The United States crossed the threshold of three million cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the day after the official start of their withdrawal from the World Health Organization, which nevertheless continues to warn of the accelerating pandemic and the need for concerted action.
Germany called the US withdrawal from the WHO on Wednesday a "setback" in the face of the pandemic that has killed more than 545,000 people worldwide to date, stressing that not less but "more international cooperation" is needed. , through the voice of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
However, the United States, the world's leading economic power and first contributor to the WHO budget, is by far the country most affected by the pandemic, in terms of both the number of cases and the number of deaths.
"At this point we have tested more than 39 million Americans. Among them, more than three million Americans have tested positive and more than 1.3 million Americans have recovered," said the vice. -President Mike Pence at the White House.
To date, the epidemic has killed 131,857 people in the United States, and 3,022,899 cases of contamination were detected there on Wednesday.
After a stabilization of the epidemic in its first outbreaks, especially in New York, the United States has been experiencing an outbreak of infections in the South and West for a few weeks.
The United States has never left its first wave, which has moved geographically, and the indicators are red in several of the most populous states, such as Texas and Florida.
President Donald Trump denies the reality of this resurgence and again tweeted Wednesday that "the death rate from coronavirus (had) been divided by ten!"
"We went up, we never went back down to the basic level, and there we are going back up," worried Anthony Fauci, the US government's top infectious disease expert, who is raising the alarm more keenly.
Trump, who disagreed with Fauci, persisted: "We are in a good position (...) We have done a good job. I think that in two, three or four weeks we will be in a excellent position ".
- Supermarkets robbed -
Second most affected country, Brazil counts more than 66,700 dead but its president of 65 years, even contaminated, remains defiant: "I am perfectly fine", he assured on television.
In Australia, supermarket shelves in Melbourne, the country's second largest city, were robbed on Wednesday, hours before new containment measures came into effect for six weeks.
"As frustrating as it is, I support (containment) - but ask me the question again in six weeks," said Michael Albert, a Melbourne resident.
In this tense context, the WHO warned against the probable ability of the virus to be transmitted by air, especially in public places, that is to say in a much more contagious way than initially envisaged.
- 500,000 cases in Africa -
By far the hardest hit country in the Near and Middle East, Iran has surpassed the 12,000 dead mark, authorities said on Wednesday that they are considering a resumption of restrictions in the capital Tehran.
Nine of the 31 Iranian provinces are classified as "red", the highest category in the country's risk scale.
"Tehran is facing a very fragile situation," said Alireza Zali, coordinator of the fight against the disease in Tehran.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than three million cases of Covid-19 have been identified since the start of the epidemic, more than half of them in Brazil, according to a report established Wednesday by AFP.
Africa remains far behind both in terms of declared contamination and deaths due to Covid 19, but the continent crossed the barrier of 500,000 officially counted cases on Wednesday, after having surpassed 10,000 deaths on July 1.
In Europe, the situation seems to be under control, even if the Old Continent remains the hardest hit by the virus with more than 200,000 deaths, including more than two-thirds in the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain.
Belgium, at the dawn of the summer holidays, decided on Wednesday to introduce a code with three colors (green, orange, red) to identify travel areas that are still not recommended in Europe.
In Serbia, dozens of police and demonstrators were injured and around 20 people arrested in Belgrade during protests, which degenerated before dawn Wednesday, against the return of a curfew.
- July 14 without audience -
In France, the mayor of Paris announced that the city would have its traditional fireworks fired from the Eiffel Tower for the national holiday of July 14, but that it would take place without public around because of the risk of contamination .
As for Finland, it announced to reopen its borders to tourists from 17 European countries considered to have a low infection rate, a list not including France or Luxembourg for the moment.
In London, the National Gallery became the first major museum to reopen on Wednesday, with masks and signposted routes for visitors requested to book in advance. The Louvre in Paris reopened on Monday.
On the economic front, the British government unveiled new stimulus measures totaling 33 billion euros on Wednesday, including a VAT reduction for certain sectors, subsidies for energy renovation and job aid for young people.
The International Monetary Fund expects the UK economy to contract 10.2% this year.
In Brussels, Chancellor Merkel called on Europeans to show solidarity and ensure the adoption this summer of the massive recovery plan intended to emerge from the coronavirus crisis.
"We need extraordinary solidarity, everyone is ready, Germany in particular, to overcome the pandemic, to accept its consequences," Merkel told MEPs.
In Africa, on the other hand, nearly 50 million people could fall into extreme poverty due to the economic impact of the epidemic, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The main creditors of the poorest countries called on Wednesday to do more to ease the debt burden, and urged China to participate fully, at the Paris Forum which brings together creditors and creditors.
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