Coronavirus live news: Fauci says political divide added to 'stunning' US deaths; Italy 'misled' WHO
US death toll passes 500,000; Syria approves Sputnik vaccine; UK government eyes return to normal by end of JuneItaly ‘misled WHO on pandemic readiness’ weeks before Covid outbreakUS coronavirus death toll passes 500,000 after devastating winter surgeThousands of US healthcare workers have died fighting Covid-19See all our coronavirus coverage 12.38am GMT Italy allegedly misled the World Health Organization (WHO) on its readiness to face a pandemic less than three weeks before the country’s first locally transmitted coronavirus case was confirmed.Each year, countries bound by the International Health Regulations (IHR) – an international treaty to combat the global spread of disease – are required to file a self-assessment report to the WHO on the status of their preparedness for a health emergency. Related: Italy 'misled WHO on pandemic readiness' weeks before Covid outbreak 12.11am GMT Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said political divisiveness contributed significantly to the “stunning” US coronavirus death toll, which on Monday surpassed 500,000 lives lost, Reuters reports. The country had recorded more than 28 million Covid cases and 500,054 fatalities as of Monday afternoon, according to a Reuters tally of public health data. In an interview with Reuters, Fauci on Monday said the pandemic arrived in the United States as the country was riven by political divisions in which wearing a mask became a political statement rather than a public hea
