Spain broke another national record of daily coronavirus deaths Sunday as more than 40 per cent of the world's population was asked to stay at home to halt the deadly march of a disease that has claimed some 33,500 lives.
A deluge of patients are filling up hospitals in Europe and the United States, now the focal points of a pandemic that is upending the global economy in unprecedented ways.
In the US, an about-face by President Donald Trump on quarantining New York captured the panic and confusion unfurling across many parts of the world where measures to contain the pandemic change on a daily basis.
A worker cleans the street at the entrance to the Ifema Fair ground where a provisional hospital for coronavirus patients is set up in Madrid, Spain. Source: AAP
As of Sunday, more than 3.38 billion people were asked or ordered to follow confinement measures, according to an AFP database, as the virus infects every sphere of life, wiping out millions of jobs, postponing political elections and pressing pause on the sporting scene.
Worst-hit Italy and Spain, which together account for more than half of the world's deaths, are clinging to the hope that they are closing in on the peak of the crisis.
But even as the growth rate of infections and deaths slowed in both countries, Madrid announced a rise in its 24-hour toll for a third consecutive day on Sunday, with 838 fatalities, while Italy recorded 756.
The extension of the Vall d'Hebron Hospital to take care of the coronavirus patients in Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain. Source: AAP
'We are on the verge'
As President Trump continues to draw criticism for saying he hoped Americans would be back to work by Easter, other countries are warning citizens that lockdowns will be the new normal until the pandemic is brought under control.
Spain is toughening already tight restrictions on movement while Italian authorities said they would extend a shutdown past the April 3 deadline - despite the debilitating economic impact on the most vulnerable.
Health authorities say the measures are needed to free up overstretched hospital wards.
"My ICU (intensive care unit) is completely full," said Eduardo Fernandez, a nurse at Infanta Sofia hospital in Madrid, where authorities have set-up a 5,500-bed field hospital and transformed an ice rink into a morgue.
"If it is not a complete collapse, we are on the verge," the nurse added.
The pandemic has spurred a worldwide scramble for medical gear as doctors and nurses in some of the world's wealthiest cities struggle to dole out limited stocks of face masks and life-saving respirators.
With New York hospital staff making desperate pleas for equipment, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday his city only had enough protective gear - but not sufficient life-saving ventilators - for another week.
"I have nothing for my head, nothing for my shoes," said Diana Torres, who works in a rehabilitation centre in the city, the epicentre of the US outbreak with more than 670 deaths recorded.
Patients wait in line while wearing protective masks and gloves for a COVID-19 test at Brooklyn Hospital Centre. Source: AAP
"Everybody is scared," she said, explaining the effort it took to acquire one face shield, one N-95 respirator mask and one gown - all of which she said she would have to reuse.
Long haul
The US is now home to the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 infections globally with more than 124,000 cases, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally, which put worldwide deaths at 32,137.
In a matter of days the US death toll doubled to nearly 2,200 on Sunday.
Dr Anthony Fauci, who leads research into infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told CNN the virus could claim 100,000 to 200,000 lives in the US, considered a cautious estimate.
Asked how soon the wider availability of testing might allow a lifting of travel and work restrictions, Dr Fauci told CNN:
"It's not going to be tomorrow and it's certainly not going to be next week. It's going to be a little bit more than that" said the scientist, a leading member of President Trump's coronavirus task force.
As US states impose a patchwork of measures, President Trump sowed confusion over the weekend by back-peddling on a proposal to impose a broad lockdown on New York and its neighbours.
"A quarantine will not be necessary," Mr Trump tweeted eight hours after he stunned the New York metropolitan region with a proposal to place it under quarantine.
Across the Atlantic, the UK's death toll passed 1,200 as Prime Minister Boris Johnson - who tested positive for the virus last week - warned that dark days were on the horizon.
"We know things will get worse before they get better," said Johnson, who reports only mild symptoms.
Though Johnson initially said the shutdown would last three weeks, the country's deputy chief medical officer warned that life would not return to normal for six months or more.
In hard-hit Iran, President Hassan Rouhani also said the country must prepare to adjust to "the new way of life" for the foreseeable future, after 123 more deaths were recorded.
The mayor of Moscow ordered self-isolation for all of the city's residents as Russia prepares to close its borders on Monday and take a week off work.
President Donald Trump speaks about hospitals responding to the coronavirus outbreak. Source: AAP
Global divide
More than 667,090 cases of the novel coronavirus have been officially declared around the world since the outbreak began late last year, according to an AFP tally.
Variations in testing regimes mean the true number is likely far higher.
As health facilities in rich countries buckle under the pressure, aid groups warn the toll could be in the millions in poor states and war zones such as Syria and Yemen.
Three billion people around the world lack access to running water and soap, which are the most basic weapons of protection against the virus, according to UN experts.
In Africa, impoverished Mali went ahead with a parliamentary election Sunday just hours after the country reported its first coronavirus death.
Meanwhile Benin President Patrice Talon said his country could not enforce public confinement because it lacks the "means of rich countries".
In the ground zero-city of Wuhan, however, life is creeping back to normal.
Officials say the biggest threat to public health is now imported cases.
"Initially we were more scared and maybe thought it was safer overseas," said Han Li, who is helping process the flood of locals returning to Wuhan after having been were stranded elsewhere during the more than two-month lockdown.
"But now it doesn't seem this way. It seems it might be safer within China."
