US, UK brace for soaring death tolls as pandemic bears down

Monitoring Desk

LONDON: The United States and Britain braced for one of their bleakest weeks in living memory on Monday as the social and financial toll of the coronavirus pandemic deepened. New infections in Italy, Spain and France showed signs of slowing, but hundreds of patients were still dying each day.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was infected last month, was hospitalized overnight in what his office described as a “precautionary step” after persistent symptoms. The 55-year-old Conservative leader, who had a fever for days, is the first known head of government to fall ill with the disease.

He remained at the helm of the government and was awaiting test results Monday.

“(I’m) sure this is very frustrating for him … (but) nonetheless he’s still very much in charge,’’ Housing and Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told the BBC. Still, Jenrick did not rule out a longer hospitalization.

World shares rose after some hard-hit European areas saw glimmers of hope — deaths and new infections appeared to be slowing in Spain, Italy and France. Leaders cautioned, however, that any gains could easily be reversed if people did not continue to adhere to strict social distancing measures and national lockdowns. Benchmarks were up about 3% in Paris and Frankfurt and Tokyo jumped more than 4%.

In Washington, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams offered a stark warning about the surge of coronavirus deaths the nation is facing.

“This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment,’’ he told “Fox News Sunday.”

More than 9,600 people have died of the virus in the US, and it leads the world in confirmed infections at more than 337,000.

In New York City, the US epicenter of the pandemic, daily confirmed deaths dropped slightly, along with intensive care admissions and the number of patients who needed breathing tubes. But New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned it was “too early to tell” whether the good news would hold.

US President Trump later suggested the hard weeks ahead could foretell the turning of a corner.

“We’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel,” Trump claimed at an White House briefing.

Louisiana health officials reported 68 more coronavirus-related deaths, the state’s biggest jump since the outbreak began. In all, the state where New Orleans hosts millions of tourists yearly has 477 reported deaths and over 13,000 infections. (AP)