Coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 50,000 for the first time on Wednesday (File)
Los Angeles:
New daily cases of coronavirus in the United States surpassed 50,000 for the first time on Wednesday, as the World Health Organization issued a serious warning that the global pandemic was accelerating.
The most affected nation’s restaurants, bars, and beaches in the world have closed from California to Florida, as states were reeling from a new wave of deadly virus that was preparing for the day’s festivities. independence.
Global infections have reached their highest level in the past week, according to WHO data, chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying new cases exceed “160,000 every day”.
This dark step came as the European Union left the United States, Brazil and Russia off its final list of nations secure enough to allow residents to enter its borders.
With more than 52,000 new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. alone in the past 24 hours, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University, several U.S. states have imposed 14-day quarantines on visitors in preparation for celebrations of the long weekend of July 4th.
California has suspended indoor dining at restaurants in Los Angeles and several counties, while New York has abandoned plans to allow restaurants to locate customers indoors next week.
President Donald Trump reiterated his conviction that the contagion “at some point … will disappear, I hope”.
But the American leader who has not yet been seen in public wearing a face mask during the pandemic added that he would have “no problem” to do so.
Relaxation of EU travel ban
The flashbacks occurred when the European Union reopened its borders to visitors from 15 countries.
The bloc hopes that the relaxation of restrictions on the countries from Algeria to Uruguay will give life to its tourism sector, stifled by a ban on non-essential travel since mid-March.
Travelers from China, where the virus first appeared at the end of last year, will only be allowed to enter the EU if Beijing does the same.
And Brazil – which recorded the most deaths in the world in the past week and is the second most affected country in the world – has been entirely excluded.
He killed 60,000 in total on Wednesday, after killing 1,000 in just 24 hours.
However, with more than 10 million known infections worldwide and more than 500,000 deaths, the pandemic is “not yet close to being finished,” warned WHO.
Data provided by the United Nations health agency for the seven days from June 25 to July 1 showed that the highest number of new daily cases ever recorded occurred on June 28, when more than 189,500 new cases were reported. have been recorded worldwide.
“Dutch brothels reopen”
According to the United Nations, the coronavirus crisis could cost global tourism and related industries $ 1.2-3.3 trillion in lost revenue.
Greece, which has suffered fewer than 200 deaths from viruses, has seen its economy hit hard by travel closings and restrictions – while ending its lucrative tourist season before it begins.
Romanian Cojan Dragos was “the first tourist” to a hotel in Corfu after driving there with his wife and daughter.
“We have the whole hotel just for us,” he told AFP.
In addition, Spain and Portugal organized a reopening ceremony for their land border.
The Netherlands also confirmed the reopening on Wednesday of another tourist draw – its brothels and red light districts.
“I am totally reserved,” said sex worker Foxxy, adding that she had organized a “little party” when she heard that the restrictions would be lifted.
Clusters stimulate new locks
Russia has not been included in the list of countries approved by the EU, so its citizens will be absent from the tourist hot spots of the block.
The country, however, had a holiday Wednesday when it voted in a referendum to approve the constitutional changes allowing President Vladimir Putin to stay in power for 16 years.
Putin was forced to postpone the vote in April as his government tackled an epidemic that infected nearly 650,000 people – the third largest in the world.
In other countries, clusters still pose problems.
Parts of the Australian city of Melbourne have experienced a sharp increase in infections, prompting further home support measures.
The Palestinian Authority has announced a five-day lockout across the West Bank after an upsurge of confirmed cases.
And textile factories in the central city of Leicester in the UK have been suggested as the reason for an outbreak of infections that led to the re-imposition of local restrictions.
Point of the Americas
In the United States, peaks in the southern and western states lead to an increase in national infections.
Texas, which has once again broken its daily COVID-19 record with more than 8,000 new cases, has joined Florida and California to close some beaches for the upcoming vacation weekend.
Apple has announced that it will close 30 other stores in the United States on Thursday, half of them in California.
A further 700 deaths nationwide killed a total of 128,000 in the United States.
The Pan American Health Organization has warned that the number of deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean could quadruple to more than 400,000 by October without more stringent public health measures.
The U.S. government announced this week that it had purchased 92 percent of all production of remdesivir – the first drug that has been shown to be relatively effective in treating COVID-19.
Britain and Germany, however, said Wednesday they have sufficient stocks of drugs.
“Corona baby”
In Britain, some 1,500 acts from Ed Sheeran and Coldplay to Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones have urged the county government to save the live music industry, which is collapsing due to the coronavirus.
But while the lockdowns have been a disaster for many, some have welcomed the opportunity to spend more quality time with hard-working partners.
