This archive report was first published on 12 July 2020.
As the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic, it's clear that complacency is a luxury we can no longer afford. The virus is accelerating globally, with a record surge of cases and deaths reported in many countries.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it took three months for the first million people to fall sick, but only a week to record the last million of the nearly 13 million cases now reported worldwide. The death toll is over half a million people and rising fast.
Idlib, Syria's last rebel-held province, has reported its first case, a frightening portent given the desperate circumstances in which people are already living. The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that new cases are up 24% on the continent in the previous week, with cases surging in South Africa, Kenya, and other countries.
India, now the world's third-worst-affected country, reported a record rise of 27,000 cases on Saturday, to over 800,000 – almost certainly far below the true level. Australia and Spain have reimposed local lockdowns, and Hong Kong has shut schools again. But the economic, social, and political costs of such measures are all the higher second time around.
Leadership is crucial in this crisis, and it's clear that some countries are struggling to provide effective measures to contain the outbreak. Vietnam has recorded no deaths and fewer than 400 cases, while the US has seen 3 million cases and more than 130,000 deaths, thanks in part to Donald Trump's failure to prepare his country for coronavirus.
As the pandemic continues to spread, it's essential that we recognize and honour our ties with other countries. The virus knows no borders, and it's only through global cooperation that we can hope to contain it.
