Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic Wednesday April 22

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The world is far from over with the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 177,800 people and more than 2.5 million official infections, warned the director general of the World Health Organization on Wednesday. Due to its devastating economic repercussions, the number of people threatened with famine worldwide is expected to double according to the World Food Program.

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"  The number of severely hungry people could double due to the Covid-19 pandemic, reaching more than 250 million by the end of 2020,  " the UN agency warned, citing the risk of 'a'  global humanitarian disaster  '.

For its part, UNESCO highlights "  a worrying digital divide in distance education  ". Half of the total number of learners worldwide, or 826 million pupils and students, do not have access to a home computer, and 43% do not have internet at home.

As for the World Bank, according to a report published on Wednesday, it affirms that remittances, a crucial financial resource for developing countries, will drop by 20% this year, another economic consequence of the pandemic.

Ten million employees on partial unemployment in France

In France, places of worship are expected to remain closed until mid-June and large gatherings will be prohibited throughout the summer.

Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer detailed his first tracks for a gradual resumption of school from May 11, which did not address the concerns of the teacher unions: a return to school spread over three weeks per class level, groups of 15 students maximum.

This Wednesday, the symbolic bar of ten million workers in partial unemployment was crossed. This device, which allows the employee to be compensated up to 84% of the net salary, was requested from the State by 820,000 companies, or more than six out of 10.

Clinical trials in Germany

In Germany, while some stores are reopening this week, the wearing of the mask will become compulsory as of Monday in most Lander including Berlin. Bars, restaurants, cultural places and sports grounds remain closed. Schools and high schools will gradually reopen.

First clinical trials of a vaccine against the new coronavirus will be launched in Germany by the company BioNTech, based in Mainz, in association with the American laboratory Pfizer. This is only the fifth human trial of a Covid-19 vaccine in the world. These clinical trials will initially be carried out on 200 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55, specifies the Paul Ehrlich Institute.

European countries prepare for deconfinement

The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 110,000 people in Europe, nearly two-thirds of Covid-19-related deaths worldwide. Europe remains the continent hardest hit by the pandemic. The 27 are to meet on Thursday by videoconference to discuss a vast recovery plan demanded in particular by France and Spain. An agreement would not be possible for several weeks.

Spain extends its confinement until May 9. Children, hitherto banned from going out, will be able to accompany an adult from Monday onwards for essential errands. The third most bereaved country in the world on Wednesday recorded 435 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours, a figure which increased slightly for the second consecutive day and which brings the total of deaths to 21,717. The city of Pamplona announced Tuesday that it canceled its famous San Fermin celebrations, the release of bulls usually attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists in early July.

Hospitals in the UK are facing the peak of the epidemic. The country which recorded another 759 deaths on Wednesday is still "  in danger,  " according to Health Minister Matt Hancock. The toll is 18,100 dead, not counting retirement homes where, according to sector representatives, several thousand elderly people have died. The confinement instituted on March 23 has been extended by at least three weeks. In Parliament on Wednesday, the new Labor opposition leader, Keir Starmer, criticized the government for its "slowness" in managing the pandemic.

In the Netherlands, the Dutch government has announced the partial reopening from May 11 of primary schools and daycare centers with a dual system. Secondary school should follow in early June. All the other restrictive measures, on the other hand, are extended until May 19 and the Dutch government has even extended until September 1 the ban on events, which obviously concerns festivals, clearance sales or sports meetings.

In Romania, President Klaus Iohannis announced the first deconfinement measures in this country less affected by the pandemic. Wearing a mask will become compulsory in closed spaces and public transport from May 15. An obligation which will undoubtedly remain in force until next year, "  when the pandemic is under control and the risk of contamination will no longer exist  ", warned Mr. Iohannis. Romania currently has 9,700 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 512 deaths, including around 30 registered in the last 24 hours.

Turkey and Russia face the epidemic

A compulsory four-day confinement will be imposed from Thursday in the 31 largest cities in Turkey. Nearly 3,500 healthcare workers have been infected with the coronavirus in the country and 24 of them have died, said the Turkish Medical Union on Wednesday. The Covid-19 epidemic has killed more than 2,200 out of more than 95,000 reported cases, almost half of which were in Istanbul, according to the latest official report.

Russian internet giant Yandex has launched a free screening service for the new coronavirus for residents of Moscow, the epicenter of the epidemic in Russia, where authorities claim a high screening rate. Russia has seen an outbreak of new Covid-19 infections in the past two weeks, with 57,999 cases and 513 deaths officially recorded on Wednesday.

Trump signs anti-immigration decree

Faced with the brutal rise in unemployment due to the Covid-19, US President Donald Trump has decided to suspend the issuance of green cards for two months. "  It would be unfair for the Americans to be replaced by a workforce from abroad,  " said the White House tenant, while the Covid-19 put 22 million people out of work in the United States. The suspension will not apply to temporary work visas but only to green cards that offer permanent resident status.

With 2,751 additional deaths in just 24 hours, the United States remains the most affected country, with a total of 44,845 deaths for more than 820,000 cases. Autopsies revealed that the virus would have reached American soil earlier than expected in February. Faced with increasing economic difficulties, the Senate voted to grant an additional $ 500 billion to support SMEs and help hospitals.

From California, our correspondent Éric de Salve reports that in many large cities in the United States, employees of McDonalds restaurants have set up pickets in front of their workplace to denounce their working conditions.

Warehouse workers from Amazon also called a strike this week, demanding better sanitation in the warehouse than Covid-19.

A Chinese megalopolis barricades itself

China has halted the spread of the virus, but two weeks after the city of Wuhan was deconfigured, the country feared a second imported epidemic wave, caused by people arriving from abroad.

In Heilongjiang province (northeast), the city of Harbin reinforced on Wednesday the restrictive measures against the coronavirus after the appearance of new sources of contamination, mainly the fact of Chinese returning to the country from neighboring Russia . In this city of 10 million inhabitants, people and vehicles from outside are now prohibited from entering residential areas. Anyone arriving from overseas or from areas severely affected by Covid-19 in China will have to be quarantined, authorities said.

China would have sold defective tests to its Indian neighbor informs us our correspondent in New Delhi, Sébastien Farcis. This Wednesday, India has suspended the use of Chinese "rapid tests", after the appearance of erroneous results and probable faults in these tests.

First contamination in a Palestinian refugee camp

In Lebanon, the first case of coronavirus was recorded in a Palestinian refugee camp. The patient was transferred to the Rafic Hariri public hospital in Beirut. Located in the Bekaa plain, the camp has been sealed off by Palestinian factions in charge of its security. This Wednesday, a team of caregivers went there, "  to conduct tests  " of screening in these camps where the promiscuity makes fear a rapid spread of the virus explains the Unwra. Lebanon has 682 cases of coronavirus, including 22 deaths.

In Jerusalem, Sudanese and Eritrean migrants came to protest Wednesday morning in front of the Knesset to denounce the precariousness of their status. They are suffering the full brunt of the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus, explains our correspondent Guilhem Delteil.

Our selection on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

• Listen to Coronavirus Info , daily chronicle on the pandemic

• Explanation:  The origins of the Covid-19

• Analyzes:
→What strategies to face the epidemic ?
→ What impact on conflict zones?

• Practical questions:
→ What we know about the mode of contagion
→ How do we treat the sick ?
→ What results for the ongoing clinical trials?
→How the Institut Pasteur hopes to find a vaccine
→ How to make a mask and use it well

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

See also the files of RFI Savoirs  on the Covid-19:
• Birth of a pandemic
• Everyday life to the test
•  The history of epidemics

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