Close to one billion people worldwide were confined to their homes on Saturday as the global coronavirus death toll shot past 11,000 and US states rolled out lockdown measures already imposed across swathes of Europe.
The pandemic has completely upended lives across the planet, restricting movement, shutting schools and forcing millions to work from home.
While President Donald Trump insisted the United States was ‘winning’ the war against the virus, individual states dramatically ramped up restrictions, with New York and Illinois joining California in ordering residents to stay home.
Johannes Weissenfeld, member of the german rowing eight, trains on the balcony of his apartment today in Dortmund, Germany. As the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus infection continues to rise all sports events in Germany are being cancelled and all training facilities are closing temporarily
A woman on her balcony reaches out to catch a rose delivered to her via a drone on Mother’s day, in the Lebanese coastal city of Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut today, as people remain indoors in an effort to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus
A woman dries her dog’s coat on the balcony of her home during the lockdown of Pamplona, Navarra, in northern Spain today
A man rides a static bike on the balcony of his apartment in Pamplona, Navarra, northern Spain today. Spain faces the seventh day of national lockdown in an effort to slow down the spread of the pandemic COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus
The virus death toll surged past 11,000 worldwide, with 4,000 alone in worst-hit Italy where the daily number of fatalities has shot up relentlessly over the past week.
An estimated 900 million people are now confined to their homes in 35 countries around the world – including 600 million hemmed in by obligatory government lockdown orders – according to an AFP tally.
While the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions are the hardest hit by the virus, the World Health Organization warned that young people were also vulnerable.
People look from the balcony of a hotel after the start of a nationwide curfew, amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread, in Amman, Jordan today
Travelers sleep as they wait at the international airport of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil today. Several tourists are stranded at the airport for several days waiting to return to their countries after the cancellation of several flights due to coronavirus crisis
‘Today I have a message for young people: you are not invincible. This virus could put you in hospital for weeks – or even kill you,’ WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
‘Even if you don’t get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else.’
China on Saturday reported no new local infections for a third straight day, and the WHO said the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus emerged late last year, offered a glimmer of ‘hope for the rest of the world’.
But there are growing concerns of a new wave of ‘imported’ infections in the region, with Hong Kong reporting 48 suspected cases on Friday – its biggest daily jump since the crisis began. Many of them have a recent history of travel to or from Europe.
A man wearing a facemask amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, walks through Lan Kwai Fong, a popular night district that recently saw some bars shut due to coronavirus outbreak, in the central district of Hong Kong today
Pedestrians wearing facemasks amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, walk through a road in the central district of Hong Kong today
Customers have a lunch at a hotpot restaurant as all tables have been curtained off from each other amid the coronavirus outbreak yesterday in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China. China on Saturday reported no new local infections for a third straight day, and the WHO said the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus emerged late last year, offered a glimmer of ‘hope for the rest of the world’
Italy reported its worst single day death toll Friday, adding another 627 fatalities and taking its reported total to 4,032 despite efforts to stem the spread.
The nation of 60 million now accounts for 36 percent of the world’s coronavirus deaths and its death rate of 8.6 percent among confirmed infections is significantly higher than in most other countries.
France, Italy, Spain and other European countries have ordered people to stay at home, threatening fines in some cases, while Bavaria became the first region in Germany to order a lockdown.
A florist hands a bouquet of flowers to a health worker outside the Burgos Hospital (UBU) on today, in Burgos, in northern Spain. – Spain reported a 32 per cent spike in new deaths from the coronavirus, bringing the country total to 1,326 fatalities, the second highest in Europe after Italy
A health worker pushes a woman on a wheelchair outside the Burgos Hospital (UBU) today, in Burgos, in northern Spain
People jogging in Ponte Milvio district during the coronavirus emergency lockdown, Rome, Italy, today. The number of deaths from the pandemic COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus in Italy has now surpassed the death toll for all of China, where the outbreak originated
Britain, falling in line with its EU neighbours, also announced tougher restrictions, telling pubs, restaurants and theatres to close and promising to help cover the wages of affected workers.
Australia’s famed Bondi beach was also ordered shut after sunbathers crowded the hotspot in defiance of government orders to avoid non-essential outdoor gatherings.
‘This is not something we are doing because we are the ‘fun police’… this is about saving lives,’ New South Wales state Police Minister David Elliott told reporters.
A woman in a mask passes a closed pub in London, Britain, today. Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged UK citizens to avoid unnecessary social contacts, to work from home where possible, and to close schools, pubs and restaurants
A man photographs a Coronavirus-inspired mural in the west of Glasgow today, a day after the British government said it would help cover the wages of people hit by the coronavirus outbreak as it tightened restrictions to curb the spread of the disease
A man in a 17th Century plague doctor’s costume poses for a photograph in central Leeds today, a day after the British government said it would help cover the wages of people hit by the coronavirus outbreak as it tightened restrictions to curb the spread of the disease
A man shows his hand which was stamped by airport authorities as he was advised for home quarantine after he arrived from overseas, amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) fears, in Mumbai, India today
With virus fears gripping the United States, its largest state California – with over 1,000 cases and 19 deaths – told its 40 million residents to stay at home.
