Global coronavirus death toll nears 200,000

The global coronavirus death toll approached 200,000 on Saturday as the United Nations launched an international push for a vaccine to defeat the pandemic.

Governments around the world are struggling to limit the economic devastation unleashed by the virus, which has infected nearly 2.8 million people and left half of humanity under some form of lockdown.

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The scale of the pandemic has forced medical research on the virus to move at unprecedented speed, but effective treatments are still far away and the United Nations chief said the effort will require cooperation on a global scale.

"We face a global public enemy like no other," Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a virtual briefing on Friday, asking for international organizations, world leaders and the private sector to join hands.

Medical workers in overalls stretch a patient under intensive care at the Gemelli hospital in Rome. AFP

"A world free of COVID-19 requires the most massive public health effort in history."

The vaccine should be safe, affordable and available to all, Guterres stressed at the meeting, which was also attended by the leaders of Germany and France.

But notably absent from the meeting were the leaders of China, where the virus first emerged late last year, and the United States, which has accused the UN's World Health Organization of not warning quickly enough about the original outbreak.

US President Donald Trump poses for the media photographers in White House, Washington. File photo

The UN chief's vaccine appeal came a day after US President Donald Trump prompted outcry and ridicule with his suggestion that disinfectants be used to treat coronavirus patients.

"Is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?" Trump mused during a televised briefing. "It sounds interesting to me."

As experts -- and disinfectant manufacturers -- rushed to caution against any such dangerous experiment, the president tried to walk back his comments, saying he had been speaking "sarcastically."

Lizarda Guimaraes (left) arrives for self-isolation amid coronavirus in Brasilia, Brazil, on Thursday. AP

The United States is the hardest-hit country by far in the pandemic, recording 51,017 deaths and more than 890,000 infections.

The world's biggest economy has been hammered by the pandemic, with 26 million jobs lost since the crisis began, and American leaders are under pressure to find ways to ease social distancing measures.

Despite criticism from Trump, the governor of Georgia allowed some businesses, including nail salons and bowling alleys to reopen on Friday, sparking both criticism and relief.

The mayor of the state's capital Atlanta condemned the "irresponsible" move, telling ABC News: "There is nothing essential about going to a bowling alley or giving a manicure in the middle of a pandemic."

But some in the city cherished the opportunity to re-engage with society.

"I actually had a great time," beamed Tili Banks, 41, as she and a friend left a bowling alley.

"I was just so happy to be out that I didn't even realize that I had these people's bowling shoes on when I walked outside."

Agence France-Presse