President Donald Trump believes that the United States will enter a “horrible” phase, during which “there will be many deaths” from Coronavirus.
The coronavirus has killed more than 63,000 people worldwide since its appearance in December in China, including nearly three quarters in Europe, and Donald Trump has warned the Americans that the United States, already hard hit by the scourge, is entering a “horrible” period.
At least 63,437 deaths have been recorded worldwide, including more than 46,000 in Europe, the continent most affected, according to an AFP report established from official sources on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. GMT.
A five-year-old child is among the last victims in Great Britain, which reminds us that the disease does not only kill the elderly or the weak.
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“There will be many deaths”
In the rapidly growing pandemic in the United States, the number of confirmed cases of infection exceeds 300,000, and President Trump has warned that the United States is now entering “a period that will be truly horrible”, with ” very bad numbers. ”
“It will probably be the hardest week,” said Trump during a White House briefing. “There are going to be a lot of deaths,” he added.
With 15,362 deaths, Italy is currently the country with the most deaths in the world, followed by Spain (11,744), the United States (8,098), France (7,560) and the United Kingdom ( 4313).
Coronavirus: Trump prévient que les Etats-Unis entrent dans “une période qui va être vraiment horrible”, avec “de très mauvais chiffres” #AFP pic.twitter.com/MItz75DlgJ
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) April 5, 2020
Improvement in Italy
However, a note of hope came from Italy, where the number of intensive care hospitalizations has decreased for the first time since the epidemic exploded there more than a month ago.
The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care in Italian hospitals has dropped below 4,000 (3,994 compared to 4,068 the previous day).
“This is important news because it allows our hospitals to breathe. It is the first time that this figure has been falling since we managed this emergency, ”welcomed the head of civil protection Angelo Borrelli.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, more than a million cases have been officially declared worldwide, more than half of them in Europe. However, the number of cases diagnosed only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, with a large number of countries now testing only those cases requiring hospital care.
Read also: Coronavirus: China pays tribute to its deaths from Covid-19
Record rise in the UK
In the UK, an additional 708 deaths were recorded in one day, a new record confirming the acceleration of the epidemic.
Queen Elisabeth II must speak on Sunday evening during a televised address in order to send a message of support to the British, a rare intervention by the queen.
La reine Elisabeth II adressera dimanche soir un message de soutien aux Britanniques face au défi du coronavirus #AFP pic.twitter.com/4sO16ZnXSQ
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) April 5, 2020
Spain recorded in 24 hours the death of 809 people, a number down there too for the second consecutive day, according to the report released on Saturday by the authorities. Madrid has also announced an extension of the confinement by two weeks, until April 25th.
These – very relative – reductions in the number of deaths or contaminations suggest a vague hope of slowing the spread of the virus after weeks of almost general confinement which had to be resolved by the most affected countries.
In Madrid, in an exhibition centre converted into a hospital, caregivers sometimes interrupt their difficult work to applaud the cured patients. So Eduardo Lopez, 59, who is now breathing deeply and gives the rating of “10/10” to all those who treated him “with tenderness and a huge dose of humanity”.
However, the restrictive measures must be maintained, underlined the health authorities of the countries concerned on the eve of the Easter holidays and holidays, the main Christian holiday of the year.
Half of humanity is now subject to containment measures.
With the disease officially under control in China, the United States is poised to become the new front line of the pandemic. In New York City alone, 1,905 deaths have been recorded.
The Americans are therefore preparing for the worst, building field hospitals from Los Angeles to Miami, with thousands of additional resuscitation beds and a gigantic hospital ship docked in New York.
L’Etat de New York, épicentre du nouveau #coronavirus aux Etats-Unis, a annoncé samedi 630 nouveaux décès en une journée, son pire bilan sur 24 heures, et a lancé un appel d’urgence en attendant “le pic” de l’épidémie #AFP pic.twitter.com/bT3JB4JosX
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) April 5, 2020
The “aerosol” hypothesis
According to American specialist Anthony Fauci, an adviser to President Donald Trump and member of the White House crisis cell, there is little doubt that the new coronavirus is transmitted by air when “people are just talking, rather only when they sneeze or cough. ” This would explain the extreme apparent contagiousness of the Covid-19.
As a result, Donald Trump on Friday called on his fellow citizens to cover his face outside.
Since the start of the epidemic, the hypothesis that the coronavirus could be transmitted via expired air (the “aerosols” according to the scientific term) has been the subject of much speculation and has not yet been scientifically proven.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has for the moment been cautious on the subject.
In Asia, where surgical masks are omnipresent, the backwardness of Western countries, openly pointed at, is seen as an aberration.
American statements should not fail to relaunch the global race to buy the precious surgical masks, which some countries – faced with the shortage – are now snapping up. Western countries, the United States at the head against the European countries, openly play elbows to get supplies in China.
Elsewhere in the world, Switzerland passed the milestone of 20,000 cases and 500 deaths on Saturday. In seven countries of the Western Balkans, 110 dead were counted. In Iran, which was particularly hard hit, the number of daily infections fell for the fourth day in a row, authorities said, with an official death toll of 3,452.
Read also: Covid-19: the wearing of alternative masks now recommended for the population
Worry in Africa
In West Africa, Liberia announced its first death from the Coronavirus Covid-19 epidemic on Saturday, that of a 72-year-old man. This country, which is one of the poorest in the world, was severely affected by Ebola fever between 2014 and 2016.
This announcement reinforces the concern for the African continent, which remains for the moment officially relatively little affected by the pandemic with 7600 cases and a little more than 300 deaths declared.
