[ad_1]
The World Health Organization warned on Wednesday (22) that the coronavirus crisis will not end soon, with many countries still in the initial stages of facing the pandemic, which left more than 180,000 dead worldwide.
The health emergency is compounded by a severe economic crisis, with companies struggling to survive, millions of unemployed and millions more facing hunger.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, observing the spread of unemployment and his reelection plans, signed a decree on Wednesday to suspend the issuance of ‘Green Cards’, residence permits in the country, for 60 days.
While some states in the country are mobilizing to reopen some sectors, health experts from the planet’s largest economy warned that the United States could face a second wave of even more deadly coronavirus in the winter.
Countries take steps to combat the pandemic, which killed more than 180,000 people and infected nearly 2.6 million worldwide, while desperately seeking ways to limit its devastating consequences for the economy.
While some acted to suspend restrictive measures that have suspended daily life around the world, the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, issued a warning.
“Make no mistake: we have a long way to go. The virus will be with us for a long time,” said Tedros, during a digital press conference.
“Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemic. And some that were affected at the start of the pandemic are now beginning to see a resurgence of cases,” he added.
Europe, badly affected by the pandemic, saw its death toll set a new sad record, with 110,000 deaths, while Italy, the worst affected country after the United States, reached 25,000.
Finland has announced that it will maintain the ban on meetings with more than 500 people until July.
In Spain, which registered a subtle increase for the second consecutive day in the number of deaths from COVID-19, the government said it does not expect to lift its strict restriction measures until mid-May.
“We need to be incredibly careful at this stage,” said Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
– ‘Significant step’ –
But Germany, which has carefully begun to open its trade, has cast a light of hope, announcing that human testing for a vaccine will begin next week.
The test, only the fifth authorized worldwide, is a “significant step” towards making a vaccine “available as soon as possible,” said the German regulatory authority.
While the launch of a viable vaccine can take several months, more than half of humanity remains in some form of isolation.
Singapore has extended confinement for a month until June 1, while the Asian city-state, which managed to control the first outbreak, suffers from a second wave of infections.
The director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also warned Americans to prepare for a second, stronger wave of infections.
“There is a possibility that the attack on the virus in our nation next winter is even more difficult than the one we have suffered,” Robert Redfield told The Washington Post.
In South Africa, more than 73,000 additional soldiers were deployed to reinforce the restrictive measures, due to the difficulty of the authorities to keep people confined, especially in the overcrowded peripheries.
With the closure of companies and the loss of millions of jobs, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) reported that the crisis will hit the most disadvantaged and the most disadvantaged.
“I want to emphasize that we are facing not only a global health pandemic, but also a global humanitarian catastrophe,” WFP Executive Director David Beasley told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
“Millions of civilians living in conflict-affected countries will be pushed into the abyss of hunger,” he added.
According to WFP, the number of people suffering from acute hunger is estimated to double, reaching 265 million this year.
Standing in a line in Bangkok’s historic district, waiting for donations of rice, pasta and milk, Chare Kunwong, a 46-year-old masseuse, said, “If I wait for government help, I will die first.”
– ‘Wrong and unfair’ –
In the United States, Trump said Wednesday that his decree to suspend the issuance of residence visas “will ensure that unemployed Americans with some form of training are first in line for jobs when our economy reopens.”
The United States accounts for 46,583 deaths and almost 840,000 COVID-19 infections, and its healthcare infrastructure, especially in hot areas like New York, has struggled to cope with the pandemic.
Protesters took to the streets on Wednesday, this time in Richmond, the Virginia state capital, to call for the quarantine to be lifted so people can return to work.
But the demonstration came at a time when experts revealed that the first virus-related death occurred in February, weeks earlier than initially recorded.
– ‘Now they die alone’ –
Among those most affected by the economic debacle during the crisis are millions of migrant workers who send remittances to their families in their countries of origin.
Remittances are expected to drop 20% worldwide this year, the largest decline in recent history, the World Bank said in a report on money transfers that are the livelihood of millions of families.
Quarantines due to the pandemic mean that the bodies of some of these migrants cannot be sent home, and that they are being buried or cremated in the country where they died, often without the presence of loved ones.
“Nobody comes anymore, nobody plays, nobody says goodbye,” said Ishwar Kumar, who runs a Hindu crematorium in Dubai.
Before the pandemic, people came “to cry and bring flowers. Now they die alone.”
burs-sst / ft / mvv
