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Italian police fired tear gas at protesters protesting the virus restrictions on Tuesday for the second night in a row as dire figures on global tourism and investment highlighted the devastating economic impact of the pandemic.
Thousands of people protested again in Italian cities with the cry of “freedom” marked by clashes with the police, and many traders and employees feared a second wave of economic recession as much as the increase in virus numbers.
The protesters are upset by the mandatory early closure of restaurants and other businesses. Some of the demonstrations turned violent, particularly in Milan and Turin on Monday night, where angry youths threw petrol bombs and stones at police cars and smashed shop fronts.
The clashes are “a black page” in Turin history, said local police chief Giuseppe De Matteis, “which cannot be attributed to social unrest but … to the orchestration of people dedicated to crime.”
Late on Tuesday, the Italian government announced the release of five billion euros ($ 5.9 billion) of funding for the most affected professions, including restaurants, taxi drivers and live entertainment venues.
Yet unhappiness over the measures in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, once again the global epicenter of the pandemic, is palpable among business owners and residents once again facing lengthy restrictions as economies struggle to recover. .
The United Nations, which is fighting its own outbreak, forcing it to halt all face-to-face meetings at its New York headquarters, released a wealth of data exposing the tribulations of the global economy.
While the World Tourism Organization said tourism collapsed by 70 percent this year, causing a loss of revenue of $ 730 billion, the UN’s trade body, UNCTAD, said foreign direct investment it will probably plummet by 40 percent.
The bleak economic outlook was compounded by continued spikes in virus cases in Europe and beyond: Iran and Russia recorded record levels of daily cases on Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov isolates himself after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, his ministry said Tuesday.
Worldwide, more than 1.1 million have died from the virus since it emerged late last year in China.
The United States is the most affected country with 225,739 deaths.
– ‘Out of control’ –
In France, battling one of the world’s worst outbreaks, officials said they faced “tough decisions” as hospitals warned they were only days away from being overrun by patients.
“The outbreak is out of control,” said infectious disease specialist Gilles Pialoux, urging the government to shut down. “The economy can recover, but you do not recover if intensive care fails.”
France on Sunday recorded a grim record of 52,010 coronavirus infections in 24 hours and officials said Tuesday that stricter restrictions are coming to counter the alarming surge in Covid-19 cases as doctors warned that many hospitals are just a few days of being invaded by patients.
Media reports say that President Emmanuel Macron, who will address the nation again Wednesday night, could extend the hours of an existing curfew, possibly with a total lockdown on weekends, or order selective closures. in the most affected regions.
The European economy has been hit hard.
Nearly a fifth of nervous eurozone banks tightened credit requirements in the third quarter, compared with just one percent in the prior period, a European Central Bank survey showed as an indication that banks’ faith in a recovery he’s faltering.
And the UN revelations about falling tourism were highlighted when the airline industry body, IATA, said that revenue is expected to be 46 percent lower in 2021 than the $ 838 billion reserved. in the last year before the 2019 coronavirus, in a marked worsening of its forecasts.
Japanese airline ANA forecast a record net loss of $ 4.87 billion for the year, announcing that it would recall planes and send hundreds of employees to work for other companies.
In Algeria, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been hospitalized, his office said on Tuesday, days after he isolated himself after suspected cases of coronavirus among his aides.
In its statement, however, the presidency said that “Tebboune’s state of health does not raise any concern.”
On the pharmaceutical front, Pfizer executives expressed measured optimism Tuesday about the possibility of providing a coronavirus vaccine in 2020.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the pharmaceutical giant could supply about 40 million doses in the United States in 2020 if clinical trials progress as expected and regulators approve a vaccine.
Meanwhile, Russia has applied to the World Health Organization for expedited registration and prequalification of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
In contrast to restrictions imposed in Europe, residents of Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, were preparing for the party, with bars opening fully for the first time since March after the city logged two days without new infections.
“We’ve been waiting a long time,” bar owner Greg Sanderson told AFP, saying patrons had booked in for a champagne celebration at the time it was allowed, at 11:59 pm (1259 GMT) Tuesday.
by Joseph BOYLE with AFP offices
