Corona pandemic .. more than 17 million casualties and the global economy is falling apart

The number of newly infected Coronavirus "Covid 19" today, Thursday, crossed the threshold of 17 million in the world, more than half of which are in three countries, the United States, Brazil and India, while the global economy is suffering severely from the recession caused by the epidemic.

The epidemic continues to spread at a rapid pace in the world with the registration of an additional million cases in four days and more than 6.5 million since the beginning of this month.

Today, the world is far away from the 98 cases (zero fatalities) registered in 18 countries outside China, where the virus appeared, when the World Health Organization declared a health emergency on January 31.

On that date, according to the World Health Organization, which was criticized for its slow response to the virus, according to Thursday, only four countries were found to have confirmed cases of coronavirus transmission.

The "Covid-19" epidemic caused the death rate in Europe to rise by 50% between the end of March and the beginning of April, according to figures from the French Institute of Statistics INSEE, which showed that France, Spain, Belgium and Italy were the most affected.

Six months later, the devastating impact of the epidemic and its unprecedented control measures, including the isolation of more than half of the world's population, appeared on the global economy, causing many people to be unemployed in sectors such as air transport, the auto industry, and distribution.

Historical retreat
Germany witnessed in the second quarter of 2020 a historical decline of 10% in its gross domestic product, which is the worst recession since after the Second World War.

Meanwhile, record losses amounting to billions of euros accumulate for companies such as "Volkswagen", "Airbus", "Total" and "Shell".

In the United States, GDP fell by 32.9% during the second quarter of the year, which is the period of the second three months in a row that the world's largest economy is contracting, which means it is entering a recession, according to preliminary estimates published by the Ministry of Commerce Thursday.

"This epidemic is the biggest shock to the American economy in human memory," said US Central Bank President Jerome Powell on Wednesday.

He called for more support for families and companies, "We moved from the lowest level of unemployment in 50 years to the highest level in 90 years, in two months."

Global outbreak
In Brazil, a very large number of daily infections have exceeded 69,000, according to the Ministry of Health.

In Paraguay, the government reimposed almost complete quarantine in the country’s second largest city, Ciudad del Este, on the border with Brazil and Argentina, due to the spread of the virus, which angered local residents.

In Iran, the Ministry of Health announced that the total death toll from the Corona virus has risen to 16.5 thousand, after recording 226 cases in the last 24 hours.

The data of the Spanish Ministry of Health also showed that the country recorded today 1229 new cases of Corona virus emerging, thus exceeding one thousand cases for the second consecutive day, and recorded the highest increase in the number of cases since the lifting of restrictions on public isolation in the country on June 21.

And the medical authorities in Britain announced on Thursday that the British who have been diagnosed with "Covid-19" or have symptoms will have to isolate themselves for 10 days, an increase of three days, in order to reduce the transmission.

In Tokyo, the governor called on restaurants and bars in the Japanese capital to close early in the evening in an attempt to contain the epidemic that is grieving in the country.

Yoriko Koike said experts believe the situation in the capital is "more dangerous than before." "There is no moment to lose," she added, noting that several hotbeds of infection have been discovered in Tokyo.

In turn, the Italian Ministry of the Interior warned on Wednesday that the health and economic crisis linked to Covid-19 "generates an exceptional influx of immigrants", calling on the European Union to find a solution to this issue "immediately". More than 11,000 immigrants arrived on the Italian coast last week.