Daily Monitor
Tuesday February 02 2021
Summary
More than 1.7 million people died. Around 80 million people are known to have contracted the virus, though the actual number is likely much higher.
Children became orphans, grandparents were lost and partners bereaved as loved ones died alone in hospital, bedside visits considered too dangerous to risk.
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In the last 12 months, the novel
coronavirus has paralysed economies, devastated communities and confined nearly four billion people to their homes. It has been a year that changed the world like no other for at least a generation, possibly since World War II.
More than 1.7 million people died. Around 80 million people are known to have contracted the virus, though the actual number is likely much higher. Children became orphans, grandparents were lost and partners bereaved as loved ones died alone in hospital, bedside visits considered too dangerous to risk.
In the last 12 months, the novel coronavirus has paralyzed economies, devastated communities and confined nearly four billion people to their homes. It has been a year that changed the world like no other for at least a generation, possibly since World War II.
When the world celebrated the dawn of a new decade with a blaze of firework parties and revelry on January 1, few could have imagined what 2020 had in store.
In the last 12 months, the novel coronavirus has paralysed economies, devastated communities and confined nearly four billion people to their homes. It has been a year that changed the world like no other for at least a generation, possibly since World War II.
COVID-19, pandemic and lockdown: How 2020 changed the world In the last 12 months, the novel coronavirus has paralysed economies, devastated communities and confined nearly four billion people to their homes. It has been a year that changed the world like no other for at least a generation, possibly since World War II. An information poster on the wearing of face masks and social distancing measures as well as the ban of alcoholic beverages during certain hours during the novel coronavirus pandemic is seen in the city of Nuremberg, southern Germany, on 28 October 2020. Picture: AFP
86 days ago
PARIS - When the world celebrated the dawn of a new decade with a blaze of firework parties and revelry on 1 January, few could have imagined what 2020 had in store.
COVID-19, pandemic and lockdown: how 2020 changed the world inquirer.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inquirer.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
But contracting coronavirus is as simple as breathing in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I went to the gate of hell and came back,” said Wan Chunhui, a 44-year-old Chinese survivor who spent 17 days in hospital. “I saw with my own eyes that others failed to recover and died, which has had a big impact on me.”
The scale of the global disaster was scarcely imaginable when on Dec. 31, Chinese authorities announced 27 cases of “viral pneumonia of unknown origin” that was baffling doctors in the city of Wuhan.
The next day, authorities quietly shut the Wuhan animal market initially linked to the outbreak. On Jan. 7, Chinese officials announced they had identified the new virus, calling it 2019-nCoV. On Jan. 11, China announced the first death in Wuhan. Within days, cases flared across Asia, in France and the United States.