(Madrid) Spain paid tribute on Thursday to the over 28 000 COVID dead – 19 on its territory, while the virus continued to spread worldwide, forcing India to reconfigure 125 millions of people and causing in other countries measures of health restrictions such as wearing a mask.
Published on 16 July 2020 at 8 a.m. 48
Diego URDANETA, with AFP offices around the world
France Media Agency
The United States, already the most affected country in the world and where the situation seems out of control in the south, recorded a new record of contaminations on Wednesday 24 hours with more than 67 000 cases identified, according to the count of Johns Hopkins University.
“We say goodbye to mothers, fathers”
“Today, symbolically, we say goodbye to mothers, fathers, children, brothers, friends,” Hernando Calleja, the brother of a famous Spanish journalist, José María, said in Madrid. Calleja, death of COVID – 19, during '' a ceremony full of emotion organized in front of the Royal Palace and chaired by the Spanish sovereign Felipe VI in the presence of many personalities.
With an official balance sheet of more than 28 400 dead, making it the seventh country for the number of deaths, Spain has paid a heavy price to the pandemic and has been facing for some days to a resurgence of contamination.
The authorities are therefore closely monitoring more than 120 active households. The one that worries them the most is located in Catalonia (northeast), around the city of Lleida, where approximately 160 000 residents were reconfigured on Wednesday.
In India, the 125 million inhabitants of the State of Bihar, a poor northern region, entered the night from Wednesday to Thursday in a reconfiguration of 15 days. The 13 millions of people living in the great the city of Bangalore (south) and its outskirts did the same the day before for a week.
The small coastal state of Goa, a destination popular with tourists in winter, also announced a three-day reconfiguration, starting from Thursday evening and a night curfew until 10 August.
Too many people “go out to meet people at parties” and do not take enough precautions to stop the spread of the virus, said Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant.
Elsewhere in Spain, the fear of a second wave of the pandemic also remains very present in Europe, the continent having recorded the highest number of deaths.
Containment measures in Germany
Germany has thus opted for reinforced containment measures at local level, according to a draft agreement between the government and the regional states which was to be finalized on Thursday.
The German authorities want to introduce “exit bans” in limited geographic areas for residents who would be reconfigured after the onset of a COVID outbreak – 19.
In France, where foci of contamination have reappeared in recent days, particularly in the department of Mayenne (west), the wearing of a mask will be compulsory “from next week” in all closed establishments open to the public, “Especially shops,” said Prime Minister Jean Castex on Thursday.
This measure, announced Tuesday by President Macron, was not to come into force until 1 er August, but many voices were surprised at its late arrival.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the Secretary General of the NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, attended the ceremony of tribute to the victims in sunny Madrid.
All wore a mask and were seated on chairs spaced to respect the safety distances.
“We will never forget the victims. You are not alone in the face of your pain, “said King Felipe VI to relatives of those who died of the disease.
Over 13, 4 million people contracted the disease and almost 580 000 deaths have been recorded worldwide.
Alarming figures in the United States
In the United States, Texas largely contributed to the record number of new infections recorded on Wednesday with some 10 790 new cases, also a record figure for this State on a single day.
The world's leading power has been facing a very strong resurgence of the virus since the end of June, particularly in the southern and western states. For ten days, the number of infections detected every 24 hours is between 55 000 and 65 000.
Whatever the location, Americans will now be obliged to cover their faces to do their shopping in more than 5000 Walmart stores, the largest retailer in the world, which has followed the example of Apple or Starbucks.
Some models still predict near 100 000 new deaths by November in the United States, against 137 000 today.
Latin America and the Caribbean also remain very affected. The region is the second most bereaved by the pandemic, with 151 022 dead, behind Europe (203 793).
In addition, the European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, was worried about a possible “interaction” of seasonal flu with COVID – 16 during the fall and winter months.
