US President Donald Trump has knowingly downplayed the level of danger posed by the coronavirus, as the number of deaths from Covid-19 worldwide approaches one million. The United Nations warns of a sharp rise in overall child mortality. According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of Covid-19 cases in the world is nearly 27.9 million, with 904.3 thousand deaths. The countries most affected by both indicators remain the United States, India and Brazil. Among European countries, the highest mortality rate remains in the United Kingdom – 41.6 thousand deaths. The most important news about the pandemic situation in the world – in our daily review.
Israeli authorities are discussing the possibility of implementing a second nationwide lockdown due to a sharp increase in infection rates. Local restrictions have already been imposed throughout the country in 40 so-called red zones with the worst epidemiological situation.
Israel has seen a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases since May. The Ministry of Health of the country announced on Wednesday about 3904 new cases of illness, which is a new daily record since the beginning of the pandemic. The total number of infected people in the country is now over 142.5 thousand, and 1054 have died.
Authorities in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, say the situation in the city is close to critical. In recent days, the city’s hospitals have been filled to capacity with patients confirmed to have coronavirus. Starting Monday, strict restrictions will be reinstated in most neighborhoods.
In India, a new daily record has been set – 95.7 thousand infected. The total number of infected in the country is almost 4.5 million people (second place in the world), with 75 thousand deaths (third place in the world).
After a long break, sumo matches have been held again since mid-July, with spectators in the stands. The Sumo Association of Japan announced that Covid-19 has been diagnosed in 19 athletes from one of the capital’s teams. There are 28 members in the team, but according to the decision of the association, even healthy athletes will have to miss the most prestigious tournament of the year, which starts this weekend. The main prize of the Grand Sumo Tournament is the Emperor’s Cup, the most coveted trophy for any sumo wrestler.
President of the United States Donald Trump knew from the very beginning how dangerous Covid-19 was, but deliberately downplayed the extent of the danger in order not to cause panic in society, claims American journalist Bob Woodward. Woodward is one of the world’s most famous investigative journalists, whose work led to the resignation of the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon, in 1974 as part of the historic “Watergate” scandal. In his messages about Trump and the pandemic, he refers to his recent interview with the president of the United States. In total, Woodward interviewed Trump 18 times from December last year to July this year. During an interview in February, Donald Trump admitted that he understood that the coronavirus was more dangerous than a regular virus like the flu.
“It flies in the air. It is harder to fight than something that is transmitted by touch. You don’t even have to touch anything, right? You just breathe, and that’s how it spreads. It is very cunning. It is also more deadly than even the strongest flu,” Bob Woodward quotes Donald Trump. The U.S. ranks first in the world in terms of incidence and mortality – over 6.3 million and 190.8 thousand people, respectively.
The UN warns that the coronavirus pandemic could undermine years of efforts to reduce child mortality worldwide. According to experts, impressive results have been achieved in the fight against under-five mortality over the past 30 years: in 1990, 12.5 million children died from various causes worldwide, compared to 5.2 million in 2019. However, as a result of the pandemic, which has led to inadequate monitoring of women’s pregnancies, the situation may worsen again in 68% of countries. Violations in the functioning of maternity wards are observed, and vaccination schedules are universally disrupted. According to the UN, the leading causes of child mortality are premature birth, complications of childbirth, neonatal sepsis, pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria.
UN experts are concerned that pregnant women in many countries around the world are not receiving adequate care because of the pandemic. Scientists from Harvard Medical School have presented research that challenges the common belief that young people are less likely to be infected with coronavirus and experience milder symptoms. The study was based on data from 3222 Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 who were hospitalized at various times with a diagnosis of Covid-19. Of these, 21% required intensive care, 10% required mechanical ventilation, and 2.7% died from the disease. According to scientists, the previous claim about the lower susceptibility of this age group was based on the fact that its representatives have stronger immunity and fewer age-related side effects. As a result, studies in this group were conducted on a residual basis, making it difficult to determine the true effect of Covid-19. Scientific conclusions on this issue have been published in JAMA Internal Medicine.