Child virus deaths are rare, says study

ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 494,209 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according international media reports.

The United States has the most deaths with 127,144, followed by Brazil with 55,304, Britain with 43,414, Italy with 34,708 and France 29,778. Fewer than one in a hundred children who test positive for COVID-19 die although a small but significant percentage develop severe illness, a new study led by experts in Britain, Austria and Spain shows.

"Overall, the vast majority of children and young people experience only mild disease," says Marc Tebruegge, lead author of the study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal. US officials estimate that 20 million Americans have been infected with the coronavirus since it first arrived in the United States, meaning that the vast majority of the population remains susceptible. Thursday’s estimate is roughly eight times as many infections as over 2.5 million cases that have been confirmed. Officials have long known that millions of people were infected without knowing it and that many cases are being missed because of gaps in testing.

The news comes as the Trump administration works to tamp down nationwide concern about the COVID-19 pandemic as about a dozen states are seeing worrisome increases in cases. The administration also looks to get its scientific experts back before the public more as it tries to allay anxieties about the pandemic.

Mexico has surpasses 25,000 COVID-19 deaths and 200,000 cases, since reporting its first infection on February 28.

Finance Minister Arturo Herrera revealed he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, just three days after he met with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Meanwhile, Britons have been urged to abide by social distancing rules over fears of a coronavirus resurgence after tens of thousands of people descended on beaches during a heatwave. The southern English seaside resort of Bournemouth declared a major incident on Thursday after thousands flocked to its beach on the hottest day of the year. Beijing has partially lifted a weeks-long lockdown imposed in the Chinese capital to head off a feared second wave of coronavirus infections after three million samples were taken in two weeks, officials said.

Dozens of residential compounds across the city were shut down, with authorities rolling out a mass testing campaign to root out any remaining cases.

A vast majority of them are linked to the sprawling Xinfadi market in the city´s south that supplies about 80 percent of Beijing´s fresh produce and meat.

The lockdown was eased on Tuesday for seven apartment blocks after residents tested negative for the virus, officials said at a Friday briefing. The remaining blocks are still in lockdown.

India is deploying thousands of beds made of cardboard to makeshift medical facilities as it struggles to deal with the surging number of coronavirus cases.

The low-cost beds are chemically coated to make them waterproof and can hold a 300-kg load, said Vikram Dhawan, who along with his brother came up with the design while they were stuck at home during the country´s months-long lockdown.

"One person can pick it up very comfortably," Dhawan said at his factory in the northern city of Bhiwadi which already makes cardboard products.

"It´s compact, lightweight and can be manufactured and assembled in minutes."

The New Delhi government is installing 10,000 of the beds in a spiritual centre on the outskirts of the city that is being converted into a dedicated coronavirus facility.

Mumbai, which like the capital has seen its hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, is also using them.

"The most important thing is that the virus only stays on the surface of cardboard for 24 hours," Dhawan said. "On any other surface, metal, wood or plastic, it stays for three to four days."