US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is considering hosting world leaders for the annual G7 summit at his Camp David retreat despite the ongoing coronavirus crisis, as the global death toll soared past 325,000.
Trump, who is seeking to revive the US economy and his political fortunes ahead of the November election, also lashed out again at China, saying its “incompetence” was responsible for “this mass Worldwide killing.”
There was encouraging news, meanwhile, on the scientific front as two studies on monkeys published Wednesday offered hope that humans can develop protective immunity to the novel coronavirus.
Trump said in a tweet that the United States was “Transitioning back to Greatness” and he may hold the G7 in June in person, instead of remotely by videoconference as proposed previously.
“I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, D.C., at the legendary Camp David,” he said.
“The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all — normalization!”
G7 countries — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — take turns organizing the annual gathering.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he would attend the Camp David summit if “health conditions allow,” his office said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would “wait and see what happens.”
Trump, who has blamed China for failing to contain the outbreak after it originated in the city of Wuhan late last year, attacked Beijing in another tweet.
“It was the incompetence of China , and nothing else, that did this mass Worldwide killing,” he tweeted.
Researchers reported progress from a study involving monkeys which looked at a prototype vaccine and another on whether infection with COVID-19 provides immunity against re-exposure.
“We demonstrate in rhesus macaques that prototype vaccines protected against SARS-CoV-2 infection and that SARS-CoV-2 infection protected against re-exposure,” said senior author Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Many governments see the development of an effective vaccine as the only surefire way to fully reopen their economies without risking increased death tolls.
While Trump raised the possibility of holding the annual G7 summit as a sign of “normalization,” Brazil reported a record number of deaths as the pandemic began hitting Latin America with full force.
With Europe continuing to ease lockdowns, Latin America has seen infections surge and now accounts for about 580,000 of the world s nearly five million confirmed cases.
Brazil has been hardest hit, rising to the third-highest number of cases in the world, and Peru, Mexico and Chile have also seen a steady increases in infections.
Health officials in Brazil reported 1,179 new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, the first time the daily toll exceeded 1,000, but far-right President Jair Bolsonaro remains bitterly opposed to lockdowns, having described them as unnecessary over a “little flu.”
With the outbreak in the world s sixth-largest country expected to accelerate until early June, many Brazilians are deeply worried about the next few weeks.
“Our country is going from bad to worse,” said retiree Gilberto Ferreira in Rio de Janeiro.
Bolsonaro has refused to accept experts advice, pressing regional governors to end stay-at-home measures.
And like Trump, he has promoted the use of anti-malaria drugs against the virus despite studies showing they have no benefit and could have dangerous side effects.
Chile is also suffering from a sharp rise in cases and deployed soldiers on the outskirts of its locked-down capital Santiago after clashes with protesters angry about food shortages and job losses.
There were worrying signs in Argentina too, with authorities in Cordoba having to backtrack on easing lockdown measures following a sharp spike in infections.
Peru saw its case count shoot past 100,000.
Europe is meanwhile hoping the worst is behind it, with the number of new cases and deaths on a steady decline.
