The race for a Covid-19 vaccine vaccine continues, but the World Health Organization has warned that there is no magic bullet right now, at a time when the epidemic is still accelerating in the world and is pushing some cities like Melbourne in Australia to close shops again.
"There is no magic solution at present, and there may be no (solution) at all," said WHO director Tedros Adhanum Gebriusos. "Clinical trials give us hope. This does not necessarily mean that we will have an effective" vaccine, especially over time.
While many countries are involved in the vaccine battle, some have reached the final stages of testing. Russia announced today, Monday, that it will soon be able to produce hundreds of thousands of doses per month and "several million" at the beginning of next year.
Meanwhile, the epidemic continues to accelerate, especially in the United States and Latin America. To date, more than 18 million people in the world have been infected with the virus, which has killed more than 680,000, according to an AFP count Monday.
The United States is the country worst hit by deaths and injuries, with 154,834 deaths, including 515 within 24 hours, followed by Brazil (94,104 deaths), Mexico (47,746 deaths), the United Kingdom (4,6201 deaths) and India (38,135 deaths).
The high number of injuries has prompted some countries to take new measures, such as Australia, where authorities imposed on Melbourne residents Sunday a six-week night curfew. From midnight on Wednesday, all stores and unofficial departments will be closed in Australia's second city. Supermarkets, pharmacies and alcohol stores will be among the ones that benefit from the exemptions.
"The time is not right for leniency and the time for warnings is over," said Prime Minister Daniel Andrews of Victoria, whose capital is Melbourne. "These six weeks are definitely crucial" to prevent a resumption of the epidemic, he added.
Despite imposing isolation in early July, Melbourne continued to record hundreds of new infections daily and announced 13 deaths, today, Monday.
In France, Prime Minister Jean Castles called on citizens to "remain vigilant" in order to avoid the scenario of "re-imposing public isolation."
The launch of the French tour, which had been scheduled from the Danish capital in 2021 to 2022, was postponed.
In the Philippines, the authorities reimposed isolation on more than 27 million people, about a quarter of the population, as of Tuesday after warnings from medical associations that the country was about to lose its battle against the Covid-19 epidemic.
Since the beginning of June, with the largest part of the country exiting from one of the longest and most severe periods of stone, the number of injuries has exceeded 100,000, while the death toll has risen to about two thousand. "We were not up to the level," said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Latin America and the Caribbean has registered more than 201,000 deaths, and is currently the second most affected epidemic in the world after Europe, which is 210,000 deaths.
In Argentina, the Ministry of Health announced that the number of injuries has exceeded 200,000 and that social events will be banned throughout the country from Monday.
In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro Sunday ordered the imposition of strict stone throughout the country.
In northern Germany, thousands of students and students Monday returned to school, becoming the first to return to schools in Europe, with a commitment to respect some health rules while injuries were back with a 19-foot high.
The 150,000 students in Mecklenburg-Pomerania, in northeastern Germany, who left on vacation in mid-June, are the first to return to school closer to normal after months of taking lessons online.
"Children need to come to school, because the delay in the lessons should be avoided additionally," Steven Kastner, principal of the Yogendrov Christoforos school in Rostock, told AFP.
Germany has so far managed to avoid a large-scale outbreak of the epidemic, with fewer than 9,200 deaths recorded, but the authorities are concerned that the spread of the infection may return, albeit slowly.
In the Mediterranean, the economic catastrophe is also present and an unusual calm prevails in Ibiza, the island in the Spanish Ballear Archipelago, known for its nightlife and loud concerts.
Ibiza's major nightclubs have had to close down this season. The authorities only allowed the opening of small discos and drinks in order to allow customers to dance in designated places.
In Kenya, the tragedy also affects teenage girls who became more likely to become pregnant during the isolation period.
"Usually, when schools are open, we see two cases every three months. Now there is an increase of about 7 or 8 teenage pregnancies per month," said Orima Otino, a doctor in a Nairobi neighborhood.