Washington (AFP)
More than a thousand people still succumbed to the coronavirus in the United States and Brazil in 24 hours, on an American continent where the pandemic is still progressing rapidly, unlike Europe which continues its slow return to normal.
In five months, from the end of December and the declared appearance of the coronavirus in Wuhan (central China), at the end of May, the coronavirus killed around 360,000 people, and infected more than 5.8 million. Official figures to put into perspective, because undoubtedly below reality.
The United States, by far the most affected country (more than 1.7 million cases), had recorded less than 700 daily deaths for three days, but the curve started to rise again Wednesday and Thursday, with respectively 1.401 and 1.297 further losses. And the symbolic threshold of 100,000 dead has been crossed.
After tweeting and retweeting more than forty times on other subjects since the crossing of this threshold, without referring to it, President Donald Trump expressed his condolences on Thursday to the relatives of those who died of the virus.
The health crisis is sometimes coupled with a food crisis, as in the northeast of the country. "In 26 years, I have never seen so many people living in anguish or being hungry," says Alcione Albanesi, founder of the charity Amigos do Bem. "Everything has stopped. But hunger continues."
- Second wave -
If Europe breathes better, it is not the case of South America. Countries like Chile and Peru recorded new national records on Thursday evening, the first in terms of death (49), the second of contamination (5,874).
Some countries are doing better, such as Bolivia (about 300 deaths and 5,400 cases), to the point of announcing Thursday a relaxation of containment from Monday.
The coronavirus contaminates, kills, traumatizes. As in the neighborhood of the Pascuales cemetery of Guayaquil, the economic capital of Ecuador, hard hit by the Covid-19 disease. The first container filled with victims of the virus arrived on April 9, leaving behind a trail of blood. The stench of decomposing bodies remains perceptible in the neighborhood on days when the wind is blowing hard.
Bella Rojas continues to display her plastic roses on the street, but they are no longer sold. "We are dead, we are paralyzed," said the woman, who no longer had enough to feed her three children.
The resumption of economic activity sometimes comes up against the fear of a second wave of contamination, as in this seaside resort in the south of England: "Do not come to Margate!", Says a group of traders terrified at the idea of a viral flashback, when others are in a hurry to reopen to survive.
As a second wave question, Asia, the continent hit first and which seemed to be getting rid of the virus, has just experienced two alerts.
Authorities in South Korea, a country often cited as an example to have brought the disease under control, on Thursday reintroduced restrictions they had recently lifted after detecting 79 new cases in one day, including 69 in the warehouse of a E-commerce company near Seoul, its largest increase in new contaminations in almost two months.
For its part, Sri Lanka will reactivate targeted containment measures on Sunday, after recording its largest daily increase in new cases, mostly involving Sri Lankans returning from Kuwait and sailors from a base near Colombo.
- A cafe in Paris -
Caution is therefore required when leaving the tunnel. Unlike New York, the most affected city in the world, Washington was relatively spared, and the federal capital of the United States begins this Friday a lifting of restrictions.
A more advanced deconfinement continues on Friday in other countries, such as in Austria, with the reopening of hotels and tourist infrastructure, or in Turkey, with that, partial, of mosques.
Thursday, the deconfinement experienced a boost in Europe. In France, the government authorized, from Tuesday, the reopening of the parks, bars and restaurants, closed since mid-March, with however certain restrictions, notably in and around Paris. In the capital, it will be possible to drink coffee on the terrace but not indoors. "Freedom will finally become the rule again and prohibition will be the exception," said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced on Thursday a further easing of containment. From Monday, schools and shops can reopen, and groups of up to six people can meet outside on the condition of respecting a distance of two meters between them.
The same day was announced the resumption of the English Football Championship, the richest in the world, for June 17, as well as that of Italy (June 20). It will be shortly after the Spanish Liga (week of June 8). Germany was the first major European country to replay football in mid-May, and Friday is its women's championship which resumes.
© 2020 AFP