammed ABEDAid groups have warned that the coronavirus toll in the developed world could pale compared with the devastation it wreaks on defenceless populations in poor states and war zones

In Benin, President Patrice Talon said his country could not enforce public confinement because it lacks the “means of rich countries.”

Aid groups have warned that the coronavirus toll in the developed world could pale compared with the devastation it wreaks on defenceless populations in poor states and war zones such as Syria and Yemen.