While France is still in dire need of masks, President Emmanuel Macron promises to triple production within two weeks. In Belgium, a 12-year-old girl died, while Spain and the United Kingdom have never had so many deaths in the space of a day. According to the AFP, the coronavirus has killed more than 38,000 people worldwide.
- In France, Macron promises to produce more masks
Emmanuel Macron announces the tripling of the mask production capacity by the end of April, ie ” more than ten million ” per week. In overcrowded hospitals, caregivers continue to lament the lack of protection. Mask requirements are assessed by the Elysée at 40 million per week for nursing staff and nursing homes. The president also promised 10,000 more respirators by mid-May.
Orly Airport, hit by the collapse of air traffic, is hosting its last commercial flights this Tuesday evening (ten aircraft movements, one thousand passengers). Doors close at 11.59 p.m., the few companies that still operate there are transferred to Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport.
A first death related to Covid-19 was recorded in Mayotte, which counts 94 confirmed cases. The presidential plane landed on Tuesday with three tonnes of equipment for the only hospital center in this Indian Ocean territory, considered to be the largest medical desert in France: ” only 28 liberal doctors “, According to Senator Thani Mohamed Soilihi (for more than 256,000 inhabitants, 400,000 according to certain policies if we count the illegal population).
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According to the latest assessment, 499 patients have died from coronavirus in French hospitals in the last 24 hours, a new record increase since the start of the epidemic, which brings the total assessment to 3 523 deaths, the director general announced on Tuesday of Health Jérôme Salomon. The total number of people hospitalized is now close to 22,800, an increase of 1,749 since Monday. Among them, a new very strong influx of heavy cases in intensive care (+457) in which 5,564 patients are admitted to date, he said.
- A minute of silence in Italy
All the municipalities of the peninsula observed a minute of silence this Tuesday noon, with the tri-color flag at half-mast in “memory of the victims of the coronavirus” and in tribute to health professionals. As a sign of solidarity, the Vatican has also lowered its flags at half mast.
Several large supermarket chains have announced that they are implementing a 10% reduction for the poorest – their situation is made even more complicated by the pandemic. The request had been made Saturday by the president of the Council at the time of the launching of food vouchers, financed up to 400 million euros by the State. According to the main Italian agricultural union, an additional 500,000 people need help to eat.
- Record 24-hour death in Spain
In Spain, the government announces a whole series of social measures intended to cushion the impact of the pandemic, notably the suspension of evictions of tenants and aid for precarious workers.
The announcement was made when the death toll in the country in one day has never been higher: 849 deaths. A total of 8,189 people died from the disease in the country, the second in the world to register the most deaths behind Italy. And the progression of new confirmed cases (9,222 in 24 hours, reaching 94,417) has again accelerated and also reached a new record.
- 1,789 dead in total in the UK
Record also at United Kingdom, where 381 people died on Tuesday of the coronavirus, or 1,789 dead since the start of the pandemic. The number of officially registered patients reached 25,150, an increase of more than 3,000. Among those who succumbed to the disease was a 13-year-old adolescent. According to his family, he had no underlying pathology. He is the youngest known victim of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom.
But it’s in Belgium that the youngest victim was identified in a European country. She is a 12-year-old girl. ” It is a very rare event, but one that upsets us “, The health authorities reacted. This is the first time that the death of a child has been reported in Belgium, where, according to official figures, 705 people died from the coronavirus.
In GreecePrime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis calls on members of his government and members of his majority to pay half their salaries to fight the pandemic. The left-wing opposition party Syriza considered that this contribution should be compulsory and extended to MEPs, and in the public sector to government and legal positions.
- Mandatory masks in supermarkets in Austria
The Austrians who go shopping, one of the few authorized outings, will, as of this Wednesday, April 1, be given masks at the entrance, reports our correspondent in Vienna, Isaure Hiace. They will have to carry them to supermarkets now. These surgical masks make it possible not to contaminate the others explained the Austrian chancellor. ” It would be a mistake to think that such masks protect the wearer. But they make transmission by air less easy. It is not part of our culture and it will be a big change. But it is necessary to take this step to further reduce the spread “Said Sebastian Kurz.
The government would like to extend the requirement to wear a mask in future to other situations where people are in contact, such as on public transport. A necessary strengthening of protective measures because this crisis will be long and difficult warns Sebastian Kurz.
