Deaths from the coronavirus spiked in Europe on Tuesday with Spain, France and Britain reporting their highest daily tolls to date, as field hospitals shot up across New York, the epicentre of the U.S. outbreak bracing for dark times ahead.
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With more than 40,000 killed by the disease barrelling around the globe, the United States, already home to the largest number of confirmed infections, hit a bleak milestone as its national death toll surpassed China’s. In a matter of months, the virus has infected nearly 850,000 people in a crisis hammering the global economy and transforming the daily existence of some 3.6 billion people who have been told to stay home under lockdowns.
Deaths shot up again across Europe. While there are hopeful signs that the spread of infections is slowing in hardest-hit Italy and Spain, more than 800 died overnight in both countries. France recorded a one-day record of 499 dead while Britain reported 381 coronavirus deaths. With hospitals direly overstretched, lockdowns have been extended despite their crushing economic impact.
In Belgium, a 12-year-old girl died in another worrying case of a youth succumbing to the disease. Meanwhile, the United States saw its death toll top 3,600, roaring past China’s official tally of 3,309, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker. France joined it with a surge to 3,525 deaths, an official toll that includes only those who died in hospital and not those who perished at home or in seniors’ homes.
‘We need help now’
The inundation of patients has sent health facilities around the world into overdriv