New York state, which has reported over 7,000 cases and 39 deaths, followed suit on Friday, ordering its nearly 20 million residents to do the same from Sunday evening.
Trump applauded the New York and California decisions, but said he did not think a nationwide lockdown was needed.
A beach entrance is cordoned off, today, in Surfside, Fla. Miami-Dade County’s mayor ordered all beaches, parks and “non-essential” commercial and retail businesses closed Thursday because of the new coronavirus pandemic
Staff Sergeant Meghann Cinnamond, a member of the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing, in Scotia, New York, counsels a passenger regarding test sample collection at the drive-through COVID-19 Mobile Testing Center located at the South Beach Behavioral Center, Staten Island, NewYork last week
‘Those are really two hotbeds,’ he said. ‘I don’t think we’ll ever find (a US-wide lockdown) necessary.’
Shortly after the president spoke, the governor of Illinois ordered residents of the midwestern state to stay at home and the Connecticut governor did the same.
The restrictions so far imposed in seven states cover around 100 million people, with the country’s three most populous cities – New York, Los Angeles and Chicago – under lockdown.
Trump also announced Friday that the US and Mexico have agreed to restrict non-essential travel across their border.
An armed man wears a protective face mask as workers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19, in Sanaa, Yemen, today. Yemen is taking precautionary measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus which causes the Covid-19 disease. Yemen has no confirmed cases of the coronavirus
A municipality worker disinfects a pharmacy in the Jordanian capital Amman as part of preventive measures against the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, today
Most visited tourist area of the old city of Sarajevo, has no visitors or tourists after the coronavirus broke out, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, today. Several European countries have closed borders, schools, public facilities, and have canceled most major sports and entertainment events, in order to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease
And US lawmakers on Friday evening missed a deadline to reach an agreement on a $1 trillion emergency package, amid fears of widespread economic fallout because of the pandemic.
Strict confinement measures across Europe follow the template set by China, as a lockdown imposed in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, appeared to have paid off.
Europe now accounts for more than half of the world’s fatalities linked to COVID-19.
Accurate figures are difficult to come by, however, as many of those who die suffer from other illnesses and infection rates are uncertain because of a lack of testing in many countries.
In a sign of the shifting centre of the crisis, China has sent medical supplies to European nations struggling to cope with the pandemic, including Greece which received 500,000 medical masks from Beijing Saturday.
The shadow of the virus is lengthening across Africa and the Middle East too.
Two people walk in front of a cinema set in a street of the Montmartre hill touristic neighbourhood of Paris today, on the fifth day of a strict nationwide lockdown seeking to halt the spread of the COVID-19 infection caused by novel coronavirus, with excursions from the home limited to buying food, visiting the doctor, walking the dog or going for a solitary jog
The Democratic Republic of Congo reported its first death Saturday, while Burkina Faso reported two new deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities in sub-Saharan Africa to five.
Cases stand at over 1,000 across Africa, where health care systems are fragile and social distancing is not possible in many crowded cities.
In Iran, which reported 123 new deaths Saturday, both supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani promised the country would overcome the outbreak – but still refused to join the rest of the world in imposing heavy restrictions.
Congolese policemen wear masks as they ride on their patrol pick-up truck amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on Thursday
An Indian vegetable vendor waits for the customers at a market after authorities ordered the closure of all shops, except medicines and groceries, to curb the coronavirus pandemic, in Jammu, India today. All existing Indian visas issued to nationals of any country except those issued to diplomats, officials, UN/International organizations, employment, project visas stand suspended until 15 April 2020
A medical staff member measures a man’s temperature as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus on his arrival of repatriation in Gatumba, on border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in Burundi, on March 18, 2020.
An Iranian health inspector checks a makeshift hospital set up inside the Iran Mall, northwest of Tehran, today amid the coronavirus outbreak. – Iran said that 123 more people had died from coronavirus, raising the official death toll to 1,556 in the Islamic republic, one of the world’s worst affected countries
The country has more than 1,500 deaths and some 20,000 infections.
In Latin America, Cuba and Bolivia both announced they were closing their borders, and Colombia said it would begin mandatory isolation from Tuesday.
Rio de Janeiro’s beaches will be off-limits to sunseekers from Saturday, leaving street vendors worried how they will survive with limited government support.
‘As long as I can, I will continue to come here and try to sell cocktails. I still have not thought about what I will do when it is no longer possible,’ said Jorge Martins on Ipanema beach.