Donald Trump has maintained a steady rhythm of criticism against China (File)
Washington:
President Donald Trump called on Thursday for a larger reopening of the United States as job losses linked to the coronavirus increased, while parts of Europe embraced life after the foreclosure.
With summer approaching on both sides of the Atlantic, more stores have opened and beaches have welcomed tourists, despite the worldwide number of virus cases exceeding five million.
The crisis is of course far from over – Russia and Latin America have become the next hot spots, even as Europe and the United States are entering the next phase, like Asia before them.
But Trump, keeping an eye on his prospects for re-election in November, has made it clear that he hopes more state governors will move toward easing antivirus restrictions.
“We did the right thing, but now we want to go … you will break the country if you don’t,” he told African-American leaders in Michigan, a key battlefield state. electoral.
The Republican president specifically spoke of the reopening of places of worship – something he had originally hoped would be done before Easter Sunday – as important to the healing of the nation.
“People want to be in their churches,” said Trump. “They are so important to the psyche of our country.”
Trump has adopted the theme of “transition to greatness” as states reopen at different speeds.
Although the number of daily deaths is no longer on a steady slope, losses continue to rise, with the total number in the United States exceeding 94,000.
Trump has ordered flags in federal buildings to be flown over half personnel for three days for the victims.
Another 2.43 million Americans were laid off last week, the Labor Department said, bringing the total to 38.6 million since the locks were put in place, although the pace of job losses has slowed down.
Back to normal
On the eve of Memorial Day weekend – the unofficial start of the American summer – the beaches slowly welcome sun worshipers.
“We were just tired of waiting to find a normal life, to find our freedom. So we rented this big house near the beach,” said Anne Miller, an Ohio resident visiting South Carolina.
The same was true in Europe, where Cyprus has entered its second phase of opening, lifting curfews and allowing open-air restaurants, hair salons and beaches to open.
But the airports and hotels on the Mediterranean island remain closed.
“I want to get back to my work and my life,” said Sakis Siakopoulos, owner of a restaurant in the capital Nicosia.
In Denmark, the exit from the lockout has also accelerated as museums and zoos started reopening on Thursday and health officials have said the spread of the virus is slowing.
France, one of the countries hardest hit by the epidemic, saw its number of daily deaths drop to 83 – reason for optimism.
A closely monitored survey by IHS Markit said the eurozone economy has now “probably bottomed out” following the closings, raising hopes that a recovery will follow.
“It doesn’t stop”
The news was not positive everywhere.
The number of known cases of COVID-19 has doubled in just one month, according to AFP data collected from official sources, the number of deaths around 330,000 worldwide.
While many European countries have greatly reduced the contagion, Latin America is becoming a new hotspot with increasing cases.
Brazil – which now has the third highest number of cases in the world after the United States and Russia – has now recorded more than 20,000 deaths and has reached a new record number of 2,488 of 1,188 hours.
The gravediggers of the largest cemetery in the region, located outside of Sao Paulo, scramble to follow.
“We work 12 hours a day, burying them one after the other. It doesn’t stop,” said a worker from Vila Formosa, dressed in a white protective suit, a mask and a screen. facial.
Peru, Mexico and Chile have also seen a steady increase in infections.
“It’s like a horror film,” said Miguel Armas, a nurse at Hipolito Unanue hospital in the Peruvian capital.
Trump has maintained a constant rate of criticism of China, where the epidemic broke out last year, accusing it of “incompetence” of the scope of the global crisis.
The government of Chinese leader Xi Jinping rejects this criticism and insists that it has been frank with the world on the origins and development of the crisis.
“It is neither responsible nor moral to cover one’s own problems by blaming others,” said spokesman for the Chinese legislature Zhang Yesui.
China has made “major strategic strides” in responding to the coronavirus epidemic, Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday about the virus, the economy and other issues. current at the start of a new legislative session.
Asian giant virus cases now on the net, and Beijing insists efforts to curb virus spread have been successful, but questions remain as to whether it underreported the number of people affected by the contagion.
Second push
Governments around the world are testing ways to deal with the dangers despite fears of a second wave of infections.
Already a common sight in Spain, masks were officially made compulsory on Thursday for anyone over the age of six in public places where social distancing is not possible.
“The more tools we use, the better,” said Miguel Domingo, a 49-year-old architect who walks his two dogs in Madrid, who is coming out of one of the most difficult blockages.
But the director of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Andrea Ammon, warned that it was not a question of whether there would be a second wave but “when and what scale”.
“I don’t want to draw a picture of the day of the Last Judgment but I think we have to be realistic,” she told the British Guardian newspaper.
