The coronavirus is spreading like wildfire and destabilizing the global economy. In South Korea, authorities recorded three new deaths on Saturday, bringing the death toll from coronavirus in the country to 16. And 594 additional cases of contamination were recorded, the largest daily increase to date. With nearly 3,000 cases, South Korea is the second most affected country in the world by the epidemic, behind China.
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"Believing yourself safe would be a fatal mistake"
The WHO, which raised the threat level to "very high", called on all countries still spared to prepare for the arrival of Covid-19, and warned: believing that it was safe from the disease would be a "fatal error". Three separate cases of contamination of unknown origin have been confirmed in the United States, two in northern California and one in Oregon, in patients who have not traveled to risk areas and have not had contact established with people carrying the virus.
Chinese authorities on Saturday released 427 new cases and 47 deaths, for a total of 79,251 cases and 2,835 deaths since the start of the epidemic. In the rest of the world, the coronavirus has infected more than 5,000 people and killed more than 80 people. Encouraging figures, however: of the 84,000 people infected worldwide, 36,500 have already been cured, according to a count made by Johns Hopkins University in the United States, which compiles data from the WHO and the health authorities of each country.
A real-time map to see the evolution of the coronavirus
Developed by researchers at the Johns-Hopkins University in the United States, a map lists all the confirmed cases of Covid-19 around the world, as well as those suspected, in real time. But it is also accompanied by several counters which provide information on the number of victims ... and people healed.
In the United States, 62 infected patients have been registered with no deaths to be deplored as noted by President Donald Trump at a meeting in South Carolina on Friday. "The press is in hysterical mode," he said, saying that some 35,000 people die from the flu each year in his country. "We are preparing for the worst (...) We are ready, totally ready," said the Republican billionaire. The US government has postponed sine die a summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) due to be held in Las Vegas in March for fear of the epidemic.
"Now is not the time to panic"
In New York, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it was "not the time to panic, but to fully prepare" to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Saudi Arabia, which had already suspended the The entry of pilgrims going to Mecca, on Friday prohibited nationals of member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from entering its holy cities (Mecca and Medina). Ryad has not reported any Covid-19 infections on its soil, but most neighboring countries have registered dozens of cases in recent days, the majority of whom have returned from a Shiite pilgrimage to Iran where the disease has killed 34 people.
After Brazil, a second Latin American country was hit on Friday: Mexico with the first three cases of coronavirus, three people having traveled to Italy. The United States recommended on Friday that its nationals avoid unnecessary trips to Italy, where the coronavirus has already infected 888 people, including 21 fatally. Many European states are preparing for an increase in contamination on their soil and a meeting of EU health ministers on the coronavirus is announced for March 6. In France, where 57 contaminations have been identified, President Emmanuel Macron chairs a Defense Council and an exceptional Council of Ministers on Saturday.