• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Monday, March 1, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

Virus Cases Hit Seven Million as Latin America Crisis Deepens

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
06/08/20
in World
EU Proposes Huge Aid Plan as Virus Hammers Latin America

Brazil has become Latin America's virus epicenter. Photo: Carl de Souza, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The number of coronavirus infections globally topped seven million on Monday as deaths mounted in Latin America, but New Zealand’s declaration of victory against the pandemic offered some hope for the rest of the world.

Europe also continued to emerge from its lockdown, with Pope Francis proclaiming that the worst was over in Italy although he expressed sympathy for Latin America.

“Your presence in the square is a sign that in Italy the acute phase of the epidemic is over,” Francis said on Sunday while addressing Catholics in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the first time since the COVID-19 crisis began. “Unfortunately in other countries — I am thinking of some of them — the virus continues to claim many victims.”

Rising numbers of deaths were recorded from Brazil to Mexico to Peru, driving the confirmed global death toll above 400,000 and the number of declared infections over seven million, according to an AFP tally.

Brazil’s crisis is escalating and it has the world’s third-highest death toll at more than 36,000, but President Jair Bolsonaro continues to play down the impact of the virus.

In Chile the confirmed death toll reached 2,290 after miscalculations from March and April were corrected, adding 1,541 to the figure, Health Minister Jaime Manalich said Sunday.

The virus, which emerged in China late last year, has forced more than half of humanity into some form of lockdown over the past six months and driven the global economy towards its worst downturn since the Great Depression.

China, which has been accused of covering up the crucial early stages of the virus, on Sunday hit back at critics, saying it “will respond in the face of rumors, defamation, attacks, and smearing.”

National Health Commission director Ma Xiaowei said reports the government delayed sharing the virus genome sequence “seriously go against the facts.”

Joyful Dance

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region there was progress, with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern telling reporters she danced around her living room on hearing her country had reached the milestone of zero active infections.

The South Pacific nation lifted all domestic restrictions on Monday after it went 17 days with no new infections. This allowed New Zealand Rugby to announce a restart to a top-flight domestic competition this week, with fans allowed to pack into the stadiums.

“We’re incredibly proud, and grateful, to be the first professional sports competition in the world to be in a position to have our teams play in front of their fans again,” NZR chief Mark Robinson said.

Thailand also hit a positive milestone after two weeks with no local infections. The only recorded cases came from overseas arrivals who were quarantined. The kingdom was the first country outside China to officially report a COVID-19 case in January but it has largely escaped the high tolls seen elsewhere in the region, with just 58 deaths.

Fears that large parts of Asia could still have the worst in front of them persist, however, with the death toll and infection rate climbing sharply in India.

Still, after a 10-week lockdown, the government is risking lifting some curbs to ease the devastating impacts on the economy, and malls and temples re-opened in several Indian cities on Monday.

In Europe, countries are slowly working towards a post-pandemic normal and trying to revive tourism sectors in time for the summer peak season.

Britain said it would reopen places of worship for individual prayer on June 15, but also on Monday began imposing a two-week quarantine period for most arrivals into the country — a move that prompted legal action by airlines.

British Airways and the low-cost carriers EasyJet and Ryanair said in a joint statement the measure would devastate tourism and destroy even more jobs.

The European Union has said it could re-open borders to travelers from outside the bloc in early July.

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

COVID-19 vaccine
Middle East

Syria Health Workers to Receive Covid Vaccine From Next Week

by Staff Writer
February 25, 2021
US President Joe Biden (L) speaks as the nation's top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci looks on.
National

US Passes 500,000 Covid Deaths: Johns Hopkins Tracker

by Staff Writer
February 22, 2021
Students with face masks go upstairs to their classrooms at the Petri primary school in Dortmund, western Germany, on August 12, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Opinion

As America Accelerates Vaccine Distribution, Curiosity Turns to Kids

by Lori Lennon
February 15, 2021
A tray of trial COVID-19 vaccines
Featured

There Is No Vaccine for Selfishness

by Edward C. Halperin
January 29, 2021
European Council President Charles Michel
World

EU Could Ban Vaccine Exports Under New Checks

by Staff Writer
January 28, 2021
President Joe Biden.
National

Enough Covid Vaccine for 300 Mn Americans by End of Summer/Early Fall: Biden

by Staff Writer
January 26, 2021
Next Post
Protesters waive the Georgian and American flags during a protest in Tbilisi, on June 24, 2019.

In Defense of Georgia: Why Being Neutral Is Not an Option

Black Lives Matter protests have engulfed the United States after George Floyd's death.

US Anti-Racism Protests: Why This Time Is Different

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

Hatice Cengiz delivers a speech addressing the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Capitol Hill, May 16, 2019.

Khashoggi Fiancée Demands Punishment for Saudi Prince

March 1, 2021
People lay flowers in central Moscow at the site where late opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was fatally shot, February 27, 2021.

Russians Mark Sixth Anniversary of Kremlin Critic’s Murder

February 27, 2021
What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

March 1, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Ethiopian refugees who fled the conflict in Tigray gather to receive aid at the Tenedba camp.

Eritrean Troops Killed ‘Hundreds’ in Ethiopia Massacre: Amnesty

February 26, 2021
COVID-19 vaccine

Syria Health Workers to Receive Covid Vaccine From Next Week

February 25, 2021

Opinion

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

March 1, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Stolpersteine in Greifswald, Germany.

I Can’t Mark Where My Grandfather Is Buried, but I Want to Mark Where He Lived

February 26, 2021
Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley

Trump’s Acquittal and Republican Senators: Not Setting the Bar Low Enough

February 22, 2021
Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

February 19, 2021
Refugee child holding up a sign reading 'we are human like you'

US Asylum Laws Must Catch up With the Reality of Today’s Refugees

February 18, 2021
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post