This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
US Infections Top Three Million as Trump Begins WHO Pullout ¶
Coronavirus infections in the United States topped the three million mark on July 8, 2020, as President Donald Trump began withdrawing the country from the World Health Organization.
The US remains the worst affected country, with over 131,000 deaths, while Brazil, whose virus-skeptic President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for the disease, is a distant second with close to 67,000 deaths from almost 1.7 million cases.
Despite the figures, both Trump and Bolsonaro have continued to argue against lockdowns and other restrictive measures, reflecting a wider divide over the response to the crisis.
Trump called for students to return in the fall despite the virus surging in several southern state hotspots.
Meanwhile, millions in the Australian city of Melbourne were preparing for a return to lockdown to fight an upsurge that is seeing more than 100 new cases reported each day, with panic buyers stripping supermarket shelves.
But there were signs in Europe that harsh restrictions would be difficult to reimpose, with thousands protesting in Serbia against a weekend curfew and France vowing not to have a blanket lockdown again.
The virus has infected almost 12 million people worldwide and killed more than 500,000 since it emerged in China late last year.
Top US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci has warned that the country is still “knee-deep” in only its first coronavirus wave, but Trump said on July 7, 2020, America was “in a good place” and that he disagreed with Fauci.
Joe Biden, who will face him in a presidential election in November, promised to rejoin the WHO “and restore our leadership on the world stage” if he wins.
Underlining America’s unilateral approach, the government announced more than $2 billion in funding for research into vaccines and treatments.
France’s new prime minister aimed to soothe fears by promising no new full shutdown, saying, “We’re not going to impose a lockdown like the one we did last March, because we’ve learned… that the economic and human consequences from a total lockdown are disastrous.”
Australia is sealing off the state of Victoria from the rest of the nation — a move that has sparked panic-buying.
