Global virus deaths top 250,000 as billions raised for vaccine push

Global deaths from the coronavirus pandemic topped a quarter-million on May 4, mostly in the U.S. and Europe even as both regions slowly moved away from lockdown and world leaders raised billions towards a vaccine.    

An AFP tally of official figures showed that Europe is the hardest-hit continent with around 145,000 fatalities, and the United States recorded close to 68,700 -- together accounting for more than 85 percent of global fatalities.    

An internal government estimate in Washington forecast an even worsening number of fatalities for the country. It said the daily COVID-19 death toll could double by the end of May.    

In Europe, though, governments believe they have passed the peak of the disease with deaths in the continent's worst affected countries having dropped as a result of nearly two months of confinement.    

Restaurants in Italy partially reopened and Germans queued for haircuts in a Europe edging gingerly out of lockdown.    

Half of the planet has been under orders to shelter in place, and much of the world remained cautious even as countries from India to Nigeria sought to ease restrictions so that businesses can remain afloat and workers earn a wage after the pandemic-induced economic crash.    

"Today is wonderful," Lagos fruit and vegetable vendor Adewale Oluwa said, opening his stall in Africa's largest city after a five-week lockdown.            

Still, confirmed cases, since the disease surfaced in China late last year, rose to almost 3.6 million across 195 countries and territories.

Infections continued to surge in Russia, now adding more than 10,000 a day.    

"The threat is apparently on the rise," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin told citizens.    

But the United...