US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — In many countries, the number of infected is growing again. A number of states are again introducing restrictive measures – but there are protests against this.
In the spring of 2020, most of humanity spent mostly in isolation from social life and the workplace. The quarantine that most governments introduced to combat coronavirus was a disaster for the economy, but often it successfully slowed the spread of the pandemic. Bars, clubs, theaters, concert halls and fitness clubs are closed and venues are shutting down because of this.
But a few weeks after the lifting of restrictive measures in many countries, the number of infections is growing again. Tourists import the virus in Greece; nightclubs become the foci of infection in Tokyo.
In such huge countries as India and the USA, the first wave did not even have time to die. And now new restrictions are being introduced. Israel was considered an example in the fight against coronavirus, where the number of victims was relatively small – 346.
But Israel was on the verge of a second wave. The growth in the number of infected people is one of the highest in the world, on Tuesday a new record was broken – 1320 cases. Experts criticize the government for the fact that in May, when mitigating measures against the coronavirus, it acted too quickly and without a strategy. So, the opening of schools and kindergartens was not gradual, but at the same time, and there was no mandatory wearing of masks.
By the beginning of this week, the Israeli government had canceled most of the easing. The penalty for the lack of a mask is 130 euros. An application is installed on each phone without fail and informing if there was contact with an infected person. But often they sound the alarm without reason. The chain of infection in this way cannot be broken.
If these measures are not enough, the government may introduce further restrictions that could lead to a new quarantine. This will plunge the country into the worst economic crisis in history. Every fifth has no job, and more and more people are slipping into poverty.
Serbia: Curfew Protests
But new restrictions are not always easy to introduce. Serbian President Alexander Vučić canceled a curfew scheduled for the weekend after thousands of people protested in Belgrade, which partly turned into riots.
In Serbia, strict quarantine since mid-March has reduced the number of infections. But when the state of emergency was lifted at the end of May, campaign events immediately began for the upcoming parliamentary elections on July 21, and football matches were again allowed with an admission of up to 20 thousand spectators.
The number of infections has increased significantly again. Affected was, first of all, Belgrade. Critics accuse Vučić of early easing of restrictions due to the election. The president justified his position by caring for the economy.
“I was thinking about a new quarantine in the whole country,” he said. “But if we did, we would not have a chance to economically survive it.”
Greece: Virus due to tourists
Greece coped well with the epidemic thanks to early contact restrictions. But now, many experts fear that foreign tourists are importing and spreading the virus.
If in June in Greece on many days less than ten new cases of coronavirus were recorded per day, from July 1 to July 8 there were 510. 365 of them were from foreign tourists.
First of all, these are Serbs. The Greek government quickly reacted and prohibited travelers from entering this country. From the middle of the week at the border crossing of Promachonas, all those entering enter the coronavirus test.
At the beginning, the tests were only selective. Deputy Minister of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias, who is responsible for coordinating the strategy to fight against coronavirus, has already warned: “We have not yet defeated the virus, nothing has passed!” Those who have a positive covid-19 test will be quarantined for 14 days. At the same time, the Greek state will bear the costs.
Japan and South Korea: the end of fun
Tokyo this week became a new hotbed, on Thursday there were 224 new cases. This is ten times more than at the time the emergency was canceled at the end of May.
But while the government does not plan to introduce restrictions. Shops are still open, as are restaurants and nightclubs. The latter become a curse for Tokyo. As happened earlier in the capital of South Korea, Seoul, the first major outbreaks in Tokyo were connected with the entertainment areas of the city, which after weeks of restrictions were filled again.
72 percent of 224 infected are young night-life Japanese people who rarely have severe symptoms. At the same time, the new governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, associates the increase in the number of infected with the expansion of testing capacities, which is especially focused on the centers of nightlife.
India: numbers are growing inexorably
In India, despite the ban on going out for residents for several months, it was not possible to control the spread of the pandemic. On Thursday, the country announced a new “record” for newly discovered cases of infection: almost 25 thousand. At the beginning of the week, India overtook Russia in the number of cases of infection and came out on the third place in the world.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently accused his fellow citizens of “frivolous behavior”, which led to an increase in the rate of spread of infection. The opposition, in turn, accuses the government of inaction in the context of the fight against the pandemic.
Health authorities now want to speed up clinical trials so that already in August, the first patients can get vaccinations from coronavirus. Indian scientists, however, criticize these intentions and have already warned of the unpredictable health risks of the country’s citizens in case of rapid use of the vaccine.
The situation in India has further aggravated in connection with the decision of the United Arab Emirates to expel more than 18 thousand Indian guest workers from their territory.
In most countries of the Persian Gulf, due to cramped living and working conditions, millions of foreign migrant workers account for extremely many cases of coronavirus infection. Similarly, the number of infected continues to grow in Brazil. Even President Bolsonaro has become infected.
USA: the most powerful blow
The United States has been hit hardest by the pandemic in the world: more than three million Americans have identified coronavirus. And unlike the outbreak of the pandemic, the main “foci” are now found not only in millionaire cities like New York, but also in Texas, Florida or Arizona.
Some states had to again restrict public life after the already announced concessions. Continuing increases in coronavirus infections threaten the consumer climate and economy – at least for individual industries. While airlines, in particular, American Airlines, are massively cutting staff, high-tech companies (Amazon, Microsoft, Apple) are among the winners of the crisis.
Goldman Sachs Investment Bank lowered its growth forecast for 2020 and expects US GDP to decline by 4.6%. However, it is expected that already in September (in the worst case, at the beginning in early 2021), economic growth will resume.
However, under threat is the re-election of the president so coveted for Donald Trump. His popularity ratings are at the bottom, and the resumption of economic growth may be too late for him.
Unemployment has now nearly tripled since the start of the pandemic. And after Trump‘s first appearance in the campaign in Tulsa, there was a surge in incidence.
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