Donald Trump has carried out his threat to cut ties with the World Health Organization (WHO), which he accuses of complacency towards Beijing, at a time when the city of New York, very affected by the Covid-19, is preparing to resume part of his activities.
The US president announced on Friday “to end the relationship” between his country and the WHO, which he accuses since the start of the pandemic of being too lenient with China, where the coronavirus appeared in December before ending up. spread over the planet.
The United States, which is traditionally the first donors to the UN agency, will “redirect these funds to other urgent and global public health needs which deserve it,” he told reporters.
The announcement comes as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the United States, Latin America and Russia, plague the global economy, and threatens to regain momentum in South Korea.
Encouraged by a ebb of the epidemic, Europe continues for its part to open its borders and relax the restrictions put in place.
The pandemic has killed at least 362,028 people around the world since its appearance in December in China, according to a report compiled by AFP from official sources on Friday at 19:00 GMT.
More than 5,862,890 cases have been diagnosed in 196 countries and territories.
The United States is the most affected country in terms of both number of deaths and cases, with 102,201 deaths for 1,731,035 cases. Follow the United Kingdom with 38,161 dead, Italy (33,229), France (28,714) and Brazil (27,878), spent Friday in fifth position in this sad ranking, ahead of Spain (27,121).
Brazil experienced another day on Friday of more than a thousand deaths (1,124), knowing that the real figures of the South American giant are probably fifteen times worse, according to scientists.
New York, June 8 target
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that he plans to partially lift lockdown for New York City the week of June 8, provided public health indicators are satisfactory.
This easing would initially affect only part of the economy, mainly construction and manufacturing. New York is by far the most affected city in the world by the coronavirus, which has killed more than 21,000 people there.
Russia for its part recorded a new daily record of deaths (232), bringing the total to 4,374 deaths and 387,623 cases, making it the third most affected country in the world for the number of contaminations behind the United States. and Brazil. According to data published on Friday, the progression of the epidemic nevertheless seems stabilized, with 8,572 new cases in 24 hours, a stable level for ten days.
Europe, hard hit with more than 176,000 deaths and 2.1 million cases, continues its deconfinement, after seeing the spread of the virus slow.
Denmark announced on Friday that it would reopen its borders to German, Norwegian and Icelandic nationals on June 15.
Greece will open its airports in Athens and Thessaloniki (north) to tourists from 29 countries from June 15, the start of the tourist season.
But the external borders of the European Union remain closed. And its internal borders reopen in disorder, upset in particular some couples. “It’s really hard not being able to physically feel any intimacy, even being able to just kiss each other,” Melinda Schneider, a 26-year-old Canadian who hasn’t seen her Danish friend for more than four months, told AFP.
Europe is back to football
Turkey partially reopens its mosques on Friday and Austria, with great care, its hotels and tourist infrastructure. In Vienna, the hotels usually popular between March and June by business travelers expect to fill only 5 to 10% in June, well below the breakeven point of 77%, according to the Chamber of Commerce of the capital.
British schools and businesses will be able to reopen from Monday but it will be necessary to wait until June 8 for dental offices. In the meantime, some are buying kits on the internet to treat their teeth: “it’s easy to use and it’s not too scary,” says Susie in Salisbury (South).
French museums, parks, cafes and restaurants will reopen on Tuesday – only on the terrace in Paris -, and it will also end the ban on going more than 100 km from home. The Parisian department store of Galeries Lafayette reopens on Saturday, with masks and safety distances required.
The coronavirus is also degrading the economy. In Italy and France – which is entering a recession – the Gross Domestic Product fell 5.3% in the first quarter compared to the previous one, and 2.9% in Austria.
The Canadian economy contracted 8.2% year on year in the first quarter, the steepest drop since early 2009.
India’s economy experienced its weakest growth in 20 years for the January-March quarter, while Brazil’s GDP fell 1.5% in the first quarter from the last three months of 2019, according to official figures released on Friday.
In Spain, the crisis has worsened poverty, prompting the government to approve the creation of a minimum living income on Friday.
Europe is back to playing football, except France. After Germany in mid-May and Spain, England and Italy announced in turn Thursday the resumption of their championships in June. For the Premier League, the most followed in the world, it will be on June 17, shortly after the Spanish Liga (week of June 8) and just before Italy (June 20).
Rapid spread in the Americas
In the Americas, the virus is still spreading rapidly. The United States remains by far the most affected country in terms of number of cases (1.73 million) and deaths (102,201, including 1,297 Thursday).
The capital Washington, relatively untouched, began lifting restrictions on Friday. On the same day, restaurants and hair salons in Los Angeles, the main focus of Covid-19 in California, were allowed to reopen on condition that health measures were implemented.
The epidemic is not weakening in South America, as in Chile, where the death toll reached 944 and contaminations 90,638, according to the latest official figures from Thursday.
In 24 hours, 3,695 cases of coronavirus were recorded in the South American country of 18 million people, and 54 people died from the disease, a new record.
In the Middle East, Iran, which has relaxed its restrictions since mid-April, has the largest daily increase in cases in nearly two months (2,819 for a total of 146,668).
Glimmer of hope
South Korea, often cited as an example for curbing the disease, reinstated restrictions as it began to return to normal life.
After an outbreak of cases Thursday, parks and museums are closed for two weeks and the number of students hosted in Seoul is reduced.
On the medical front, a drug, anakinra, initially intended for rheumatic diseases, gives “encouraging” results for severe forms of Covid-19 by reducing the risk of death and the need to be put on a ventilator in intensive care , according to a French study which offers a glimmer of hope.
burs-lch / jhd / avz / ybl
30/05/2020 01:57:56 –
Washington (AFP) –
© 2020 AFP
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