Geneva (AFP)

The symbolic bar of 200,000 dead from the new coronavirus was to be crossed on Saturday, when the WHO expressed reservations on the issue of "immune passports" likely to promote the spread of the pandemic, an idea expressed in some countries to support the deconfinement .

Half of humanity remains confined and in Spain, the third most bereaved country in the world, children are stamping, eager to leave their home for the first time in six weeks. The country, subjected since March 14 to an extremely strict confinement extended until May 9 inclusive, so far prohibited under 14 years of going out, even accompanied by their parents.

From Sunday, the little ones can "go out to walk or play in the street once a day for an hour and within a radius of one kilometer from their home".

The WHO showered on Saturday the hopes of those who bet on a possible immunity of people who have been confronted with the coronavirus, at the time when certain countries set up programs of serological tests for deconfinement.

- Threat of a second wave -

"There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and who have antibodies are immune to a second infection," warned the World Health Organization, urging continued efforts. because the threat of a second deadly wave still looms.

The Muslim world started the month of Ramadan fast without collective prayers or shared meals: the doors of mosques remain closed and family gatherings are prohibited.

In Iran, where the disease killed 5,650 people according to official figures, the month of fasting began in fear of an upsurge in the epidemic, two weeks after the start of the partial reopening of shops.

At a time when some countries are loosening up their containment measures, the assessments still point to a catastrophic health situation: the United Kingdom, which was slow to decree containment, on Saturday exceeded 20,000 dead in hospital. This figure does not take into account retirement homes where, according to sector representatives, several thousand elderly people have died.

- Mandatory mask -

The reduction in quarantine measures decided in certain States often goes hand in hand with new traffic and life rules.

In South Africa, the African country most affected with 75 deaths, the wearing of a mask will be compulsory as of May 1, the date on which the restrictions will be slightly relaxed.

But another scourge hangs over the African continent: due to problems with the distribution of mosquito nets and medicines due to the coronavirus, nearly 400,000 more people could die from malaria this year, according to this organization.

The death toll from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa could approach 770,000 this year, or "twice as much as in 2018", noted the WHO, while on Saturday the International Day for the fight against this disease, which unlike the Covid particularly hits children.

- The Portuguese at the windows -

In Europe, Italy, the most heavily affected country with 26,384 deaths, ahead of Spain (22,902) and France (22,614), will start on May 4 a campaign of serological tests on 150,000 people nationwide to try learn more about the pandemic.

The race is underway between laboratories to find the remedy for the coronavirus with half a dozen clinical trials, notably in the United Kingdom and Germany.

Launched by the WHO, an initiative bringing together several European countries, the continent the most bereaved with more than 120,000 deaths, out of more than 197,000 in total in the world, aims to accelerate the production of these treatments, tests and vaccines. But neither China, where the pandemic started at the end of 2019, nor the United States have joined in.

In the United States, the country with the heaviest death toll, with some 50,000 dead, Donald Trump has promulgated a new aid plan of nearly 500 billion dollars, to relieve businesses and hospitals. It is urgent: the US gross domestic product should plunge by 12% this quarter.

In Brazil, where far-right president Jair Bolsonaro is accused of passivity in the face of the pandemic, the inhabitants of the favelas have decided to act on their own.

"The favela must fight because if it waits for the government, it will never succeed," said Thiago Firmino, a 39-year-old tourist guide who volunteered to disinfect the alleys of his neighborhood, the favela Santa Marta in Rio de Janeiro.

Confinement and rules of social distancing oblige, Portugal improvised on Saturday to celebrate the 46th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution ... by singing at the windows. With many red carnations in hand, the Portuguese sang the song "Grandola Vila Morena", a symbol of the military coup which, on April 25, 1974, ended 48 years of fascist dictatorship and 13 years of colonial wars, then the National anthem.

burx-phs-mig / sg

© 2020 AFP