Coronavirus: 150,000 new cases worldwide in one day, a record since the start of the pandemic

Sylvie Claire / June 19,2020

With the deconfinement, the world has entered a "dangerous phase", warns the WHO. Almost half of the new cases are on the American continent.

The world has entered a "dangerous phase" as many countries gradually lift their containment or restriction of mobility measures, warned the World Health Organization (WHO), Friday, June 19.

Some 150,000 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 contamination were identified on Thursday, a record since the start of the pandemic, said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "Almost half of the cases [come from] the Americas," he said during a press conference call.

“The world has entered a new and dangerous phase. Many people are obviously tired of staying at home. Countries are eager to reopen their society and their economy, ”he said. "But the virus continues to spread quickly, it remains fatal and most people remain exposed," he said.

Europeans will draw up in the middle of next week a first list of some fifty countries outside the European Union with which the borders will be reopened, according to Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, secretary of state for foreign affairs.

“The world has entered a new and dangerous phase. Many people are obviously tired of staying at home. Countries are eager to reopen their society and their economy, ”he said. "But the virus continues to spread quickly, it remains fatal and most people remain exposed," he said.

Europeans will draw up in the middle of next week a first list of some fifty countries outside the European Union with which the borders will be reopened, according to Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, secretary of state for foreign affairs.

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Latin America, the region with the highest mortality
The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed more than 450,000 lives worldwide since China officially reported the onset of the disease in December, according to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP) from official sources at 1 p.m. Friday. The United States is the most affected country, with 118,435 deaths, followed by Brazil (47,748), the United Kingdom (42,288), Italy (34,514) and France (29,603).

Latin America and the Caribbean are now the region where the disease kills the most on a daily basis. The pandemic is currently progressing the fastest in Brazil: the most populous country in Latin America records 1,032,913 infections after a record 54,771 new cases in one day. The balance sheet will cross in the coming days the cap of 50,000 dead, after 48,954 deaths on Friday following the inclusion of 1,206 additional deaths in 24 hours.

In Mexico - which has 20,394 deaths in more than 170,000 cases reported -, the authorities of the capital Mexico City delayed the resumption of economic activities initially scheduled for Monday by a week, in an attempt to reduce the number of infections and bring down hospitalizations. The measure concerns markets, restaurants, shopping centers, hotels and places of worship. Auto factories, mines, construction and beer production, which resumed on June 1, are not affected.

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"Red flags" in Italy
Health officials in Italy on Friday called for "caution" after observing "warning signals regarding the transmission" of the Covid-19. "In some parts of the country, the circulation of the virus is still important," said in its weekly report, for the week of June 8 to 14, the Higher Institute of Health (ISS).

Lazio, the region of Rome, is thus at the top of the ranking of contagions and has surpassed that of Lombardy (North), epicenter of the epidemic in the country, which officially killed more than 34,500 people. However, "overall, the general picture of the transmission and impact of the infection (...) in Italy remains uncritical".

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In France, the decline continues in intensive care
In France, three territories are subject to "particularly heightened vigilance since the virus is actively circulating there," announced the Directorate General of Health on Friday evening. These are Guyana, Mayotte and Normandy. "The epidemic is not over (...) and caution must remain in order," insists the DGS in its daily update. However, "no cluster has so far shown uncontrolled community transmission."

The country now has 29,617 dead (+14 compared to Thursday) since the start of the epidemic. The number of hospital patients, which fell to its lowest level since March 23, also rose to 9,970, 155 fewer than on Thursday. 727 patients were resuscitated compared to 752 the day before. We have to go back to March 17 to find a figure of this order.

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Reinforced screening campaign in Sarcelles
A reinforced screening campaign was set up on Friday in Sarcelles (Val-d'Oise), where a rate of contamination with coronavirus very above the average has been noted in recent days, said the regional health agency (ARS ) from Ile-de-France.

According to the ARS, which has been increasing free tests in the Paris region since the end of May, thirty cases of Covid-19 were identified during two screening operations carried out on June 11 and 17 in this commune in the Paris region. With these cases, "we have a positivity rate slightly above 3%, while on operations carried out elsewhere in Ile-de-France, we are on average at 0.5%," said the director general of the 'ARS, Aurélien Rousseau, during a press conference.