ROME: Pope Francis appealed on Sunday for courage in the face of the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 65,000 lives across the globe in just three months.

US President Donald Trump has already warned Americans to brace for a “very horrendous” number of deaths in the coming days, as the number of confirmed cases there surged past 300,000 — the highest in the world.

Queen Elizabeth II was also set to give a rare address aimed at rallying Britain, where the government is warning of tougher measures on social distancing to try to curb surging infections.

The deadly march of the virus has left about half the planet confined to their homes, drastically altering life for billions of people and plunging the global economy into deep recession.

With over 1.2 million people confirmed to be infected, the virus is also putting massive pressure on healthcare services in nations both rich and poor which are struggling to find enough staff and equipment.

Despite Trump’s bleak warning for the United States, there were glimmers of hope in hard-hit Italy, ground zero for Covid-19 in Europe, and in Spain.

Pope Francis, who himself has been tested twice for the new coronavirus, delivered Palm Sunday mass by livestream with Saint Peter’s Square empty of the usual huge crowds.

“Today, in the tragedy of a pandemic, in the face of the many false securities that have now crumbled, in the face of so many hopes betrayed, in the sense of abandonment that weighs upon our hearts, Jesus says to each one of us: `Courage, open your heart to my love’,” he said.

On Saturday, Trump warned: “This will probably be the toughest week. There will be a lot of deaths.”

But he stressed that the world’s largest economy — where over 8,500 people have died from the virus — cannot remain shut down forever.

“Mitigation does work but again, we’re not going to destroy our country,” he said. “I’ve said it from the beginning — the cure cannot be worse than the problem.” Over 47,000 global deaths have been recorded in Europe, with Britain reporting a new daily high in fatalities, taking the overall toll to 4,300.

Governments around the world have rolled out massive, unprecedented stimulus programmes to ease the pain, but economists have warned that the crisis could worsen poverty levels with millions of jobs lost.

Poor economies, such as Iraq, are struggling, with charities and volunteers rallying to provide food to the needy.

There was, however, some encouraging news from Europe.

Italy, which has registered over 15,000 deaths, cheered after seeing the number of intensive care virus cases drop for the first time on Saturday.

Even some of the most cautious Italian health officials seized on the figures as evidence that the tide may be turning in the deadliest disaster the country has faced since World War II.

“This is a very important data point,” said civil protection service chief Angelo Borrelli. “It allows our hospitals to breathe.”

Spain, which is under a near-total lockdown, saw a third successive daily fall in coronavirus-related deaths with 647 fatalities, taking its total to over 12,400.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2020