Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic from June 15 to 21

An employee disinfects supplies in a municipal warehouse in Curitiba, Brazil, June 19, 2020. DANIEL CASTELLANO / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

The past week has once again been marked by the rapid spread of the virus in Latin America, where the threshold of two million cases has been exceeded, and in particular in Brazil, which remains the epicenter of the epidemic. . Faced with an increase in contamination, some countries have been forced to confine several districts or entire cities once again. Meanwhile, Europe continues its deconfinement and gradually finds a semblance of normalcy. There are now more than 8,800,000 infected cases worldwide, for nearly 465,000 deaths.

Publicity

Read more

Regions or countries where the pandemic is declining

The Europe surpassed this week the 2.5 million cases but the trend of new infections remains generally downward. European Union member states are expected to draw up a first list of around fifty non-EU countries with which borders are to be reopened by mid-week. In addition, the Twenty-Seven will continue negotiations until July to find an agreement on a massive recovery plan of 750 billion euros.

The France yet entered a new stage of its decontainment, Monday, June 22, with the return to school and college all children, as well as the recovery team sports. The baccalaureate exams should have started this week but it is ultimately thanks to the continuous assessment that the students will pass their bac. Opening also for cinemas, holiday centers, casinos and game rooms "  in compliance with strict sanitary rules  ". The date of July 11 was chosen for the end of the state of health emergency, three days before the national holiday. From this date, the stadiums will once again be able to welcome the public, up to a limit of 5,000 people, and river cruises will resume. For nightclubs, fairs and shows, you will have to wait until September.

The Italy continues its decontainment while urging people to "  caution  " after observing the last week of the "  transmission-related warning signals  " of Covid-19, especially in Rome. The country is trying as best it can to revive its tourism, "holiday bonuses" will even be distributed to Italians to encourage them to occupy hotels and B & Bs. The economic impact of the epidemic is particularly severe in the south of the country . In addition, the Italian Higher Institute of Health has reported that the coronavirus was present in December 2019 in the wastewater of Milan and Turin.

The Spain lifted in the night from Saturday to Sunday, June 21 the alert and opened its borders to European tourists. The government has thus put an end to 100 days of confinement to stem an epidemic which left more than 28,300 dead for 245,938 cases diagnosed in the country. The Spanish can therefore now move around the country when it was forbidden to leave his province until this weekend. As for tourists who will disembark, they will no longer be required to observe a quarantine of 14 days. Despite this, neighboring Portugal has decided to keep its border closed until July 1.

Deconfinement also continues throughout Western Europe. The United Kingdom gave up its mobile application this week to trace the sick in favor of Apple-Google technology. The Irish will still pass a new stage on June 29 with the reopening of places of worship or leisure, gyms, cinemas and hairdressers. In Switzerland , gatherings of up to 1,000 people will be authorized again from Monday, June 22. And in Hungary , Parliament approved Tuesday June 16 the lifting of the controversial state of emergency which allowed Prime Minister Viktor Orban to govern by decrees for more than two months.

The regions where the pandemic returns

The China is experiencing a rebound for over a week and the appearance of new cases diagnosed positive for coronavirus in two markets in Beijing. Almost 300 patients were diagnosed in a week and 30 districts of the capital were confined. Authorities assured Thursday, June 18, that the situation was "  under control  ". More than two million people have been tested and several thousand flights have been canceled this week. Beijing shared the genome of the virus on the night of Thursday 18 to Friday 19 with the World Health Organization (WHO) and several foreign scientists. It seems that the strain that started this new wave comes from Europe. China (excluding the territories of Hong Kong and Macao) officially counted a total of 83,378 cases (26 new between Saturday and Sunday), including 4,634 deaths (no additional in 24 hours), and 78,413 recoveries.

