Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic Thursday, April 2, 2020

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Across the planet, almost half of humanity is confined and the symbolic threshold of one million infected people may soon be exceeded.

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France continues to count the coronavirus deaths. More than 4,500 people died in a month in hospital. The executive is on the front lines in an attempt to counter the mistrust which is settling over its management of the coronavirus crisis, and in particular around the supply of masks. This medical material is still sorely lacking for health care workers and will be essential for breaking out of containment, which the government is starting to think about.

The battle of the masks

Like the epidemic, the competition for drugs and protective gear has become global. " Masks ordered in China by France are bought in cash by the Americans on the tarmac of Chinese airports before the departure of delivery planes ," regrets Jean Rottner, the president of the French region of Grand Est, particularly affected by the virus. .

Spain lacks means

Spanish hospitals are already saturated. After Italy, which holds the sad record in number of victims of the Coronavirus (13,155), Spain comes in second position with more than 10,000 dead.

The country is terribly lacking in resources. Some doctors and nurses only have plastic bags to protect themselves during consultations. More than 15,000 caregivers are themselves affected by the disease.

The military has been deployed to all regions to respond to the epidemic: transporting the dead and building field hospitals.

The rule of law under threat in Europe?

Fourteen European states warned Thursday of violations of the rule of law in the European Union. At the time when the Hungarian Prime Minister has granted himself almost unlimited powers to fight against the Covid-19.

" In this unprecedented situation, it is legitimate for the member states to adopt extraordinary measures to protect their citizens and overcome the crisis ", note Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in a joint declaration. " However, we are deeply concerned about the risk of violating the principles of the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights arising from the adoption of certain emergency measures ," they add.

Viktor Orban received the green light this week from Parliament to legislate by ordinances in the context of an indefinite state of emergency. And has imposed a sentence of up to five years in prison for spreading "false news" about the virus.

Multiplication of restrictive measures around the world

The coronavirus epidemic in Algeria has ended more than a year of popular mobilization against power . But the Algerian authorities seem to take advantage of the context to settle their accounts. Several journalists, having covered the "Hirak", were arrested and placed in detention, without even having been tried. The Algerian regime also took advantage of the situation to muzzle the media. While the country's health system is failing and hospitals are struggling to cope with the epidemic, the government has launched, as in Hungary, a real witch hunt. " Regarding Covid-19, anyone who gives information other than that of the Ministry of Health, and who is transgressive, is arrested, " denounces from Algiers a journalist on condition of anonymity.

"Disastrous situation" in Syria

Voices within the Syrian opposition also denounce the censorship put in place by the regime. According to Fadi Al Maari, an opposition activist, the government of Bashar al-Assad is trying to minimize the severity of the epidemic in the country. " Contrary to what the Syrian regime claims, the situation is dire in the areas it controls, " said the young man contacted by WhatsApp. “ Several doctors in Damascus tried to alert the population, but they were arrested. These doctors revealed the presence on Syrian territory of Iranian fighters who were infected and who were not quarantined. They spread the virus by roaming freely in Damascus and Aleppo . "

The Islamic Republic of Iran, one of Syria's main allies, is one of the most affected countries in the world with more than 3,000 deaths linked to the coronavirus.

Israeli-Palestinian cooperation: too good to be true

In the early hours of the crisis, the coronavirus fostered a rare rapprochement between Israelis and Palestinians. But with the progression of the pandemic, some, on the Palestinian side, wonder if this rapprochement was not a simple mirage.

At the heart of the tensions, the status of some 70,000 Palestinians who have a permit to work in Israel.

Initially, the two camps agreed that these workers should return to their families, or remain in Israel until the end of the crisis.

The aim was to limit population movements in the hope of minimizing the spread of the virus, while more than 6,000 infected people were identified in Israel and more than a hundred in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by the Hebrew State .

But the Palestinian population was then shocked by a video, which went viral. It shows a Palestinian worker who was allegedly abandoned at a checkpoint by the Israeli authorities who suspected him of having Covid-19 disease.

Curfew in Mecca and Medina

Saudi Arabia imposed a total 24-hour curfew on Thursday in the holy cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, to "fight the pandemic of the new coronavirus". The country is the most affected by the epidemic in the Gulf.

This measure reinforces a partial curfew already in force. She intervenes in a context of uncertainty about the great Muslim pilgrimage. The hajj is supposed to be held at the end of July. Kingdom authorities this week urged Muslims around the world to temporarily suspend their travel arrangements to Mecca, which gathers nearly three million pilgrims each year.

Hecatomb in the United States

The Pentagon announced Thursday that it had received an order from the US authorities for 10,000 body bags for health agencies. As the Covid-19 epidemic explodes in the United States, which has become the most affected country in the world with more than 200,000 people infected and more than 5,000 dead.

Half of humanity in confinement

More than 3.9 billion people, or half the world's population, are now confined to their homes to fight the spread of Covid-19, according to a count made Thursday by AFP. And the symbolic threshold of one million infected people could soon be exceeded.

These measures (compulsory or recommended containment, curfews, quarantines) concern more than 90 countries or territories. It is with the introduction of a curfew in Thailand (effective from this Friday), that the threshold of 50% of confined humanity will be reached. The UN estimates that the world's population will be 7.8 billion in 2020.

Our selection on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

• Doctors' answers to your questions about the Covid-19

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→ What should you do when you think you are contaminated ?
→ Quarantine, what are we talking about ?
→ What treatments ? The effectiveness of an antimalarial drug in question
→ The advice of a psychiatrist to live well the confinement

Find all our articles, reports, chronicles and programs on the coronavirus by clicking here .

See also our contents on containment .

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