Posted Apr 9, 2020, 7:17 a.m.Updated on Apr 9, 2020 at 9:43 a.m.
Cape Town million and a half people infected with Covid-19 was crossed Wednesday, very symbolically the same day that the city of Wuhan, epicenter of the pandemic, came out of 11 weeks of confinement. The number of dead continues to climb (88,147 dead, according to the latest official data available this Thursday morning), as well as that of people healed and discharged from the hospital (330,702).
China is no longer in the Top 5 of the most infected countries. The United States is the most affected (430,376 cases of infection and 14,739 deaths). They have posted another tragic record in the past 24 hours: for the second day in a row, the country has recorded nearly 2,000 deaths linked to Covid-19, the worst daily death toll in the world since the start of the pandemic.
The main information to remember
> There are now more than 1.5 million infected people on the planet
> The United States is by far the most affected country
> WHO asks the United States not to politicize the fight against the coronavirus
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Follow the events of April 9
> Spain hopes to catch a glimpse of the end of the tunnel
The latest Spanish statistics are encouraging and a decline in the coronavirus epidemic is about to begin, the President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, said on Thursday.
“The fire is starting to be brought under control,” he told parliament, which is about to rule on extending the state of emergency until April 26. Spanish health officials said Wednesday they had an additional 757 deaths in 24 hours, bringing the death toll from the new coronavirus to 14,555.
> The heavy bill for short-time working
The partial unemployment scheme implemented by the government to avoid layoffs will cost the state more than 20 billion euros, Labor Minister Muriel Pénicaud said on Thursday.
According to the count drawn up by his ministry, 6.9 million employees are currently concerned by these measures requested by 628,000 companies and associations, of which 6 out of 10 are SMEs and very small businesses.
> Oxfam’s concerns
According to the NGO, more than 500 million people could fall into poverty due to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The organization urges leaders to implement support plans now, especially in the most fragile countries.
> France in the middle of the storm
France is still “in the heart” of the crisis linked to the coronavirus epidemic, government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye said on Thursday, saying that she was not “behind us” despite a slowdown. the increase in the number of people entering intensive care.
Emmanuel Macron, who planned to speak on Monday evening on television and radio, “will be keen to recall the challenges of the crisis that we are experiencing and which is not behind us”, a- she declared on franceinfo.
> African-Americans hit hard by Covid-19
Blacks are “three to four times” more affected by coronavirus than other populations, said Donald Trump. In Illinois, blacks account for 42% of deaths, for only 14% of the population.
In Louisiana, where a third of the population is African-American, 70% of the deceased were Black. And only 3% of the victims did not suffer from another pathology before being infected with Covid-19. The administration, accustomed to counting the origins in all its statistics, must disseminate more complete figures in the coming days.
> Cautious lagarde on coronabonds
“Coronabonds” are not the only instruments likely to allow the European Union to cushion the economic shock linked to the health crisis, considered Thursday the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, recalling in passing that ” in Europe things take a little longer “than elsewhere.
> Before 2020, the other years when a crisis plunged France into recession
There are now two certainties in these uncertain times. The Covid-19 will cause a recession in France in 2020. This will be of unprecedented violence since the Second World War. For the rest, it’s a complete blur …
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, other crises, from the oil shock to the fall of Lehman Brothers through the EMS crisis, put the French economy under severe strain. Diving in the years 1975, 1993 and 2009 when France experienced the recession.
> Heavy drop in the number of passengers for Air France-KLM in March
The number of passengers carried by the Air France-KLM group collapsed by 56.6% in March, compared to the same period of 2010 announces the airline group, which is trying to get 4 billion guaranteed loans from Bercy.
For April and May 2020, the carrier predicts that “more than 90% of the planned capacity will be suspended” due to worldwide travel restrictions and the two group companies “intend to continue serving pairs of key cities from their respective hubs ”from Amsterdam-Schiphol and Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, in the form of reduced operations.
> Containment extended beyond April 15 in France
With each more than 100,000 dead, Spain, Italy, France and Germany complete the Top 5 disaster. In France, the economy has technically gone into recession in the first quarter and nearly 11,000 deaths are now to be deplored. The confinement will be extended beyond April 15, said the Elysee on Wednesday.
But it will be necessary to wait for the intervention of Emmanuel Macron to undoubtedly know until what date precisely it will remain in force. The President of the Republic will address the French on Monday shortly after 8 p.m. He will then present his decisions concerning the fight against the epidemic during the coming weeks.
> Half a billion more poor people worldwide
Between 6% and 8% of the world’s population could fall into poverty in the absence of rapid support plans for the poorest countries, facing the coronavirus pandemic, says the NGO Oxfam in a report entitled “the price of dignity ”.
“This could constitute a global decline of ten years in the fight against poverty, and a decline of 30 years in certain regions such as in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East or North Africa”, adds the organization . It recommends direct financial aid to those most affected, and calls for the cancellation this year of debt repayments from the poorest countries.
> WHO calls on Trump not to “politicize” the crisis
At the same time, relations have been strained between Donald Trump and the World Health Organization (WHO). Donald Trump accusing the international organization being too close to China and mismanaging the pandemic has hinted that Washington may question its financial support. A challenge which provoked a strong reaction from the boss of the WHO.
“Don’t politicize the virus. No need to use the Covid to score political points, ”said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a virtual press conference. “You have many other ways to prove yourself,” he said, before calling on Washngton and Beijing to “unite to fight this dangerous enemy.”
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