- The chief doctor of the infected Moscow hospital
In Moscow, the chief medical officer of the main hospital treating coronavirus patients announced that he was infected. He had welcomed Vladimir Putin in his establishment last week. But the Kremlin said it had no concerns for the Russian president: ” Poutine is regularly tested. Everything is normal “
In addition, Russian deputies adopted a bill providing for up to five years in prison for disseminating false information about the coronavirus. Reinforced sentences are also planned against those who do not respect the confinement, set up on Monday in Moscow and in a dozen regions of Russia.
- Poland tightens measures
The Poland tightens measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus: closure of parks, beaches, and certain businesses such as hotels, cosmetic stores or bicycle rentals. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also specifies that timetables reserved for the elderly will be set up in shops and that minors will no longer be allowed to go out without being accompanied by an adult.
The emergency measures taken to combat the spread of the coronavirus by the member states of the European Union cannot go against democratic principles, the European Commission warned on Tuesday. ” Emergency measures must be strictly proportioned. They should not last indefinitely “Said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, adding that” governments must ensure that these measures are subject to regular monitoring ” Hungarian parliament authorized Monday Prime Minister Viktor Orban to be governed by decree and without time limit.
- Europe’s largest hospitals worried about drug shortage
A drug shortage for the seriously ill Covid-19 is almost imminent, according to doctors at the nine largest hospitals in Europe. This Tuesday, these health professionals sent a letter to their respective governments, calling on them to take emergency measures in the face of an announced shortage.
The signatories of this appeal are doctors and directors of establishments that are members of the European Alliance of University Hospitals, including the Public Assistance of Public Hospitals in Paris. According to the authors, if European countries do not work together to ensure the continuous supply of medication, it will soon no longer be possible to provide the intensive care needed for Covid 19 patients who are in intensive care.
In fact, the stocks of medicines are under stress in these services and are drastically falling. The better-off hospitals have two weeks of leeway. For the others, it is only a matter of a few days before a total shortage of essential drugs for resuscitation care.
- Still no confinement in Indonesia but a state of emergency
President Indonesian Joko Widodo declares a state of emergency on Tuesday, but still refuses to impose widespread confinement on the world’s fourth largest population (260 million). Above all, it is the tens of millions of Indonesians who live from day-to-day jobs in the informal sector who would be the problem. But last week, the doctors’ union said the government’s social distancing strategy was ” failure Saying the epidemic was much larger than the official figures suggested.
In India, authorities are looking for people who have passed through an Islamic center in New Delhi, which is believed to be one of the main sources of the spread of coronavirus in the country. Several thousand people went there to participate in rallies in March. Monday evening and Tuesday, the alleys around the center were sealed. More than 1,500 people have been evacuated from the center, 500 have symptoms of possible coronavirus contamination, a thousand have been placed in quarantine.
In South Korea, the return will finally take place between April 9 and 20 (originally it was scheduled for early March), and the class will be done online. The government has promised to provide connected tools to the poorest students: ” everyone should have access to the Internet and a computer Said the Prime Minister. The university entrance exam – the most important moment in the life of a Korean student – could also be postponed, it is set for November 19. The country is facing an increase in cases from abroad and small outbreaks of infection.
At Japan, 78 new cases of infection were identified this Tuesday in Tokyo. This is the largest daily increase recorded in the capital since the start of the epidemic. Out of 2,000 people infected in the archipelago, 500 are infected in Tokyo.
The Minister of the Economy considered that the situation did not justify the establishment of the state of emergency. But there are strong pressures for the Prime Minister to impose containment; all the more so since the small number of tests carried out raises doubts about the reality of the spread of the epidemic.
- In Panama, alternate outings for men and women
From this Wednesday and for a fortnight, men and women can only leave their homes in turns at Panama : Monday, Wednesday and Friday for women, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for men – and no more than two hours. On Sundays, all outings are prohibited. According to the Minister of Security, ” it’s the easiest way “To cut the number of people on the streets by half, after the arrest last weekend of 2,000 people who broke the rules of quarantine” total and mandatory “
At Mexico, the government has decreed state of health emergency until April 30, to take all necessary measures in the face of the crisis, protect employers and employees from its consequences, and guarantee the supply of the population. The government thus extended until the end of April the suspension of non-essential activities. And the Undersecretary of Health urged Mexicans to stay at home, especially the most vulnerable.
To the United States, a federal judge has suspended the decision of the Texas authorities to include abortions in the list of non-emergency operations prohibited during the pandemic. Like other states, Texas has ordered the postponement of non-emergency medical procedures to ensure the availability of hospital beds for Covid-19 patients. But last week his attorney general said that this order also applies to abortions, except in case of danger to the life of the patient.
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