08/23/2020 - 18:01
- Clarín.com
- World
Closures of beaches and nightclubs, mandatory face masks, ban on mass gatherings: Restrictions tighten in several countries as fears of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic grow and cases in Europe and Asia rise to levels of the first outbreak.
The figures do not stop growing. Since it appeared in China in December, the disease has already killed more than 805,000 people and has infected some 23.2 million people, according to an AFP balance from official sources.
Latin America and the Caribbean is the most afflicted region, with more than 258,000 deaths and some 6.7 million infections.
In Europe, summer vacation returns are a source of contagion in countries such as Italy, Spain, France and Germany, at a time when the region is preparing for the start of the new school year.
In Palma de Malloraca, indications of social distancing. Reuters photo
"We are in a situation of risk," the pandemic "has never stopped," French Health Minister Olivier Véran told the Journal du Dimanche.
Even South Korea, which was considered an example in the fight against the pandemic, registered in the last 24 hours the highest number of daily cases (397) since the beginning of March and imposed restrictions throughout the country that were applied in Seoul.
"The situation is very serious and serious and we are on the verge of a pandemic at the national level," said Jung Eun-kyeong, head of the South Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than half of the deaths from covid-19 on the planet were registered in four countries : the United States with about 180,000 deaths, Brazil (about 115,000), Mexico (more than 60,000) and India.
India, the second most populous nation on the planet after China, exceeded three million cases this Sunday , reporting 69,239 new infections. It added 912 deaths for a total of 56,706 deaths, according to official data.
For the authorities it is not being easy to control the comings and goings of vacationers to the beaches , and social gatherings, especially among young people.
In Peru, 13 people were suffocated when police raided a nightclub in Lima where 120 people were participating in a party that was banned due to the pandemic.
With 27,453 deaths, Peru is the third country in Latin America in deaths from the pandemic after Brazil and Mexico.
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Italy, one of the worst hit European countries with 35,000 deaths, continued to raise the contagion figures . On Sunday it announced 1,210 new cases in 24 hours; many of it in Rome.
For five days, in Italy the closure of nightclubs was ordered and the mask was imposed on the streets, whose obligation is also extended in cities of France, and for days in large sectors of Paris, before an average of about 4,000 new cases newspapers.
Also in Germany, infections increased in recent days (more than 2,000 daily), due to the massive return of Germans who spent holidays in risk areas abroad.
In Ireland, the authorities restricted gatherings to a maximum of six people indoors. And in the UK and Spain, the authorities have once again confined several areas.
As the pandemic continues to spread, shortages in hospitals, the exhaustion and low salaries of medical personnel, and the lack of assistance for the poorest populations continue to provoke unrest and protests.
Near Rome, a party with young people without a mask or social distancing. AFP photo
In Guatemala, dozens protested Saturday to demand the resignation of President Alejandro Giammattei. "She did not know how to manage the pandemic (...) she is not knowing how to lead the government; the most dignified thing is that she resigns," Gabriela Morales told AFP in front of the National Palace.
Israeli police announced on Sunday that they had detained 30 people , following a demonstration in which thousands of people demanded the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with slogans such as "minister of crime." They accuse him of corruption and of having mismanaged the economic impact of the pandemic.
But, with the brutal impact of the virus on the economy, many countries have chosen to resume activities even as the disease continues to spread. El Salvador, for example, will reopen shopping malls, restaurants and resume public transportation on Monday.
Source: AFP
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