Coronavirus: the spread of the epidemic is accelerating worldwide

Text by: RFI Follow

The contamination of the new coronavirus is accelerating to the point that the World Health Organization now raises the risk of a pandemic. "We have to do everything we can to prepare for it," said the WHO director.

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Thirty-four countries are now affected by the coronavirus. The concern is particularly acute with regard to South Korea, Iran and Italy. In China, WHO experts have visited several provinces and found that the epidemic had peaked, followed by a plateau until early February, and has since declined.

The Chinese civil aviation authority has also taken the decision to gradually resume air links, with the exception of those with Hubei province, the center of the epidemic where the number of new cases is still in rise.

South Korea is the second country most affected by the coronavirus with nearly 900 people infected, including 60 new cases. But this is the weakest growth recorded.

The WHO is also concerned about the situation in Iran , where 14 people have died from the coronavirus, and dispatched a mission to the site on Tuesday 25 February. Authorities are trying to put an end to a controversy launched by a deputy accusing him of minimizing the scale of the epidemic.

An increase in contamination in Italy

In Europe, Italy remains the most affected country, with 7 deaths and a rapidly spreading epidemic. The number of cases of contamination rose from 6 to 229 in just 4 days, which prompted the authorities to set up a health cordon around eleven cities in the North. In all, more than 50,000 people are under quarantine, and the area could expand further.

► Coronavirus in Italy: measures taken to contain the epidemic

In Milan, museums, cinemas, schools are closed and bars have to lower the curtain at 6 p.m. A strange atmosphere, as described by Baptiste Labrugnas, who runs a cafe in the center of Milan: " It's a bit special because you have people who stay cloistered at home and on the other hand, you have people who continue to live normally and go out. You have kids playing soccer on the street, you have a Milan almost as usual. Still, everything works. It is said that it is this week of quarantine and the following week that will prevent an epidemic. Personally, I am not convinced ”.

Italy is for the moment in uncertainty as to the origin of the contaminations, the quest for the zero patient is still underway.

Companies forced to adapt

On the economic front, the coronavirus still fears a decline in demand for black gold and oil prices have therefore fallen sharply since Monday, February 24. A crisis that will no doubt weigh heavily.

The majority of French companies established in Asia, but outside of China, do not expect a return to normal before May. This is what a survey of French foreign trade advisers reveals.

For Alain Bentéjac, president of the advisers of the Foreign trade of France (CCE), the companies adapt to the situation: “ Obviously, the companies adapt. We cannot do otherwise, even if sometimes it is very difficult. They are developing telework, they are trying to diversify their sources of supply, to modify their value chain, but that will not happen overnight. Many are working as a team now . ”

" But it is also clear that these are often very short-term measures to be taken, and that the real solutions are certainly long-term solutions. But one might think that this crisis will probably impact the longer term strategies of companies that will try to diversify more strongly their sources of supply and change their working arrangements, "added the chairman of the CEC.

► Coronavirus: WHO calls on the world to prepare for a “possible pandemic”

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