Corona's epidemic: Trump awaits horrific days, China fears setback, Italy gives hope

Americans are preparing for a difficult stage in the spread of the Corona epidemic after the number of confirmed infections in their country exceeded 300 thousand cases, and fears are increasing in China due to the inability to stop new infections, while showing a glimmer of hope in Italy, which has the largest record of deaths.

The total confirmed cases of Covid-19 disease caused by the emerging coronavirus around the world exceeded one million and 203 thousand cases, of which more than 64,700 thousand died, while more than 247 thousand patients recovered, according to the latest statistics presented today, Sunday, Johns Hopkins University, which monitors the spread of The epidemic.

The countries that recorded the largest numbers of new deaths within 24 hours are the United States (1399 deaths), France (1053 deaths, with elderly deaths calculated), Spain (809 deaths), and Britain (708 deaths including a fifth child believed to be the youngest He died in the country).

The United States ranked first in terms of injuries, with more than 312,000 injuries recorded, while the death toll exceeded 8,300 cases.

Trump's expectations
US President Donald Trump expected the number of deaths in his country to increase dramatically, reiterating that the next two weeks would be the most difficult.

Trump said at the White House yesterday, Saturday, "We are heading towards a time that will be very horrific, perhaps we have never seen such numbers, perhaps during the First or Second World War or the like."

Trump stressed the country's need for masks, threatening what he called "revenge" in the event that his country did not take what it wanted from it, and decided to prevent the export of locally manufactured respirators to Canada and Latin America.

The US President said that the government will send thousands of soldiers to the states to help them fight the epidemic, and he explained that a thousand soldiers are being sent to New York City, including military doctors and nurses.

And White House medical experts predict that 100,000 to 240,000 Americans will die in that pandemic, even if orders to stay at home are complied with.

In New York, state governor Andrew Como announced 630 new deaths from the virus within 24 hours, and that the number of infections had reached about 114,000.

Como said that the injuries in the state may reach its peak within seven days, stressing that he will issue a decision that allows to expedite the graduation of doctors and nurses from universities, and facilitate their work procedures, to assist in efforts to combat the virus.

China's concerns
For its part, the National Health Commission of China announced today, Sunday, that it recorded 30 new cases of coronavirus in the mainland on Saturday, up from 19 cases the previous day.

Cases of infection from outside the country increased, in addition to the registration of new cases of local infection.

Although the frequency of daily infections in China decreased by a large margin from the height of the epidemic last February, Beijing is still unable to stop entirely new infections despite imposing very strict measures to limit the spread of the virus, which first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December. The last one, before it spread globally.

What worries China most in recent weeks are cases from abroad and infected people who do not show symptoms but who pass the virus to others.

European glimmer of hope
Italy tops the global list of deaths from the Corona virus, with more than 15,000 deaths recorded, but a glimmer of hope emerged on Saturday as the number of people transferred to hospital intensive care units fell for the first time since the epidemic spread more than a month ago.

"It is important news because it reduces the burden on our hospitals," said Italian Civil Protection Director Angelo Burrello. "It is the first time that the number has decreased since we started managing this emergency situation," he added.

In Spain, the death toll of 809 people was recorded in the toll released yesterday, a decrease for the second day in a row, and Madrid announced the extension of the general quarantine procedures for two weeks until April 25.

This is a very relative decline in the number of deaths and injuries, a glimmer of hope in the slowing the spread of the virus after strict quarantine measures imposed by the most affected countries for weeks.

Resuming activities in Iran
For his part, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said today, Sunday, that his country will resume "low-risk" economic activities on April 11, despite the fact that Iran is experiencing the largest number of infections and deaths of the emerging coronavirus in the Middle East.

"Under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, all low-risk economic activities will be resumed," Rouhani told a televised meeting.

He said that "two thirds of the total number of government employees will work outside the offices as of Saturday, the decision does not contradict the advice to stay at home issued by the health authorities."

Arab world
Arab countries continued to upgrade their measures to combat the spread of the Coruna virus, while recording more infections and deaths.

Algeria
Algeria has decided to "extend the partial quarantine procedure to all the states of the country except the state of Blida, which will continue to be subject to a total quarantine procedure," according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office yesterday evening Saturday, and the decision will come into effect from today, Sunday, April 19 this month.

Prior to this decision, the partial quarantine measure - the curfew from seven in the evening until seven in the morning - was applied in Algiers and 13 of the country's 48 states.

Thirty-one coronavirus deaths have been officially announced in Algeria so far, and 1,251 cases are total.

Morocco, West, sunset
King Mohammed VI of Morocco issued a pardon for 5,654 prisoners, fearing a new outbreak of Corona virus in prisons.

The Moroccan Ministry of Justice said today, Sunday, in a statement that the beneficiaries of this amnesty were chosen based on "strict human and objective criteria that take into account their age, the fragility of their health status, the duration of their detention, and the good conduct, behavior and discipline they showed for the duration of their detention."

The ministry’s statement also clarified that they will be released in batches “for the exceptional circumstances related to the health emergency and for the necessary precautions they take.”

Tunisia
On Saturday, the Tunisian parliament unanimously agreed to delegate its powers to the government for a period of two months, as part of plans to accelerate government measures in the face of the Corona epidemic crisis and its economic and social repercussions.

The law allows the government to issue decrees without consulting the parliament in advance, including flexibility in public procurement deals and the mobilization of state financial resources from home and abroad.

In all, Tunisia announced a total of 495 cases of coronavirus and 18 deaths and is striving to prevent its spread after a complete closure was announced, which continues until April 19.

More than ten million Tunisians will be forced to wear protective masks in the post-quarantine period in anticipation of the emergence of a new wave of infection, Tunisian Health Minister Abdel Latif El Makki said yesterday during the parliament session.

"We are in the process of consulting about the specifications of the protective mask, and we will not return to normal life easily," he added.

Egypt
The Egyptian presidency announced the postponement of the opening activities and ceremonies of what it described as major national projects - including the new administrative capital and the Grand Museum - until 2021 due to the Corona virus.

On the other hand, Egyptian Minister of State for Media Affairs Osama Heikal said that it is expected to extend curfews and preventive measures in the country to confront the Corona virus.

The minister expressed the government's concern about the doubling of Corona injuries in the coming days, which exceeded the capacity of the medical sector.

Jordan
The Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs, Amjad Al-Adayleh, announced on Saturday that his country will use drones and surveillance cameras to ensure compliance with the curfew in all cities of the Kingdom, which came into effect about two weeks ago.