In India, approximately one million people have fallen ill in the last 11 days. Donald Trump promises a vaccine in 3-4 weeks, the situation in India is close to critical, dozens of schools have been closed in France, and Covid-19 has become the cause of a significant number of stillbirths. This and other news about the situation with the coronavirus pandemic around the world can be found in our daily review.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the total number of people infected worldwide is rapidly approaching 30 million (currently almost 29.6 million), with 935.8 thousand deaths.
The situation in India continues to be serious, with the number of people infected exceeding five million on Wednesday. This is the second highest number in the world after the USA. More than 82 thousand people have died (third after the USA and Brazil). For almost two weeks, the virus has been detected in an average of 100 thousand people a day. The increase in statistics in India comes against a backdrop of easing restrictions. The government says it is necessary to revive the economy. Only schools, colleges and cinemas remain closed for the time being.
WHO Special Envoy David Nabarro described the global situation as frightening and warned that this is only the beginning of the pandemic. According to him, the danger lies in the fact that the spread of the virus has accelerated in the most densely populated parts of the planet. In India, for example, one million people have been infected in the last 11 days, out of five million cases. Michael Ryan, Head of WHO’s Emergency Department, said European leaders must stop hoping for the best and take tough decisions to protect vulnerable populations from complications as winter approaches.
Denmark reintroduced a number of restrictions due to the worsening epidemiological situation. In particular, the opening hours of bars and restaurants have been reduced. In France, 81 schools were closed after cases of Covid-19 were detected in children in 28 educational institutions since the beginning of the school year. More than two thousand extracurricular and individual activities, including optional classes and clubs, were canceled.
In France, an educational institution is closed if there are three or more cases of Covid-19. “We have about 1200 new cases of infection among students, which is more than last week,” said French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer. Overall, there has been a sharp increase in infection statistics in the country since August. Last Sunday, the daily number of new cases exceeded 10,000. Authorities in Bordeaux and Marseille have decided to tighten quarantine measures. France ranks second in Europe and 12th in the world in terms of the number of infected people – 433.9 thousand individuals, with 31 thousand deaths (second highest in Europe, seventh highest in the world).
New daily anti-record in the Czech Republic – 1677 cases in the last 24 hours. The number of patients hospitalized and in need of intensive care is rising sharply. Mortality statistics are also on the rise, according to the country’s authorities. According to their estimates, the overall situation in the Czech Republic is approaching the levels of March-April.
Early Thursday morning, residents of Prague line up to take a Covid-19 test. Last week, a series of strict restrictive measures were introduced in the country, but Czech doctors warn that the effect of this step will be noticeable only in 2-3 weeks, and until then, the situation will only worsen. The total number of infected people in the country at the moment is almost 38.9 thousand, with 476 deaths.
The ambassadors of the 27 EU countries have decided to leave unchanged the list of 10 foreign countries with which member states are allowed to open their external borders. The United States and Russia are not on this list, according to a European diplomatic source in Brussels. In Latin America, there has been a sharp increase in the number of infected people, with only a few countries in the region recently showing some stabilization.
Peruvian authorities are trying to organize continuous testing in poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of Lima. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what’s next. The number of episodes should remain the same. End of story Podcast advertising Five countries on the continent rank among the top ten in the world in terms of the number of confirmed cases: Brazil (4.3 million), Peru (738,000), Colombia (728,500), Mexico (676,400), and Argentina (577,300).
Myanmar authorities have begun construction of a temporary hospital on a field within the city limits of the country’s capital, Yangon. The move comes as the number of cases in the country, particularly in the capital, has risen sharply. The hospital will be able to accommodate up to 500 patients. Last week, authorities shut down Yangon and banned residents from leaving the city. All domestic flights in the country have been suspended.
Australia is preparing to lift a significant portion of the restrictions in certain districts, particularly in the state of Victoria and its capital, Melbourne. Melbourne was considered the epicenter of the epidemic in the country. However, over the past 14 days, the daily number of new cases there has not exceeded 50. According to the Australian authorities, this is the optimal indicator for easing quarantine measures. Construction sites, factories, workshops, and preschools will reopen. Cafes and restaurants will be able to receive visitors again, but only on open terraces and with no more than 50 people at a time.
US President Donald Trump denies that he deliberately downplayed the scale and danger of the pandemic earlier this year. Recently, the famous American journalist Bob Woodward stated that this was indeed the case. He claims that Trump himself admitted this to him in one of the interviews. The president insists that he has always taken the Covid-19 situation very seriously. During a meeting with voters in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Trump also announced that, contrary to skeptics’ predictions, a vaccine against the coronavirus will be ready within three to four weeks. However, American scientists say that none of the vaccines have been tested in clinical trials. They fear that the administration’s rush is motivated not by concern for public health but by political considerations, particularly the upcoming elections. In an interview with local media, the official representative of the Chinese government stated that his country had also made significant progress in vaccine production and that the first samples could be available as early as early November.
Recent research by an international group of scientists has shown that the percentage of high-risk pregnancies has risen sharply during the pandemic. In particular, there has been an increase in stillbirth statistics. Scientists attribute this to the fact that pregnant women in most countries are not being properly monitored due to various restrictions in health facilities and the mass cancellation of scheduled prenatal care since this spring. Pregnancy complications are not detected in time, with tragic consequences. Often, researchers say, the refusal to admit a pregnant woman to a clinic or hospital is motivated by a desire to protect her from Covid-19, but it leads to more serious problems.
In many countries during the pandemic, it is difficult for pregnant women to get timely, qualified help. In early August, the prestigious journal The Lancet Global Health published a similar study using Nepal as an example. The study involved more than 20,000 women who gave birth in nine different hospitals in the country. It showed that the stillbirth rate rose by 50% in just two months – from 14 cases per 1,000 live births in March to 21 cases per 1,000 live births in May. The sharpest increase occurred during the first four weeks of the lockdown, when people were only allowed to leave their homes to buy food or access basic services. During the recent study, scientists concluded that the situation is roughly the same in many countries around the world.
Different entrances to schools with temperature checks, classrooms assigned to specific classes, breaks at different times. The BBC looked at how schools operate under the new hygiene rules, how they are rated by teachers and students, and how effective the measures are.