The entire world economy is weakened by the Covid-19 pandemic. The United States is officially in a recession and the great powers are also faltering as the balance sheets continue to grow especially in Latin America, where Mexico has overtaken the United Kingdom in death tolls. 

A new milestone was crossed Thursday when the number of contaminations in the world exceeded 17 million, including more than 660,000 fatalities, since the appearance of the virus in China in December. 

A historic fall 

In the United States, containment in the spring caused a historic drop in gross domestic product in the second quarter, by 32.9% on an annualized basis. Compared to the second quarter of 2019, the decrease is 9.5%. 

With this second consecutive quarterly drop, the world's largest economy officially entered recession. In the first quarter, the US GDP had fallen by 5%. 

Germany, the economic engine of Europe, also announced Thursday a "historic plunge" of 10.1% of its GDP in the second quarter. The country is thus experiencing its worst recession since the post-war period: the contraction of its GDP is much greater than the 4.9% that it experienced at the height of the financial crisis of 2009. 

Experts however expect a sharp rebound: in addition to national support measures, Berlin intends to take advantage of the European recovery plan of 750 billion euros, decided by the 27 in Brussels in mid-July. 

From April to June, GDP also fell sharply in Belgium, by 12.2%, in Austria, by 10.7%, and in Mexico, by 17.3%. 

Oil companies, aircraft manufacturers, car manufacturers are paying a heavy price for the crisis, with abysmal losses in the second quarter: $ 8.4 billion for Total and $ 18.1 billion for the Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, while Airbus recorded a net loss of 1.9 billion euros in the first half.  

Threatened airlines 

The global airline industry is also ravaged. Many Latin American airlines will close if flights suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic do not resume quickly, Peter Cerda, vice president for the Americas at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), warned Thursday. 

The airline group Air France-KLM announced to have recorded a net loss of 2.6 billion euros in the second quarter, after almost zero activity levels in April and May. 

The United States on Thursday recorded nearly 1,400 additional deaths in one day, or about one death every minute, and more than 72,000 new cases.  

In Brazil, nearly 60,000 new contaminations in one day were also recorded. Michelle Bolsonaro, the wife of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, has tested positive for Covid-19, the presidency said on Thursday, days after her husband said he had recovered. 

Sport impacted 

World sport also continues to be heavily impacted by the pandemic. 

In tennis, the ATP and WTA tournament in Rome, usually organized in early May and postponed to September due to the coronavirus pandemic, will take place behind closed doors, the Italian press announced. 

Formula 1 is facing its first case of a positive driver for the coronavirus, as the fourth Grand Prix of the season is scheduled to be contested on Sunday at Silverstone, Great Britain. Mexican Sergio Perez (Racing Point) has tested positive and will therefore not be able to participate in practice on Friday, or in qualifying on Saturday, or in the race on Sunday. 

In the United States, the NBA season resumed Thursday after four and a half months of hiatus due to the pandemic. Players, coaches and referees marked this recovery by dropping one knee to protest against racial injustices. 

A milestone in Mexico 

By reaching the 46,000 dead mark, Mexico has become the third country in the world in terms of coronavirus-related deaths, according to a report established by AFP on the basis of official data. Mexico is just ahead of the United Kingdom. The first two countries most heavily affected by Covid-19 remain the United States, with 151,826 dead, and Brazil, with 91,263 dead. 

Faced with a rise in the number of contaminations reported in several countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for caution, urging young people in particular to respect protective measures. 

Young people are "not invincible"  

"It seems that the rebounds of cases in some countries are partly due to young people letting their guard down during the summer in the northern hemisphere," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, on Thursday. Young people "are not invincible," he said. 

Coronavirus: "young people are not invincible", warns WHO

WHO has further stated in its updated recommendations that international displacement should primarily concern humanitarian emergencies, essential personnel and repatriation. 

"WHO recommends that priority be given to essential emergency travel," the organization said. "Sick travelers and those at risk, including the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, should postpone or avoid traveling to and from areas of transmission" of the virus, the WHO added. 

Very young children could be extremely contagious, according to an American study published Thursday. The rate of genetic material of the coronavirus detected in the noses of children under five is 10 to 100 times higher than that found in older children and adults, says this study in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics. 

With AFP

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