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HEALTH-VIRUS-WORLD FACTS
Coronavirus: latest global developments
PARIS, Aug 21, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Here are the latest developments in
the coronavirus crisis:
– Embattled Lebanon locked down –
Lebanon’s new two-week stay-at-home order comes into force after
record numbers of cases piled pressure on health services that are
also struggling to cope with thousands injured by a deadly August 4
blast at Beirut’s port.
The lockdown adds to the woes of a country that was in dire
economic crisis even before the coronavirus and the massive explosion,
which killed 181 people and left thousands homeless.
– Biden vows new plan –
Joe Biden says he will implement a national plan to battle the
pandemic on his first day in office if he is elected.
He says in his nomination speech President Donald Trump’s failure
to protect more Americans from the pandemic is “unforgivable”
promising: “I will protect America.”
– British debt soars – British government debt exceeds o2 trillion
($2.6 trillion) for the first time following large state borrowing as
the pandemic pushed the UK economy deep into recession, the Office for
National Statistics says.
Meanwhile, German’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz says his country
must take on yet more debt in 2021, thus loosening again its debt
rules, to lessen the impact of the coronavirus.
– More than 790,000 deaths –
The pandemic has killed at least 793,847 people worldwide since
surfacing in China late last year, according to a tally from official
sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Friday.
More than 22.7 million cases have been registered in 196 countries
and territories.
The United States has recorded the most deaths with 174,290,
according to Johns Hopkins University, followed by Brazil with
112,304, Mexico with 59,106, India with 54,849 and Britain with
41,403.
By Friday there were 252,233 deaths in Latin America and the
Caribbean and 212,135 in Europe,
– Irish minister resigns –
Ireland’s agriculture minister resigns for breaching government
coronavirus guidelines by attending a parliamentary golf society
dinner.
Prime minister Micheal Martin says he accepted Dara Calleary’s
resignation after just 37 days in the position, calling it “the right
decision” and an “error of judgement”.
BSS/AFP/MRU/1823hrs