The death toll from the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus exceeded 800,000 on Saturday, according to an AFP count, as many countries are facing an outbreak of new cases and are increasing restrictions.
In this context, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the wearing of masks for “children aged 12 and over under the same conditions as adults”. And this “in particular when they cannot guarantee a distance of at least one meter from others and if the transmission is generalized in the zone concerned”.
WHO has also declared, through the voice of its boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, hope “to end this pandemic in less than two years”. “Especially if we can unite our efforts (…) and by making the most of the available tools and hoping that we can have additional tools like vaccines, I think we can put an end to it in a shorter period of time than (for) the (Spanish) flu of 1918 “, which had decimated 50 million people until 1920, he added. “In the current situation, (…) the virus is more likely to spread,” said the head of the WHO. “But we have the advantage of having better technologies (…) And we know how to stop it”. But, in the meantime, the death toll and the sick continue to rise around the world. In total, 800,800 deaths have been recorded out of more than 23 million reported cases, according to a count made on Saturday by AFP.
Latin America and the Caribbean is the most bereaved region with more than 255,000 dead and more than half of the deaths from Covid-19 on the planet have been recorded in four countries: the United States, Brazil, Mexico and India. In the United States, the latest report from Johns Hopkins University reported 176,332 dead on Sunday at 00:30 GMT, including 1,087 in the past 24 hours. Globally, the number of deaths caused by this disease has doubled since June 6 and more than 100,000 new deaths have been recorded in 17 days since August 5.
Often cited as an example for its management of the epidemic, Germany has recorded more than 2,000 additional cases in 24 hours. The number of new contaminations there has increased sharply in recent days due, say the authorities, to the massive return of German tourists who have spent their holidays in risk areas abroad.
Elsewhere in Europe, the 24-hour figures are even worse in France and Spain, illustration of a rebound in the pandemic. 3,602 new cases were announced on Saturday on French territory, after 4,586 the day before. As the start of the school year approaches, the government has decreed the wearing of masks compulsory in schools for those over 11 years old. It is already so in entire districts of Paris and other large cities, such as Lyon, Toulouse and Nice.
Spain, despite some of the strictest containment in the world, the wearing of the generalized mask and millions of tests, is once again one of the most affected countries, with more than 8,000 additional cases in one day.
As for Italy, it announced on Saturday that it had recorded 1,071 new daily contaminations, crossing the symbolic threshold of one thousand per day for the first time since May 12. Simple recommendation until then, wearing a mask is now mandatory in public transport in Denmark. Tightening screws also in England where containment is tightened in several areas of the north-west and where the second most populous city, Birmingham, has been placed under surveillance.
In Asia, South Korea, which had so far succeeded in curbing the epidemic thanks to a very thorough strategy of testing and tracing the contacts of infected people, recorded more than 300 new cases of Covid-19 for two days consecutive, including 332 Saturday, a record since March. The authorities have therefore announced the extension to the entire territory, from Sunday, of the strengthening of the restrictions applied in the Seoul region.
India has for its part imposed severe measures to reduce the risk of contamination during the religious holiday of Ganesh, one of the most important in this country. Lasting 10 days, it is the occasion of immense processions for the immersion in the Arabian Sea of imposing effigies of the Hindu god Ganesh, half-man, half-elephant. Access to the beaches has been reduced, as has the size of the statues.
In Argentina, the northern province of Jujuy, one of the poorest, is experiencing an exponential increase in the number of cases and doctors are bracing for the risk of a “collapse” of the health system. 30% of nursing staff have been infected.
Venezuela, for its part, on Saturday received 73 tons of medical aid from Spain and Portugal to deal with the pandemic.
Under these conditions, a return to normal seems far away. Going to the museum, attending a match or a concert is still complicated, even prohibited, in many countries. And this even if women’s football is back in Italy on Saturday after a six-month hiatus.
In Germany, where large gatherings remain prohibited until at least the end of October, the University of Halle began a life-size experiment on Saturday, with 4,000 participants, to determine what could be the best possible organization to avoid contamination during the concerts.
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