The coronavirus pandemic has caused 3,073,969 deaths worldwide according to official data collected by AFP. In the United States the victims are 571,109, followed by Brazil (386,416), Mexico (214,095), India (186,920) and the United Kingdom (127,345).
India, new record: 340 thousand new cases in 24 hours
The drama of India, grappling with the coronavirus epidemic, is still marked by new records as the government struggles to provide oxygen to hospitals overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of new cases: almost a million infections in three days. There have been 2,624 deaths in the last 24 hours, a new daily record, and over 346,786 new cases, bringing India’s total to 16.5 million, a figure second only to that of the United States. Many experts predict that the current wave will not peak for at least another three weeks and believe that the real number of deaths and cases is much higher.
Brazil, 2,914 deaths and 69,000 infections in 24 hours
Brazil has recorded 2,914 deaths from Covid-19 and 69,105 infections in the last 24 hours. This was announced by the National Council of Health Secretariats (Conass). The total toll rises to 386,416 victims compared to 14,237,078 cases confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic.
The US rises to almost 32 million infections and 571,000 deaths
The United States has reached 31,986,375 confirmed cases of Covid and 571,109 deaths. According to the calculation of the Johns Hopkins University, the balance is 962 more deaths than Thursday and 71,095 new infections. California is now the most affected state in the pandemic with 61,374 deaths, followed by New York (51,850), Texas (49,877), Florida (34,759), Pennsylvania (25,927), New Jersey (25,328) and Illinois (24,083). Other states with large numbers of deaths are Georgia (19,917), Ohio (19,122), Michigan (18,283), Massachusetts (17,528) and Arizona (17,238).
Usa, Mit studio: distance in closed places matters little
The safety distance and the use of the mask may not be enough if you are subjected to a long exposure in an indoor room. This is the conclusion reached by two researchers from MIT, who conducted a study in which they analyzed the probabilities of contagion based on a series of parameters: size of space, number of people and length of stay. According to Martin Bazant, a professor of chemical engineering, and John Bush, a professor of applied mathematics, the drops of a positive person remain in the air for hours, even in the presence of an air conditioner. This, they explain, does not mean that the contagion is certain, but research has shown, for example, that 86 per cent of elderly people, gathered at an indoor event, tested positive after spending two hours together, while observing social distancing.
Latin America, small businesses hardest hit by the crisis
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), but especially those with fewer staff, have suffered most of all from the crisis caused by covid-19. For this reason, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) urges governments to invest in the sector. “Businesses – reads a report by UNDP regional director Luis Felipe Lopez-Calva – have been negatively affected by the pandemic, and in all countries. However, SMEs – and in particular small businesses – have experienced greater declines in sales, and they recorded a higher number of closures than the big ones “. The report stresses that “often, larger companies may have a greater ability to overcome a crisis such as that of covid-19, perhaps thanks to the possibility of accumulating more liquidity. In addition, they can obtain easy access to finance or invest in infrastructure teleworking, providing home delivery services, diversifying their business across multiple locations “.
Mexico fourth worst in pandemic management
Mexico is one of the four countries in the world that faced the Covid emergency in the worst way. According to a report by the Colegio de Mexico (Comex), the health emergency has hit the poorest and most marginalized municipalities hard. And, according to Jaime Sepulveda, director of the Institute for Global Health Sciences of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and co-author of the study “Mexicòs Response to Covid-19, the country has had too many shortcomings in the management of the pandemic and among these there is a lack of prevention. According to the expert, “precious opportunities have been missed” to prepare for the arrival of the coronavirus. Furthermore, the country would not have recognized the mistakes made and corrected the policies. Still, for the researcher, it is evident that the Mexican authorities have downplayed the use of diagnostic tests, ridiculed and downplayed the use of masks “which has had devastating effects”.
Algeria, former minister Abderrahman Benjalfa died of Covid
Former Algerian finance minister and African Union (AU) special envoy, Abderrahman Benjalfa, 72, died in Algiers military hospital of Covid-19 infection. This was reported by state television. A doctor of management sciences and a graduate of the University of Grenoble (France), Benjalfa headed the ministry of finance from May 2015 to June 2016 with Abdelmalek Sellal, now in prison for corruption, and was president of the ABEF for years. In April last year, the new president, Abdelmadjid Tebboun, appointed him as special envoy of the African Union (AU) in the fight against the pandemic. Benjalfa has joined the team tasked with mobilizing international economic and financial support to help Africa in covid prevention and treatment. From the president of the Algerian republic, condolences came to the family.
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