(New York) In Asia, Europe and the Americas, the COVID pandemic – 19 Wednesday caused a wave of reconfigurations and new measures such as the compulsory wearing of the mask, which is gaining ground, particularly in the United States, a country paralyzed by the strength of the epidemic.
Posted on 15 July 2020 at 8 o'clock02 Updated to 17 h 39
Ivan COURONNE and Juliette MICHEL with AFP offices around the world
France Media Agency
Over 13, 4 million people – a fraction of the actual number of infections, due to differences in accounting methods and means from one country to another – contracted the new coronavirus. More than half are considered recovered, and close to 580 000 deaths have been recorded worldwide.
Contagions go back to almost all of the United States. A first governor, chief executive of Oklahoma, was infected, and in another rural state, Alabama, the mask was made backwards mandatory by the governor. More than half of the states had already decreed it as a final measure to avoid reconversion, without counting countless cities.
Whatever the location, Americans will now have to cover their faces to do their shopping in more 2020 Walmart stores, larger retailer in the world who has followed the examples of Apple or Starbucks.
“You have to start almost everything from scratch and say to yourself,” Well, let's stop this nonsense, “” said Doctor Anthony Fauci, a top infectious disease expert and adviser to the American government, on Wednesday at The Atlantic magazine.
Some models still predict near 100 000 new deaths by November in the United States, against 137 000 today.
In Asia, India was preparing to reconfigure more than 10% of its population, with the reestablishment on Wednesday evening for two weeks of restrictions for the 125 million inhabitants of the very poor state of Bihar.
In Patna, its capital, thousands of people have ignored the rules of social distancing to obtain supplies on the markets before the entry into force of this new containment.
“During the previous confinement, we ran out of rice and flour because we could not buy them before it was put in place. This time, we decided not to repeat this mistake, “resident Neelam Devi told AFP.
The day before, the measure had been reinstated for a week in Bangalore, the heart of Indian high technology.
Caracas reconfigured
In Hong Kong, bars, gyms and hair salons had to be closed again on Wednesday, and rallies of more than four people were banned in the city-state which had been successful in the fight against coronavirus.
In Japan, Tokyo is at its highest alert level following an increase in reported cases, the governor of the capital, Yuriko Koike, announced on Wednesday.
In Latin America, where the spread is also accelerating, Venezuela has placed the 6 million inhabitants of the capital, Caracas, and those of the neighboring state of Miranda, in strict confinement since Wednesday morning. On Monday, 3.5 million Colombians were reconfigured.
Death in the soul, Brazil, second most affected country, with more than 74 000 death on nearly 2 million infected people risks seeing its famous Rio carnival compromised in February, the big samba schools threaten not to participate if a vaccine is not found by then.
“Cocktail” flu and coronavirus
In Europe, if the worst seems to have passed, the risks of resurgence are taken very seriously, as evidenced by the reconfiguration on Wednesday of the city of Lleida and several surrounding municipalities in Catalonia, after a standoff with the justice.
Ireland was to fully reopen its bars on Monday, but it postponed the last phase of deconfinement on Wednesday to 10 August. Only the pubs that serve food are open. Masks will now be mandatory in stores.
In the longer term, the continent must prepare to face an interaction, in the form of a devastating “cocktail”, with the seasonal flu in the fall, the European Commission warned on Wednesday.
“Increasing foci, located in many Member States, are reported. Preparation is essential, especially before the autumn and winter months, “said European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides.
“We must protect our economies, our societies and our citizens against a new wave, like the one we have experienced in the previous months, and against the interaction of seasonal flu with COVID – 19. I call it a cocktail effect, “she insisted.
Economically, the airlines have asked passengers “on their knees” to help them by accepting credits rather than requesting reimbursements for flights canceled during the health crisis.
In this context, Disneyland Paris, the leading private tourist destination in Europe, reopened its doors to the public on Wednesday with a limited capacity, after four months of closure due to the epidemic.