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HEALTH-VIRUS NEWSERIES
Record number of new virus cases as public loses faith in govts
PARIS, July 25, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The world has set a new record for
the highest daily increase in coronavirus infections, as a survey
released Saturday showed governments are fast losing support for their
handling of the pandemic.
There were more than 280,000 new cases recorded globally on both
Thursday and Friday, the highest daily rises since the virus emerged
in China late last year.
Friday’s tally of 282,042 was marginally down on Thursday’s
single-day record 284,661, according to an AFP count based on official
sources, but still marks an alarming uptick in the spread of the
virus.
Nearly a third of the world’s 15.8 million infections have been
registered since July 1, while the total death toll nears 640,000.
The World Health Organization said that more than a million cases
had been recorded in each of the last five weeks, “with over 280,000
being reported on July 24 alone”.
“While no country is unaffected, this rise is driven by high
transmission in large and populous countries in the Americas and South
Asia,” it said in a statement on Saturday.
It added that Brazil and India had recently reported their highest
daily increases, while the figures remained worryingly high in the
United States and South Africa.
The US, still the hardest-hit nation, on Friday reported its second
straight day of more than 70,000 new cases and over 1,000 deaths as
the virus takes hold in the south and west.
– Bolsonaro tests negative –
Governments worldwide have struggled to contain the virus despite
long and economically-crippling lockdowns imposed on millions of
people, and a new survey showed that faith in authorities is dwindling
in six rich nations.
Populations in France, Germany, Britain, Japan, Sweden and the US
widely believed death and infection figures to be higher than
recorded, according to the study, which polled 1,000 people in each
nation.
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“In most countries this month, support for national governments is
falling,” the report by the Kekst CNC communications consulting group
said.
One world leader widely criticised over his handling of the
pandemic is Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was diagnosed with
coronavirus on July 7.
Bolsonaro, who has downplayed what he calls “a little flu”,
announced on Saturday that he had finally tested negative.
Despite his diagnosis, Bolsonaro has appeared to continue flouting
virus precautions, being spotted riding his motorcycle and chatting
maskless with presidential palace groundskeepers on Thursday.
Brazil’s biggest city Sao Paulo on Saturday said it was
indefinitely postponing its 2021 carnival, while Rio de Janeiro was
considering a similar move.
New outbreaks continue to wreak havoc elsewhere around the world,
with fresh clusters emerging across Asia.
South Korea on Saturday reported its highest infections figure in
nearly four months, and in Vietnam the first locally-transmitted case
in nearly 100 days was detected.
Authorities in China said they would introduce a new wave of
measures and testing in the port city of Dalian, home to about six
million people, after fresh infections were detected there.
That did not prevent the Chinese Super League kicking off behind
closed doors on Saturday with the players of Guangzhou Evergrande and
Shanghai Shenhua holding a minute’s silence for the victims of the
pandemic.
– ‘The world is infested’ –
Europe remains the hardest-hit continent, accounting for a fifth of
the world’s case count.
Belgium said Saturday it could further tighten its restrictions
following the death of a three-year-old girl, the country’s youngest
victim of the virus.
There have been recent outbreaks in the Spanish regions of Aragon
and Catalonia where officials have reintroduced fresh curbs on daily
life.
However with experts fearing a spike in COVID-19 infections linked
to the European summer holiday season, many tourists are reticent to
cancel their plans.
Fanny Lievens said she and her family had no choice but to continue
on their holiday trip to Catalonia from the southern French city of
Montpellier.
“If we cancelled our holiday, which has been planned since
February, we would lose the rental money,” she said.
In France, where infections have been rising, Prime Minister Jean
Castex said on-the-spot testing would be rolled out for travellers
arriving from 16 high-risk nations.
Britain meanwhile has made it compulsory to wear a face covering in
shopping centres, banks, takeaway outlets, sandwich shops and
supermarkets.
The virus has overwhelmed health systems and devastated families
across Latin America, where nearly 180,000 people have died.
“The world is infested,” said Raquel Barrera, a 28-year-old in El
Salvador who has lost three brothers and both her parents to the
disease in less than two months.
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