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PARIS (AFP) – Global coronavirus infections surpassed 25 million on Sunday (August 30), as countries around the world tightened restrictions further to try to stop the devastating pandemic.
An additional one million cases have been detected around the world roughly every four days since mid-July, according to an AFP tally, and on Sunday India set the record for the largest single-day increase in cases at 78,761.
The surge in India, home to 1.3 billion people, came as the government further lowered lockdown restrictions over the weekend to help ease pressure on the faltering economy.
Even nations like New Zealand and South Korea, which had previously controlled their outbreaks to a great extent, are now battling new clusters of infections.
On the other side of the world, Latin America, the most affected region, was still struggling with its first wave, with deaths from Covid-19 in Brazil exceeding 120,000, second only to the United States.
Brazil’s curve “has now stabilized, but at a very dangerous level: almost 1,000 deaths and 40,000 cases per day,” said Christovam Barcellos, a researcher at the Fiocruz public health institute.
“And Brazil has not yet passed the top.”
Nearly 843,000 people have died from Covid-19 worldwide, and without a vaccine or effective treatment yet available, governments have been forced to resort to some form of social distancing and lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus.
The masks will be mandatory starting Monday on public transport and flights in New Zealand, which went more than 100 days without local broadcast before the current group emerged.
And tighter restrictions against the virus began Sunday in South Korea, which is also battling new groups, including in the Seoul region, home to half the country’s population.
ANTI-CROWN RALLY IN EUROPE
Despite the disappointing numbers, there has been consistent opposition to lockdowns and social distancing measures in many parts of the world, often due to their crushing financial cost.
But resistance has also come from the far left and right of the political spectrum, as well as conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccine activists.
In Berlin on Saturday around 18,000 people gathered to march against coronavirus restrictions, but police later stopped the rally because many were not respecting social distancing measures.
Protesters waved German flags and shouted slogans against Chancellor Angela Merkel who is often used by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Many carried banners promoting widely discredited conspiracy theories about vaccines, masks and 5G communications.
Similar protests were held in London and Zurich, where some carried posters supporting the far-right QAnon movement, which promotes bizarre theories about Satan-worshiping cabal and “deep state” plots, without any credible evidence.
‘A GREAT FIRST STEP’
The pandemic has disrupted economies and societies around the world and brought to a halt most large gatherings, from sports and music to religion and politics.
The Tour de France departed from the French Riviera on Saturday, two months later than scheduled and without the French sports minister ruling out the cancellation of the event due to the coronavirus.
Under Tour rules, a team with two positive tests in its entourage would be expelled. A virus test cell will travel with the teams throughout the race.
The world’s major sporting, cultural and musical events face the challenge of hosting spectators and reducing the risk of virus transmission.
But there was some joy on Saturday in New York, which was once among the largest coronavirus hot spots in the world.
Visitors raised their arms, clapped and lined up for tickets as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York reopened to the public in a festive mood after a six-month shutdown.
Tracy-Ann Samuel, who came with her four- and nine-year-old daughters, said she couldn’t wait to be “surrounded by fine arts” again.
“It means there is a semblance of normalcy,” Samuel said.
“The Met has been a part of New York history for more than 150 years … So this is a great first step.”
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