US coronavirus deaths reach 3,000

The number of deaths related to coronavirus in the US has passed 3,000, AFP reports, citing Johns Hopkins University figures.

The toll in the US, the worst-affected country on earth is, 3,008.

The US has the highest number of cases in the world, at over 160,000 – just under double the cases in China, where the outbreak began.

As the pandemic death toll passes 3,000 in the US, here are a few of the surreal images of the USNS Comfort, a US Navy hospital ship, arriving in New York Harbour.

The USNS Comfort, a US Navy hospital ship, arrives at New York Harbour on 30 March, 2020. Photograph: Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

The ship brings over 1,100 medical personnel, a dozen operating rooms and almost 1,000 beds to ease the pressure on New Yorks health care system due to Covid-19. New York state has had over 1,2000 coronavirus-related deaths.

The USNS Comfort, a 1,000-plus bed Navy medical ship, sails past the Statue of Liberty in New York, 30 March 2020. Photograph: Erik Pendzich/REX/Shutterstock

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has ruled that gun shops are considered essential businesses that should remain open as other businesses are closed to try to stop the spread of coronavirus, AP reports.

Gun control groups called it a move to put profits over public health.

Summary by The Guardian

• The number of deaths related to coronavirus in the US has passed 3,000, according to Johns Hopkins University figures. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US is almost double those in China.
• Today marks a week of no new cases reported in Wuhan city, China, where the outbreak first emerged.
  The coronavirus pandemic’s economic fallout could cause China’s growth to come to a standstill, the World Bank warned Monday. The impact could drive 11 million more people in East Asia into poverty.
• All efforts to address coronavirus in Syria are impeded by fragile health system, a senior UN official warned.
  New coronavirus study reveals increased risks from middle age. The first comprehensive study of Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations in mainland China has revealed in stark detail the increase in risk for coronavirus patients once they reach middle age.
• Global cases pass three quarters of a million. Johns Hopkins University researchers, who have been keeping track of the spread of the virus, say the global number of cases is now at least 755,591.
• Global death toll passes 37,000. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, at least 37,140 people have now died as a result of the outbreak. The institution says it has counted 745,308 confirmed cases worldwide, while at least 156,875 people have recovered.
• Italy records hundreds more deaths – but a slower infection rate.The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has climbed by 812 to 11,591, the country’s civil protection agency says, reversing two days of declines in the daily rate. But the number of new cases rose by just 4,050; the lowest nominal increase since 17 March. A total 101,739 people have now tested positive.
• Virus poses ‘existential threat’ to South America’s indigenous communities. Indigenous leaders from across the continent are warning that the outbreak poses an “existential threat” to them. Tribes in the Amazon and Chaco regions are urging governments to ensure their territories are protected against outsiders possibly carrying the coronavirus.
• Concerns over powers secured by Hungary’s nationalist PM. Viktor Orbán secures sweeping new powers to fight the outbreak. The country’s parliament passed a law submitted by his government-handing Orbán an open-ended mandate, triggering criticism by the domestic opposition, human rights groups and the Council of Europe, Europe’s main rights forum, as it contains no clear timeframe.
• Dubai’s Expo 2020 to be postponed. The six-month multibillion-dollar trade fair that organizers had hoped would attract 25 million visitors will not go ahead as scheduled in October. Dubai was pinning many of its economic forecasts on the trade it was expected to generate.
• Austria makes face masks compulsory for shoppers. Introducing the requirement is a “necessary step” to help to prevent the airborne transmission of the virus, says the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz. Shoppers are to be handed masks covering their mouthes and noses at the entrance of supermarkets from Wednesday.