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Covid-19 “is far from over,” warned Maria Van Kerkhove, responsible for managing the pandemic at the World Health Organization (WHO).
In an interview with AFP in Geneva, the American scientist asked people to “prepare mentally”, because the new coronavirus “will stay with us for a while.”
He also warned that “disagreements” in science and policy make it “even more difficult” to combat the coronavirus, which has left 1.09 million dead and more than 38.5 million infected worldwide, according to an AFP report.
The director of the WHO Europe section, Hans Kluge, has announced that “the number of daily cases is increasing, including hospitalizations. Covid is already the fifth leading cause of death and the level of 1,000 daily deaths has already been reached.”
Based on these projections, the WHO warned that a level of mortality “four or five times higher than in April” could be achieved if restrictions are lifted prematurely.
Countries, however, are concerned about the recession caused by the pandemic and how it affects social and cultural life, sports, the world of work, health systems and even electoral campaigns.
Museums, recession, elections and poverty
Latin America and the Caribbean is the region with the most deaths in the world, with more than 373,000 deaths and 10 million infections.
Peru, which began a gradual reopening of museums and archaeological sites, announced this Thursday that its economy contracted by 9.8% in August compared to the same month of 2019, while GDP fell by 15.66% in the first months. eight months of the year. Still, this is the smallest monthly drop since the country declared a health emergency in March.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica reported that poverty (monthly income below $ 80) has reached 26.2% of households, the highest level in almost three decades. Extreme poverty reached 7% of families. The increase coincides with the strong rise in unemployment, which went from 12.3% before March to 23.2% in the June-August quarter.
Chile, whose economy fell 11.3% in August, announced in turn that it will not lift the quarantine in force in some areas of the country during the constitutional referendum on October 25, although it does allow going to the polls without restrictions.
Bolivians, who will elect a new president next Sunday, are experiencing a tense electoral campaign marked by polarization, economic deterioration and the pandemic.
The United States, which will go to the polls on November 3, is experiencing a campaign marked by the coronavirus, which has wreaked havoc in the White House, infecting the presidential family, and throughout the country, the most affected in absolute terms, with about 217,000 deaths and almost 8 million infections.
President Donald Trump, criticized for dealing with the health crisis and falling far behind his Democratic rival Joe Biden, said he is willing to step up the government’s offer to unlock negotiations with Democrats on a new financial aid package.
Kamala Harris, candidate for vice president on the Biden ticket, announced the suspension of her trips due to cases of covid-19 in her surroundings.
“Avoid widespread confinement”
Europe, with 6.8 million cases and more than 245 thousand deaths, is suffering a significant resumption of cases, with a significant spread of the coronavirus even in countries that managed to defeat the first wave, such as Germany.
The European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, called on the EU countries to do “whatever is necessary” to avoid widespread confinement.
“Time is short and everyone must do whatever it takes to avoid the devastating social, economic and health effects of widespread lockdown,” he said.
The possibility of a new total confinement is something that Europe cannot allow, according to the WHO. “We cannot maintain a sustainable blockade like the one in March, which was a stalemate. The pressure and collateral damage on people was very high,” Kluge said.
Poland, which declared Warsaw and other cities in the country a “red zone”, announced a closure due to the virus outbreak, asking the population to “stay home” and “work remotely”.
In London, the nine million inhabitants of the city will not be able to meet with family and friends in closed spaces from Saturday, announced the government, which has put the capital on a “high” alert level.
France surpassed 30,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours on Thursday, for the first time since the mass tests were launched, the public health agency said.
In Paris and in the country’s main cities, a night curfew will take effect on Saturday for at least a month to reduce the dizzying rate of infections.
In Spain, where the government imposed a state of alarm in Madrid last week, the central executive and regional authorities are waging a real numerical war to the astonishment of a large part of the population.
