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The coronavirus continues its ravages in the Americas, and affects its leaders: the Bolivian president and the number two Venezuelan announced Thursday to have contracted it, a few days after the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, while the United States and Mexico have known a new daily record of infections. In France, the situation remains under control. Follow the situation live.
The main information to remember:
- US breaks new 24-hour case record with over 65,500 positive tests
- Bolivian President announces contracted illness
- In France, 14 new deaths were recorded, for a total of 29,979
New daily case records in the United States
The virus is spreading at high speed in the United States. The country also broke a new record for the number of infections in a day, with more than 65,500 additional cases reported, according to the 8:30 p.m. local count at Johns Hopkins University. The total number of cases registered now stands at over 3.11 million. The previous daily record dated Tuesday (more than 60,200 new cases). And a thousand people have succumbed to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, for a total of 133,195 deaths in the United States.
President Donald Trump downplayed these daily records on Thursday: "For the hundredth time, the reason we have so many cases, compared to other countries that are no better than us by far, is that we are testing a lot more and better, "he tweeted.
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Bolivian president tested positive
Interim President of Bolivia Jeanine Añez announced Thursday that she had tested positive for coronavirus and that she was fine. "I am positive at Covid-19, I'm fine, I will work in isolation. Together, we will move forward," wrote Jeanine Añez on his Twitter account. "I will be in quarantine for fourteen days and will do another test. I feel good," added the 53-year-old right-wing leader, in a video posted on the same account. Three members of his government had said in recent days that they had been infected.
Almost at the same time, in Venezuela, the president of the National Constituent Assembly and number two of the presidential party (PSUV) Diosdado Cabello revealed to have been contaminated. He had interrupted his weekly program on Wednesday, saying he was "fighting a strong allergy". According to official figures - which are underestimated according to the opposition and NGOs like Human Rights Watch -, 8,372 cases and 80 deaths have been confirmed in the country.
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This is much less than in Brazil, the most affected Latin American country and the second in the world, where the latest assessment on Thursday reported 69,184 deaths (+1,220 in 24 hours) and 1.75 million cases (+42,619 ). The situation continues to worsen in the rest of Latin America, with Peru which crossed the bar of 11,000 dead Wednesday or El Salvador whose capital is in "critical phase" according to the NGO Doctors Without Borders. And Mexico recorded a new record of daily cases (+7,280) on Thursday for a total of 282,283, and 33,526 deaths.
Over 550,000 dead, 12 million cases
The pandemic of the new coronavirus has killed more than 550,000 people worldwide since the end of December, more than half of which in the four most affected countries, the United States (133,195 deaths), Brazil (69,184), the United Kingdom. (44,602), Italy (34,926) and Mexico (33,526), according to an assessment made by AFP from official sources, Thursday evening. The number of officially reported cases of infection has exceeded 12 million.
Situation under control in France, but ...
France has recorded 14 new deaths linked to Covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths since the start of the epidemic to 29,979, the Directorate General of Health (DGS) announced on Thursday. At the same time, the number of patients with Covid-19 in intensive care continues to drop, with 512 patients concerned, 529 fewer than on Wednesday. In detail, "19,503 people died in hospital establishments and 10,476 in social and medico-social establishments", establishments for which the results were updated on Tuesday.
On the other hand, the DGS insists on two elements which show that the epidemic continues to circulate actively on the national territory: "The health authorities are particularly attentive to the appearance of potential clusters, due in particular to private, family or festive gatherings in this summer period ", specifies the structure. In total, there are new "clusters" (340 cases grouped since May 9, including 7 new, but 211 closed).