Divisions between major countries deepened with an American-European rivalry about a future vaccine and tension between US President Donald Trump and China as part of the fight against "Covid-19" that killed more than 300 thousand people in the world.
Besides the high human cost, the epidemic continues to harm the global economy with major ramifications.
Germany is preparing for deflation after a declaration in which gross domestic product is expected to give an indication of the shock the health disaster has caused to Europe's largest economy. For 2020, the government expects a 6.3% contraction, the strongest since data began in 1970.
The euro zone finance ministers met yesterday in Brussels to discuss the response to the crisis.
On the other side of the Atlantic, about three million people were registered for unemployment within a week in the United States, which has 36.5 million unemployed, or about 15% of the working population, since the economy suddenly stopped in mid-March due to isolation measures to stem the spread of the virus.
Gavin Newsome, the governor of California, which is the fifth largest global economy, warned that "difficult decisions await us", expecting a deficit of $ 54 billion this year and major cuts, especially in the programs devoted to the poorest and subsidies for public education.
In order to stop the bleeding, the US President stresses that it is "time to return to work," while half of the US states have begun to return a portion of their business activities.
Several other countries are stagnating: in Italy there are millions of "new poor" who have been forced to start receiving food subsidies, while the epidemic has caused workers in the major cities of India to return to their villages and deprive them of their income.
But the solution is that everyone is waiting for a vaccine against the virus that appeared in China in December.
Given the efforts made, it could be available by one year, as the European Medicines Agency announced yesterday. But Marko Cavalieri, director of strategy at the European Commission, said it was a possibility of "optimism."
There are currently more than 100 projects in the world and more than 10 clinical trials of the vaccine to try to find a cure for the disease that appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.
But the World Health Organization said that "this virus may never go away" even if a vaccine is found.
And the battle between laboratories raises tension in other areas.
On the research side, statements by Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Group regarding the priority given to distributing vaccines to the United States have caused discontent among French political circles, including the government, because this country has invested financially to support the company's research.
French President Emmanuel Macron considered that the possible vaccine for the "Covid-19" epidemic should not be subject to "market laws", while the European Commission said "access to it must be equitable and universal."
More than 140 figures, including South African President Cyril Ramafuza and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, stressed in an open letter that the vaccine or treatment for "Covid-19" should be "provided free to all."
But with or without a vaccine, "this virus may never disappear," as confirmed by the World Health Organization.
Regarding the "Discovery" clinical trial, which was launched in Europe at the end of March to find a treatment in the absence of a vaccine, it ranged in place, researchers announced.
Two new studies published in the British medical journal BMJ concluded that hydroxychloroquine does not appear to be effective in treating Covid-19.
In Washington, the US President again accused China of hiding information about the extent of the epidemic on its soil.
Trump stressed that the Chinese "could have stopped the epidemic", noting that he did not want to speak to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the present time, threatening "to cut off all ties."
China stresses that it has conveyed all information about the epidemic as quickly as possible to the World Health Organization and other countries, including the United States.
Washington also accuses the Chinese system of trying to piracy the American research on the vaccine, while Beijing replied, describing the accusation as "defamation."
Pending the research reaching a conclusion, governments continue to ease isolation measures.
In Japan, the state of emergency was lifted in most regions and kept in Tokyo and Osaka.
In Europe, which has a high death toll, Finnish children have returned to school. Yesterday, restaurants and cafes opened again Friday in Sydney.
In the United States, the country worst affected by the epidemic, the beaches around Los Angeles in California have been reopened, without allowing people to put their towels on the sand or play volleyball. The mayor of the city also decided to impose a protective mask outside the home.
On the other hand, Washington, DC, as the epidemic recedes, extended the isolation of the population until June 8.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin announced that the epidemiological situation is improving in the country with the number of daily infections dropping below 10,000 for the first time since the beginning of May.
In Greece, the government announced that it would reopen private beaches today, before the previously scheduled date, while setting strict rules for spacing, and this comes after a similar decision to open public beaches.
In Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic, people were lining up, yesterday, to undergo a virus detection test due to anxiety after new cases emerged.
- waiting for research to reach a result, governments continue to ease the isolation procedures.