Part of Asia in December and still vigorous in Europe, the wave of the coronavirus pandemic is about to overwhelm the United States, now the first country affected in the world, while the leaders of the great powers mobilize astronomical sums to save the economy of drowning.
To the rescue programs launched by several countries at the national level is added since Thursday that concocted by the leaders of the G20 gathered at the summit by videoconference under the presidency of Saudi Arabia. They promised to inject 5,000 billion dollars to support the global economy struck by the pandemic.
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The new coronavirus, which has infected half a million people since its appearance in China in December and killed more than 23,000, has halted the activity of many sectors and has forced three billion Earthlings to caulk at home.
If the epicenter of the Covid-19 disease remains Europe with nearly 275,000 officially diagnosed cases, according to a count made by AFP at 7:00 p.m. GMT, the United States seems to be on the way to eventually overtake the Old Continent because the epidemic is growing there exponentially.
They became the first affected country on Thursday with more than 83,000 cases. This is more than the 81,000 cases of China, the cradle of the epidemic, and that Italy with its 80,000 cases. Regarding deaths, Italy leads (more than 8,000 dead), ahead of Spain (more than 4,000 dead) and China (3,287 dead). The United States, with 1,201 deaths Thursday evening, was in sixth position behind Iran and France.
" Important initiative "
Emmanuel Macron announced on the night of Thursday to Friday, after an interview with his American counterpart Donald Trump, that they were both preparing a " new important initiative " in the face of the pandemic.
" Very good discussion with @realDonaldTrump. Faced with the Covid-19 crisis, with other countries, we are preparing for the next few days an important new initiative , "tweeted the French president, without further details.
For its part, the White House has not mentioned such a project. She said the two leaders agreed " the importance of close cooperation through the G7, G20 and P5 ", the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
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This " to help multilateral organizations, including the World Health Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, quickly eliminate the pandemic and minimize its economic impact, " she said.
Two international summits devoted to joint efforts against the disease were held on Thursday, the extraordinary G20 and a European summit during which the 27 member countries agreed to examine within two weeks stronger measures to deal with the announced recession.