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An almost normal day in June for many French people, but the day after an election massively deserted by the French. Interrupted at the end of the first round, last March, following the surge of the wave of coronavirus on France, the municipal elections sounded the failure of the challenge of the authorities to bring voters back to the polls, Sunday. Voters marked by the experience of the health crisis linked to Covid-19, although the trend is today at an epidemic ebb. Worldwide, the toll has exceeded 500,000 deaths and 10 million cases. Follow the situation live.
The main information to remember:
- Record abstention recorded in second round of municipal elections, despite exceptional health precautions
- Covid-19 has killed more than 500,000 people worldwide
- Brazil to produce up to 100 million doses of possible coronavirus vaccine
The French deserted the polling stations
The second round of municipal elections on Sunday saw the fears of the authorities concerning abstention confirmed. After a first round marked by a strong abstention linked to the wave of coronavirus just arrived in France, the second round breaks all records. Despite the exceptional health precautions put in place for the ballot, the voters deserted the polling stations.
At 5 p.m., turnout stood at 34.67%, the lowest rate in the Fifth Republic for municipal elections. According to polling institutes, the abstention figures still had to climb to be at an historic level, between 59% and 60%, about 12 points more than for the second round of 2014.
Macron in Berlin to defend the Franco-German plan for European recovery
In the aftermath of the municipal elections, Emmanuel Macron begins a key week, one of the priorities of which is the recovery plan promised for the start of the school year in order to support an economy paralyzed by the coronavirus and a decentralization of power to the benefit of prefects of departments, the he now favors. "I am for the departmental state," he recently told his interlocutors.
After receiving the 150 members of the Citizens Climate Convention on Monday, the head of state will fly to Meseberg Castle, north of Berlin, for a bilateral meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel, followed by a press conference Monday evening. The opportunity to speak a second time, this time to defend the Franco-German plan for European recovery, which proposes to distribute 500 billion euros in European subsidies to the countries most affected by the pandemic. However, Emmanuel Macron must still convince the "frugal" countries of northern Europe before and during a summit in Brussels in mid-July.
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Epidemic ebb in mainland France, worrying situation in Guyana
In the latest report, communicated Friday by the Ministry of Health, France had recorded 26 new deaths in hospitals linked to Covid-19 in 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 29,778. Mortality figures were not updated on Saturday or Sunday evening.
In Guyana, the circulation of the virus remains "particularly active and worrying", recalled Friday the Directorate General of Health. The three experts sent on the spot by the ministry to "coordinate the device of crisis management, have just finalized their mission", indicated the ministry. "They will report in the coming days", while the second round of municipal elections has been postponed in this ultra-marine territory.
Experimental vaccine in Brazil
Brazil will produce up to 100 million doses of a possible coronavirus vaccine on which the University of Oxford is working with the pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca. A $ 127 million contract has been signed. This experimental vaccine is one of the most promising among the dozens of vaccines being developed worldwide.
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Over 500,000 deaths worldwide, 10 million cases
Globally, the coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 500,000 people, according to a report by AFP. Some 10 million cases of infection have been officially diagnosed in 196 countries and territories since the start of the epidemic, of which at least 4,806,500 are now considered cured. Europe is the continent most affected, with 2.64 million cases, but in the number of deaths, the United States is largely in the lead. The country has more than 125,709 deaths and 2.53 million cases of contamination, according to the count of Johns Hopkins University, while the pandemic seems out of control particularly in the south of the country, already the most affected in the world.
After the United States, the most affected countries are Brazil with nearly 56,000 deaths, the United Kingdom with more than 43,550 deaths and Italy with more than 34,700 deaths.