Washington (AFP)
President Donald Trump has for the first time admitted that the coronavirus pandemic is taking "worrying" proportions in part of the United States, as the European Union prepares to implement a stimulus plan of historic proportions .
The United States recorded Tuesday for the eighth consecutive day more than 60,000 new cases of contamination with the coronavirus in the space of 24 hours, according to the count of Johns Hopkins University. The total reaches 3.89 million positive cases.
“It will, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better. I hate to say it but it is like that,” President Trump said, changing his tone after being long accused of being in denial. to the coronavirus outbreak.
"In recent weeks, we have seen a worrying increase in cases in many parts of our South," he added, referring to "big fires" and even a "very difficult situation" in Florida, he added. he recognized.
"We ask everyone to wear a mask when physical distancing is not possible," he said, while he himself had so far defended individual "freedom" in the matter.
If the United States remains by far the most affected country in the world, the American continent is not left out, recalled the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). "The pandemic shows no sign of slowing down in the region," warned its director Carissa Etienne.
The signals are also alarming in Bolivia where police said they collected more than 400 corpses from streets and homes across the country in the past five days, 85% of whom were victims of the virus.
The toll of the epidemic has passed 40,000 deaths in Mexico and 7,000 deaths in Colombia, while Peru has crossed the mark of 350,000 contaminations. In Guatemala, it is a former Minister of Health, Jorge Villavicencio, who succumbed to the coronavirus, contracted while he was in pre-trial detention for corruption.
Brazil will also become the first country to launch phase III tests of the Chinese Coronavac vaccine against the virus, the Sinovac Biotech laboratory announced to AFP. "I am very happy to be able to participate in this experience, we are living a unique and historic moment, and this is what pushed me to be part of this project", said an anonymous 27-year-old female doctor, chosen for receive injections.
- Key under the door -
In Europe, the time was right after the adoption early Tuesday of a "historic" agreement on a mega-recovery plan post-coronavirus amounting to 750 billion euros, after four days of a high voltage marathon summit in Brussels.
This is the "most important moment since the creation of the euro", launched the French President Emmanuel Macron, of a "response to the biggest crisis of the EU since its creation", added the Chancellor German Angela Merkel, whose country currently chairs the Union.
The plan provides for a common debt issue, a first, despite fierce initial opposition from the four so-called "frugal" countries (the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Sweden), joined by Finland. It will mainly benefit southern countries such as Italy and Spain.
The conductor of the summit, the President of the European Council Charles Michel, welcomed this "signal sent to Europeans and the rest of the world", while calling for "to keep a cool head because it must be implemented ".
The stimulus package and long-term budget approved by EU leaders are due to be discussed in plenary by the European Parliament on Thursday.
It should allow a return to growth in all EU countries "by 2021", German Minister of Economy Peter Altmaier said on Tuesday, welcoming "good news for millions of Europeans".
For now, the crisis has already forced 13% of cafes, bars, restaurants and hotels in Spain to go out of business once and for all, or around 40,000 establishments, said the employers' organization representing the sector.
- "Smart" helmets -
The virus also continues to undermine many events such as the Nobel Prize banquet, a prestigious dinner organized each year in December with the winners in Stockholm, which will be canceled for the first time since 1956. The prizes themselves will nevertheless be awarded in October, the Nobel Foundation announced on Tuesday.
The pandemic also got the better of the Washington tennis tournament which was to mark the resumption of the ATP season, and could threaten the holding of the US Open.
In Bombay, the Indian city most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the authorities unveiled "smart helmets" to measure the temperature of dozens of people per minute, in record time. Already used in Dubai, China and Italy, they could become the key to stopping Covid-19 in the slums of this sprawling city of 18 million people.
France had 208 currently active coronavirus outbreaks on Tuesday, according to the Directorate General of Health, which notes that "the circulation of the virus is increasing". In Serbia, a group of 350 doctors grouped together under the name "United against the Covid" sent an open letter to the government denouncing a "health disaster" and demanding the dismissal of its crisis unit.
In Russia, where the borders have remained closed since the end of March, the health crisis has caused a rush of the wealthy towards private jets, shamelessly used to reach their sumptuous second homes in London, Cyprus, Monaco or Nice.
burs-ahe / plh
© 2020 AFP