BERLIN, Germany (AP) — The number of people infected worldwide with the new coronavirus has crested the 200,000 mark and deaths topped 8,000, with the number of people now recovered at more than 82,000, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Desperate travelers choked European border crossings on Wednesday after nations implemented strict controls in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus, creating traffic jams miles long and slowing the passage of trucks carrying critical supplies.
In an attempt to alleviate some of the pressure from Eastern Europeans stuck in Austria trying to return home, Hungary overnight opened its borders in phases. Bulgarian citizens were first allowed to cross in carefully controlled convoys, then Romanians had a turn.
But by early Wednesday on the Austrian side of the border, trucks were backed up for 28 kilometers (17 miles) and cars for 14 kilometers (nearly 9 miles) as rules allowing only Hungarians or transport trucks through the country’s borders kicked back in.
European Union leaders have been working on how to make sure that food, medical supplies and other essential goods keep flowing but so far borders have been clogged. Looking ahead, they’re also trying to figure out ways to allow seasonal agricultural workers, needed to keep the production of food going, to travel back and forth across essentially closed borders.
Nations around the world were facing the same issues, with the US and Canada working on a mutual ban on nonessential travel between the two countries. READ MORE
