Economies from Europe to the United States on Thursday reported record slumps and companies from banks to car makers warned of losses in the latest fallout from the pandemic that has infected more than 17 million people across the globe.
As governments try to weigh lockdown measures against the need to revive economies, the United States its economy had contracted 32.9 percent in the second quarter -- the worst on record since 1947. Southern and western regions of the United States were grappling Thursday with a renewed surge of coronavirus infections as the death toll in the world's worst-affected nation passed 150,000.
"The current situation is more serious than before," said Yuriko Koike."There were several clusters in Tokyo... We have no time to waste."Days after Australian authorities expressed hope that a Melbourne lockdown -- now in its third week -- was bringing persistent outbreaks under control, the surge is a warning that initial successes in managing COVID-19 can quickly unravel.
But social media was quickly swamped by photos of primarily blue-collar workers forced to eat on pavements and in parks -- and even inside public toilets to escape a torrential downpour.The EU is due Thursday to update its list of countries approved for travel to the European bloc, which it reviews every two weeks. The United States was not on the list and is not expected to be included.
Several European countries have slapped restrictions on travel to and from Spain, while officials elsewhere bicker over the seriousness of the current outbreak.