The outbreak of the pandemic brings strong bells for Europe

The stingrays of the pandemic in Europe are very bad, as many countries are reinstating restrictive measures aimed at stopping the second wave. The WHO warns that “much work remains to be done to stabilize the situation.”

The head of the World Health Organization’s Emergency Management Agency, Mike Ryan, today sent a stern warning to European countries, highlighting the danger of a large increase in cases and hospital coverage.

“Europe has a lot of work to do to stabilize the situation and control the diaspora,” Ryan told a news conference. “Overall, within this large region, we are seeing a worrying increase in disease.” ».

For her part, Maria Van Kerkov, WHO chief for COVID-19, said: “We are at the end of September and the seasonal flu season has not even started, so what worries us is the possibility of all these trends. . go in the wrong direction. Early hospital admissions and use of the steroid dexamethasone save lives. “We want to avoid any looting at the national level, something that happened at the beginning.”

It is no coincidence that the European Union has also announced that the pandemic is worse now than it was in March.

At the same time, Mike Ryan warned that the death toll could reach two million until a successful vaccine is launched, unless governments take concerted action to stop the pandemic.

“If not (we take coordinated action) … all the figures that we are talking about (2 million deaths) will not only be something imaginable, but sadly, most likely” during today’s briefing to add “if not we continue to do more, to evolve, in nature, the scale and intensity of our cooperation, therefore, yes, we will see this number and sadly even higher. The time for action is now. “It is not just about testing and track, not just provide medical care, not just follow social isolation measures, not just work on vaccines, do it all at once. “

Important developments from around the world at a glance

• The total number of deaths has exceeded 980,000 worldwide today, with the death toll estimated at around 5,000 per day, while cases have reached 32 million.
• The Spanish government proposes quarantine conditions for the capital, Madrid, and the local government rejects and approves the local measures. An additional 167,000 neighbors will not be able to leave their neighborhoods starting Monday unless they want to move for specific reasons: to go to work, to the doctor or to take their children to school, he told reporters. Antonio Tapatero, deputy director of the district health services. This decision brings the number of citizens affected by the restrictions in the Community of Madrid to more than 1 million people out of a total population of 6.6 million. More than 850,000 people have already been affected since Monday. However, these residents have the right to move within their own neighborhood and are not confined to their home.
• South Korea has announced that it will impose stricter restrictions during the fall holidays in the country, where there are always large family gatherings and trips.
• The outbreaks appear to be exacerbated in Iceland, with at least 100 incidents involving two French tourists who refused to go into solitary confinement. The country’s top infectious disease specialist said the travelers were found in Iceland in mid-August.
• New research shows that the virus continues to mutate during the pandemic. Scientists estimate that it becomes more contagious, but the conclusions do not record whether it becomes more deadly.
• More than 5.8 million cases have been reported in India, which reported 86,052 new cases today. The death toll in the country reached 93,000.
• Brazil has announced that after 100 years, the traditional February carnival parade has been postponed for this year. Rio state authorities, however, local authorities have not yet made any decisions.
• A call from Pope Francis to give the vaccine to the poorest people first. Speaking at the UN General Assembly, the Pope emphasized the urgent need to qualify for public health and ensure access to vaccines. “If someone is to be preferred, it is the poorest, the most vulnerable, the one who so often faces discrimination because he has neither power nor financial resources. In another part of his speech, Francis reiterated his call for the rich. countries to reduce or forgive the debts of poor countries. He called for changes in economic and financial institutions in order to “respond more quickly to the rapidly growing inequality between the super-rich and the permanently poor.”
• Russia is developing 45 different vaccines against the new coronavirus on 14 platforms, Alexander Garelov, deputy director of the Institute for Scientific Research in Epidemiology (under the Rospotrebnadzor Consumer Protection Regulatory Authority) told RFE / RL. Garelov noted that the freedom to choose the vaccine for vaccination in Russia is enshrined in law. And therefore it is the competence of the scientific faculties, which we are dealing with today, that will determine the winner. “And the vaccine that will be the most effective and safest will be the one that will take its place on the national vaccine calendar,” Garelov said. According to him, the precautionary measures taken in Russia to deal with the coronavirus were effective. However, he added that these are health protection measures, which, as he said, if they are complied with, it will not be necessary to take stricter measures.
• The Danish government decided today to extend the restrictions until October 18. Health Minister Magnus Henike said: “The increase in new infections was expected, but it happened earlier than expected.” The current limit for public gatherings of up to 50 people will also apply to private events starting September 26. Denmark has registered 678 new cases in the last 24 hours, the highest daily number in history.
• Switzerland today expanded its list of high-risk destinations to 15 countries, including 10 European countries such as Belgium, Great Britain and Portugal, but also to areas like Britain in France, in the face of a new coronavirus pandemic. Starting next Monday, citizens returning from these areas will have to remain in quarantine for 10 days upon arrival in Switzerland. The Swiss government has included Belgium, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Ecuador on the list of high-risk countries and regions for Covid-19. , Morocco, Nepal and Oman. Instead, Kosovo and San Marino were removed from the list.
• China hopes to be able to produce 610 million doses of various Covid-19 vaccines a year by the end of the year, Chinese health officials in Beijing said today, confirming that their country is a leader in the field. This annual production is expected to increase to more than 1 billion doses by 2021, they added during a press conference. The development of eleven Chinese vaccines, out of a total of 59 programs, has now entered the clinical trial phase, said Wu Yuanbin of the Ministry of Health.
• Student mobilizations against Conte politics were in the news today in Italy. Thousands of people took to the streets of Rome, Milan, Genoa, Naples and other cities in the country. Students complain that the percentage of distance learning remains very high, that in too many cases part-time teachers have not even been appointed and the delivery of the single-seater desks promised by the government last spring is constantly delayed. At the same time, they demand the provision of more means of public transport, for a safer daily commute to schools.
• The Netherlands registered a record number of cases today with 2,777 new cases. The rise in the new wave of cases, which began in late August, has led to several new registrations. Friday’s data surpassed the previous record of 2,544 recorded a day earlier. Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said that citizens must abide by the rules of social distancing and that the government will announce local measures if necessary. Schools and bars remain open and the use of a mask is mandatory only on public transport.
• Cases in Britain have increased by 73% since August. Today 6,874 new cases of Covid-19 were announced, a number that is a new record after 6,634 cases yesterday. In the last 24 hours, 34 people have lost their lives, but this figure does not include data for Scotland, for technical reasons.
• The Office for National Statistics said that around 103,600 people in England had the disease in the past week, one in 500, 59,800 more than the previous week. The estimation was carried out according to a mathematical model and was based on population samples.
• The Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Austria and Tyrol are the new areas included in Germany’s blacklist with travel restrictions.