The United Nations on Friday launched a global push to speed up production of a vaccine for the new coronavirus as US President Donald Trump came under fire for suggesting injecting patients with disinfectant.
The pandemic has upended life around the planet as nations try to stop the spread of the disease that has so far claimed more than 190,000 lives, infected nearly three million people and hammered the global economy.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said defeating the pandemic will require the biggest health effort ever seen as the United Nations joined forces with world leaders and the private sector to develop, produce and distribute a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
"We face a global public enemy like no other," Guterres told a virtual briefing. "A world free of COVID-19 requires the most massive public health effort in history."
"None of us is safe until all of us are safe," the UN chief said. "COVID-19 respects no borders. COVID-19 anywhere is a threat to people everywhere." While the disease appears to be peaking in Europe and the United States, other nations are still in the early stages of the fight and the WHO has warned strict measures should remain until there is a viable treatment or vaccine.
The race is on around the world to develop one, with the University of Oxford launching a human trial, while Germany announced similar trials will start by next week.
Meanwhile, gyms, hair salons and tattoo parlors had a green light to reopen in the US state of Georgia on Friday as the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic soared past 50,000 in the United States.
In a briefing at the White House, scientists said they had found the virus was quickly destroyed by sunlight, raising hopes that the pandemic could ease as the northern hemisphere summer approaches.
It prompted Trump to suggest researchers investigate whether it would be possible to inject light and disinfectant into the body to cure the disease - comments that sparked outrage among experts and medical professionals.
"Is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?" Trump said. "It sounds interesting to me."
But his suggestion was met with disbelief by many experts who cautioned against any such experiment.
"This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible, and it's dangerous," Vin Gupta, pulmonologist and health expert told NBC News. The United States is now the worst-affected nation in the world, with about 50,000 coronavirus deaths.
In a bid to restart its economy, the US state of Georgia will lift restrictions further than most on Friday when it allows businesses like gyms and hair salons to reopen - a move seen as too far by some.
"This is an irresponsible move that is based solely on dollars over science," Randy Adler, owner of Babs Midtown restaurant, told AFP. "It is not the right thing to do."
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