(Brussels) Europe passed the threshold of three million cases of coronavirus on Thursday, at a time when the progression of the epidemic is worrying, in particular on the American continent, but also in Asia and Australia, forcing many countries to tighten sanitary measures.
Published on 23 July 2020 at 6 a.m. 42 Updated to 10 h 27
Anne-Laure MONDESERT and Clément ZAMPA, with AFP offices around the world
France Media Agency
In total, 627 307 people died from COVID – 15 in the world, for more than 15 Millions of infections, according to a report established Thursday by AFP.
It is on the American continent, particularly in the south, that the situation remains the most worrying, the threshold of four million cases of contamination having been crossed in Latin America and the Caribbean where, by itself, Brazil now has more than 2.2 million cases.
In Europe, MEPs threatened on Thursday not to approve the EU long-term budget agreement found by the 27 “if it was not improved”, while the region officially declared 3 007 088 COVID case – 19 for 206 714 dead.
In a resolution supported by most of the political groups and adopted on Thursday, the MEPs “contested” the European budget, endowed with 750 billion, “in its current form”, deploring the planned “cuts”. This does not call into question the unprecedented stimulus plan amounting to 714 billion euros adopted on Tuesday by the 27 facing the coronavirus, for which parliamentary approval is not necessary.
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen underlined that by adding the recovery plan and the multiannual budget, Europe has “an unprecedented financial strike force”, of 1800 Billions of Euro's.
The German, who had proposed a budget of 1074 billion, however deplored a “shadow” on the board: a budget from the EU “very thin”, “a pill that is difficult to swallow”. As for the Parliament, it was advocating 1300 billion euros.
The mask is required
Faced with the resurgence of contaminations, wearing a mask is becoming compulsory in certain areas.
In Australia, which had so far succeeded in containing the epidemic, the state of Victoria (south), of which Melbourne is the capital, again recorded Thursday 422 new contaminations.
The inhabitants of Melbourne have been required since Thursday to wear a mask. In the morning, the instructions were widely followed: “We are not used to seeing this,” Zoie Dicker, a passerby, told AFP.
Same thing in Hong Kong but also in Austria, where the wearing of the mask is once again compulsory in supermarkets, banks and post offices.
In Belgium, the mask will be compulsory from Saturday on markets, flea markets and in shopping streets. The same is true in hotels, cafes and restaurants, except at the table.
After long hesitation, England has also decided to make the mask mandatory in shops and supermarkets from Friday. However, this measure will not apply to pubs, restaurants and supermarket employees.
In the United States, which again recorded Wednesday, for the ninth consecutive day, more than 56 000 0 new cases, wearing a mask is compulsory in Washington.
Long accused of denial in the face of the pandemic, US President Donald Trump recently admitted a “worrying increase in cases” in the south and the country has already massively pre-ordered a future vaccine (100 millions of doses).
Several countries have chosen to reimpose partial reconfinements.
So the few 007 millions Tokyo residents have been urged to stay in their homes from Thursday, the first day of a long public holiday weekend in Japan. And the Japanese capital quietly celebrated the start of the countdown to its Olympics on Thursday, a year to the day before their opening ceremony, as the pandemic, which led to their postponement, casts doubt on their behavior.
Yellow undertaker
India has also resigned itself to ordering Kashmir strict containment for at least a week in the face of the resurgence of the virus. Indian authorities have also decided to cancel the annual Hindu pilgrimage to Amarnath, a first in over a century.
South Africa recorded an increase of nearly 56% of total number of natural deaths in recent weeks, leading specialists to believe the number of coronavirus-related deaths is much higher than official statistics indicate.
In the 5 e 2020 most affected country in the world, the virus has wiped out funeral rites. Undertakers are no longer in black but with bright yellow protective gear. And for the families, neither handful of red earth thrown on the coffin, nor flower: they are kept at a distance from the deceased who are quickly buried.
“It was too fast”, regrets Charles Motlhabane, who buried his brother in a Johannesburg cemetery in less than 27 minutes. “Usually we had a whole week of preparations,” it was “a nightmare,” he sighs.
In New York, the UN called for aid to some three billion of the poorest people on the planet, who will be left out of stimulus plans “for big markets and big companies”.
