Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic Thursday, April 30

Text by: RFI Follow

The coronavirus pandemic has now passed the 227,000 mark worldwide. In Europe, the economic damage looks unprecedented, at a time when the continent is starting a cautious deconfinement to revive activity. Signs of thinning appear in Asia, where South Korea, for the first time, has not recorded any new cases.

Publicity

In France, prolonged state of health emergency

The state of health emergency against Covid-19, in force since March 24, will be extended for two months, and will specify the conditions of quarantine and placement in isolation of infected persons.

The first two weeks of containment were enough to plunge France into recession, while the government wants to restart activity to avoid the collapse of the economy. French gross domestic product contracted 5.8% in the first quarter, a historic drop according to estimates released Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee).

► Read also: Coronavirus: France officially in recession, alarming indicators in the eurozone

The Ministry of Health has unveiled the map of metropolitan departments "green", "yellow" or "red", indicating the possibilities of reopening establishments and easing travel restrictions. 35 of them, over a large northeast part (including all of Ile-de-France, Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Alsace), as well as Lot and Haute-Corse, are in red.

#Coronavirus # COVID19 |
Summary Map of the situation on April 30, 2020 pic.twitter.com/SbWqr2i3Iu

Ten meters minimum: this will be the distance between two runners or two cyclists from May 11, announced Thursday the Ministry of Sports, to continue efforts to limit physical contact. These activities can be done "  without limitation of duration of practice, without certification, within a limit of distance from home less than 100 kilometers, by limiting gatherings to 10 people maximum, outdoors  ". 

Reopening of places of worship in Germany 

The contours of deconfinement are beginning to be clarified in Europe, as the continent begins a serious recession. Figures confirm bleak forecasts: France announced a 5.8% collapse in its GDP in the first quarter, Spain 5.2%, and Germany a 13.2% jump in the number of unemployed . Across the euro area, activity fell 3.8%, unheard of, according to the Eurostat institute.

After its series of exceptional measures in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the European Central Bank (ECB) said it was "  ready  " this Thursday to go even further, while the governments of the eurozone are struggling to deliver a response common.

In Germany, the Employment Agency registered 308,000 new unemployed people compared to the previous month, for a total number of almost 3 million people, and an unemployment rate climbing to 5.8%. "  The coronavirus pandemic is likely to lead to the worst recession in Germany in post-war history,  " said agency president Detlef Scheele .

Subject to guaranteeing the usual barrier and distance measures, churches and mosques will be able to reopen in Germany, as well as museums, exhibition halls, zoos and memorials. Cafes and restaurants remain closed, at least until May 6.

► Read also: Wearing a mask in Germany: Jena, model city

It is a new step towards standardization in Germany, one of the best European students in the management of the pandemic. It counted Thursday morning less than 160,000 officially declared cases, including 6,288 deaths, a fatality rate of 4%, lower than most other large countries.

British centenary celebration

The United Kingdom, the second country most affected by the new coronavirus in Europe with now more than 26,000 dead, has "  passed the peak  " of the epidemic, said Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday. "  We are on a downward slope  ," he said.

Become a hero in the eyes of the British by raising record amounts for caregivers, veteran Tom Moore celebrated his 100th birthday Thursday, receiving messages from across the country. He had challenged himself to make hundreds of round trips in a walker in his garden and collected more than 33 million euros. 

Return of cultural events in Norway

A new small step towards a return to normal in Norway: groupings of up to 50 people will be authorized again in public places. "  Norway is gradually opening up every 14 days, but we are keeping an eye on the spread of the virus,  " said Norwegian Health Minister Bent Høie. 

This reduction should in particular allow the resumption of small cultural events (concerts, theater, cinema) but it is conditional on maintaining a minimum distance of one meter between the participants and the presence of a designated official, said the government.

Russia crosses threshold of 1,000 dead

The government's virus information site says the disease has caused 1,073 deaths and 106,498 people have been infected, mostly in Moscow, its region and in St. Petersburg, the country's second city.

Russian authorities announced this week an extension of containment measures in the face of an increase in contamination cases. 7,099 new cases have been identified in the past 24 hours, the highest number recorded since the start of this epidemic, which has strained the Russian healthcare system. The Kremlin however wanted to be reassuring Thursday. His spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, said that the country "  did not follow the Italian scenario  " and that "the situation in Russia is much better than in a number of European countries  ".

► Read also: Containment obliges, the Russian opposition is demonstrating on the internet

Hope-inspiring treatment in the United States 

Four months after the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, the US government has raised hopes by reporting that a previously developed Ebola drug , Remdesivir , appeared to have taken hold of the new coronavirus, and had accelerated by several days the recovery of the most severe cases in a large clinical trial.

This is the most notable therapeutic breakthrough against the coronavirus to date, although experts warn that the full results have not yet been published. While multiple treatments are being tested in hospitals around the world, none have yet proven to be effective.

The United States remains the most affected country in terms of both death and case numbers, with more than 61,000 deaths and at least one million cases. The United States has registered 3.8 million new unemployed registrants over a week, bringing new claims since mid-March to more than 30 million, according to figures released Thursday by the Labor Department.

On the other hand, the American intelligence services announced Thursday to have come to the conclusion that the new coronavirus had not been created by man or genetically modified, thus denying rumors which circulate widely in the United States.

Zero new cases in South Korea

A second global home for Covid-19, South Korea has not identified any new cases "  for the first time in 72 days,  " said President Moon Jae-in. The country has registered more than 10,000 infections since the first case of infection was reported on February 18. The Coronavirus left 247 dead on its territory.

South Korea is an example around the world. It has succeeded in carrying out a vast screening and identification campaign for people who have been in contact with carriers of the disease. The population also largely respected the measures of social distancing, even though a parliamentary ballot was organized in April.

Other parts of Asia also appear to be on the verge of containing the epidemic. Hong Kong did not register any new contamination on Thursday for five days and Taiwan for four days.

► Read also: Coronavirus: four Asian democracies at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19

Conversely, the Maldives experienced the first death linked to Covid-19 on the archipelago. An 83-year-old woman died in hospital. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih extended strict confinement for another two weeks on Thursday. The Maldives has recorded 280 confirmed cases since March. 

First deaths of Covid-19 in Yemen

Yemen has announced its first two deaths from the new coronavirus. According to the committee dedicated to the Covid-19 disease at the Ministry of Health, five new cases of infected people have been identified in the city of Aden, for a total of six cases across the country.

Humanitarian organizations fear a catastrophe, however, if the virus spreads in this country, the poorest of the Arabian peninsula and where the war has wiped out an already failing health system.

► Read also: Covid-19: what impact on conflict zones?

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 ?
→  A vaccine, the only solution to stem the pandemic?
→  What impact on conflict zones?

• Practical questions:
→  What is known about the mode of contagion
→  What results for ongoing clinical trials?
→  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 put to the test
•  The history of epidemics
•  The science facing the Covid-19
•  The geopolitical consequences

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• Coronavirus
• Health and Medicine
• Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic
• Confinement

On the same subject

Singapore: second wave of coronavirus mainly affects migrant workers

Coronavirus: France officially in recession, alarming indicators in the eurozone