Mourning 100,000 covid-19 deaths

A priest holding a crucifix, goes in procession in northwestern Italy, as part of a Good Friday's Way of the Cross procession, during the country's lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. AFPShow less

As of yesterday, Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, killed more than 100,000 people around the world. This grim record is expected to rise in the coming weeks, with 200,000 deaths projected in the US alone, according to the Trump administration. Ever-climbing death tolls and infection rates seem to have become facts of life since the new strain of the virus was discovered last December. But behind each number, there is a story – that of a person's life taken away too soon, leaving a family to grieve, often unable to attend their loved one’s funeral.

We arrive at this tragic milestone at a time of great religious significance. Today, Christians in most parts of the world will not be able to go to church for Easter and spend time with their loved ones. Pope Francis at an empty St Peter’s Basilica on Good Friday marked a solemn moment.

With Ramadan set to start in less than two weeks’ time, the month of April is set to be particularly challenging for worshippers. Anti-coronavirus measures in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere require places of worship to close their doors to the public. These containment measures are crucial to contain the pandemic and decrease the risk of infection, but, as a consequence, many worshippers have now found themselves separated from their respective communities during a difficult time.

Some countries have been affected disproportionately by this ongoing tragedy. Nearly two-thirds of all those who have succumbed to the disease hail from Europe. The mortality rate in Italy exceeds 12 per cent, while the number of deaths in Italy, France and Spain alone constitute nearly half of all fatalities in the world. Meanwhile, the US, which is already the hardest-hit nation, reached the grim milestone of half a million cases nationwide yesterday. It has now surpassed Italy with the highest  number of recorded coronavirus-related fatalities for any country.

Nearly every inch of the globe has been affected by the pandemic in one way or another.

War-torn Yemen, which had not reported any cases of the virus, announced its first official Covid-19 patient last weekend. Half of all the country's hospitals have been destroyed by years of war, and medical staff lack the personal protection equipment necessary to treat patients without risking infection.

Nearly every inch of the globe has been affected by the pandemic in one way or another.

If the disease is allowed to propagate in war zones and poor areas with little access to appropriate healthcare or aid, the result can only be catastrophic. The international community must help Yemen, along with other nations ridden by poverty and conflict, to combat an impending coronavirus outbreak.

In times of great hardship, authorities have intensified testing and quarantine measures to protect their people. Medical staff are also working around the clock, sometimes in dire circumstances. They are risking their lives at the frontlines of the pandemic to save others, and deserve our respect and support. The least we can do to help those affected by the virus, and the families of the deceased, is to stay in and stay safe, so as not to jeopardise other people's lives and our own.