South Africa’s confirmed coronavirus cases have doubled in two weeks to a quarter-million, and India on Saturday saw its biggest daily spike as its …
South Africa’s confirmed coronavirus cases have doubled in two weeks to a quarter-million, and India on Saturday saw its biggest daily spike as its total passed 800,000. Inequality concerns are growing as health workers seek better protection while some among the rich are hoarding equipment at home.
Globally more than 12 million people have been infected by the virus, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine. More than a half-million have died. Shortages of testing materials and poor data collection in some countries mean the true numbers are unknown.
Some of the worst-affected nations are among the world’s most unequal. South Africa leads them all, with the pandemic exposing the gap in care.
In Johannesburg at South Africa’s epicenter, badly-needed oxygen concentrators, which help people with COVID-19 breathe, are hard to find as private businesses and individuals are buying them up, a public health specialist volunteering at a field hospital, Lynne Wilkinson, told The Associated Press.