The United States has also rebounded in recent weeks. The country remains the most affected by the virus with more than two million cases and nearly 120,000 deaths. The number of hospitalizations in some southern states such as Florida or Texas has increased significantly . On the other hand, it is out of the question to put in place sanitary measures as in China for the authorities of the States concerned. A return to the pandemic which does not worry President Donald Trump either: he was on Saturday June 20 at a meeting in Oklahoma, one of the states experiencing a new wave of contamination. He said he had asked health authorities to slow the pace of Covid-19 screening because it was causing an increase in the number of cases detected. Health experts in the United States fear that this denial will continue the crisis at least until the fall.

In Ukraine , the authorities plan to impose a stricter confinement after virus propagation has accelerated since the lifting of many restrictions on 11 May. This was announced by the government Friday, June 19 after the country recorded, in three days, a third daily record of new cases, with 921 contaminations. Ukraine has counted 36,560 cases of Covid-19 and 1,002 deaths since the start of the epidemic. On May 11, at the start of deconfinement, there were 15,648 and 408 respectively.

Regions or countries where the pandemic is progressing

The Brazil remains the global epicenter of the epidemic. The country this week became the second to exceed one million cases diagnosed after the United States. It also remains the second most bereaved country and should soon cross the threshold of 50,000 dead. Since the beginning of June, the country has registered the most contaminations, more than 520,000, and the most deaths, almost 20,000. Far-right president Jair Bolsonaro continues to minimize the crisis while the situation is getting worse day by day. Since this week, Brazil has been running out of space in its cemeteries to bury its dead. Another concern: compared to other countries, young people are more affected by the coronavirus.

The pandemic continues to progress in the rest of Latin America. Mexico has passed the 20,000 death threshold and the trend for new infections (175,202 cases diagnosed in all) is increasing. The government had to delay the resumption of activities in the capital, Mexico City, by a week. The British recorded his side a record 95 deaths in a single day Friday 19, crossing the coup the 2 000 deaths for 65,633 cases of infection since the beginning of the epidemic. In Bolivia , the capital La Paz is again subject to very strict confinement after a new outbreak of contamination. The country has 23,512 diagnosed cases and 740 deaths. The situation seems more stable in Cuba , which began its deconfinement this week , or in  Haiti , where the epidemic is not as virulent as expected .

No ebb either in India , with its 410,461 diagnosed cases and its 13,254 deaths, the country this week became the fourth most affected by the pandemic in the world . The contagion is particularly virulent in big cities like New Delhi, which concentrates 12% of the cases of the country and where the hospitals are already struggling to cope. Authorities expect the number of cases to double in two weeks.

In Iran , the authorities estimate still does not have passed the peak of the first wave of the epidemic which however lasted more than four months. Despite a slight ebb in early May, the country is facing a further acceleration in the spread of the virus in recent weeks. The death toll is 9,623 deaths for 204,952 diagnosed cases. According to the Minister of Health, Saïd Namaki, the fact that the trend is again on the rise should not be interpreted as a second wave: "  Even in provinces where we thought we had crossed the first wave of new coronavirus, we n "We have not yet fully experienced the first one,  " he said on Sunday, June 21.

Health info

After two months of debate around hydroxychloroquine, a new drug is talking about it: dexamethasone. According to British health authorities, this steroid with anti-inflammatory properties improves the survival of people with Covid-19 . It is also one of the drugs tested by the Recovery study which found that chloroquine had no "  beneficial effect  " on the disease. Dexamethasone, on the contrary, would reduce mortality by a third in the most affected patients according to the clinical trial. It is a known molecule , which also has the advantage of existing in generic form and is therefore affordable.

Unusual info

Despite the physical distance and the use of the mask which is becoming the norm, the famous kiss of cinema returns! It was the French Minister of Culture, Frank Riester, who assured him on Friday 19 June. With the deconfinement which continues, the shooting of films and series has resumed in France. Love in the cinema will not resume behind a mask, the actors will be able to kiss to make fans of the seventh art dream. But with caution all the same: the actors must be tested with coronavirus before they can resume this kind of scene.

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Coronavirus
  • Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic
  • Brazil

On the same subject

France: Fête de la musique adapts to the Covid-19 pandemic