The good news from Europe should not be taken as an illusion: globally, the Covid-19 pandemic is not receding but "continues to accelerate", warned the World Health Organization on Monday 22 June.  

While in some countries, including France, the time is for cautious optimism and deconfinement, the Director General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, took advantage of a virtual conference organized by the emirate of Dubai to launch a new warning.  

"It took more than three months for the first million cases to be reported. The last million cases were reported in just eight days," he said. This shows that the pandemic "continues to accelerate".  

"We know that it is much more than a health crisis, it is an economic, social and, in many countries, political crisis. Its effects will be felt over decades," he added.  

Latin America, epicenter of the virus 

Last week, the head of the WHO had described this new phase of "dangerous", estimating that, in spite of the need to leave the confinement, the virus continued "to spread quickly" and Latin America has just entered winter, which seems to be low temperatures conducive to the spread of the virus. This is where the epicenter of the disease is now located.  

Brazil, the second most bereaved country in the world after the United States, has crossed the threshold of 50,000 dead and two million confirmed cases, the megalopolises of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro being the most severely affected. 

Elsewhere in Latin America, the death toll has exceeded 20,000 in Mexico, 8,000 in Peru and 1,000 in Argentina in recent days. 

The Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, the main Peruvian tourist site, has postponed indefinitely its reopening, originally scheduled for July 1.  

In other countries, such as Azerbaijan, the multiplication of new cases, following too early deconfinement, has led to the implementation of strict reconfinement measures. 

Until August 1, shopping centers, cafes, restaurants and beauty salons in the capital Baku and other major cities will be closed again. Residents will only be allowed to go out "once a day, for up to two hours after receiving permission by text" from the authorities, said Prime Minister Ali Asadov. 

Deconfinement continues in Europe  

On the other hand, several European countries, submerged in the spring by the disease, continue to lighten the precautionary measures in favor of a respite from the epidemic. 

Thus, Spain emerged Sunday from a state of health emergency and reopened its border with France, to the delight of tourists who have been able to find the beaches of the Mediterranean. 

In France, cinemas and casinos have been allowed to reopen since Monday. Some cinemas, like the cinema Les 5 Caumartin in Paris, have scheduled screenings from 12:01 am. Spectators were treated to a VIP welcome and free popcorn. 

"When we learned that there was a midnight session here to celebrate the day of recovery, we booked immediately. It's a great idea to mark the event. It's not our usual schedule but it will make us a nice memory after these difficult weeks, "enthusiastic Loriane, who came with a friend to attend a preview of the French comedy" Les Parfums ", by Grégory Montel. 

“Better at school” 

Also in France, school becomes compulsory again on Monday for all pupils, with the exception of high school students, two weeks before the summer holidays. French schools had already partially reopened in May, but parents were free to send their children there or not. 

"They are clearly better at school with their friends, even for two weeks. It gives a little bit of discipline. Otherwise it would make them six months of vacation and to get that back, it's complicated," said Ghyslain Tinarage, father of two children aged 10 and 11 in the south of France. 

Covid-19 has officially killed at least 468,518 people worldwide and infected more than 8.9 million, 4.2 million of whom are now believed to be cured, since China first reported the appearance in December of illness. 

In the United States, the country most affected, the death toll was 119,977 died on Sunday for nearly 2.3 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. 

Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania are below the threshold of one million cases. But a rebound has worried China since last week with more than 220 new cases, including 22 on Sunday. 

With AFP

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