Global cases of the novel coronavirus reached over 8 million on Monday, as infections surge in Latin America, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
About 25 per cent of those cases, or 2 million infections, are in the United States, though the fastest growing outbreak is in Latin America which now accounts for 21 per cent of all cases.
Brazil’s Covid-19 cases and deaths have surged to make it the No 2 hotspot in the world, behind only the United States.
Although Brazil’s official death toll from the pandemic has risen to nearly 44,000, the true impact is likely far greater than the data show, health experts said, citing a lack of widespread testing in Latin America’s largest country.
In the United States, which has over 116,000 deaths, testing is still ramping up months after the start of the outbreak. After cases declined in much of the United States for weeks, many areas are now reporting record new cases and hospitalisations.
Fears of a second wave in hard-hit states – or a failure to get a grip on the first wave in some others – have led health experts to plead with the public to wear masks, avoid large gatherings and maintain social distance.
European countries reopened their borders on Monday after a three-month coronavirus shutdown, although international visitors are still being kept away and there was uncertainty over whether many Europeans will quickly embrace travel outside their home countries.
But the need for constant vigilance came into sharp focus as China, where Covid-19 first emerged late last year, rushed to contain an outbreak in the capital of Beijing
The head of the World Health Organisation said more than 100,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported globally each day in the last two weeks, and countries that have curbed transmissions “must stay alert to the possibility of resurgence”.
Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that it took over two months to reach 100,000 reported cases, now a daily norm. Each day, nearly three-fourths of the new cases come from 10 countries – mostly in South Asia and the Americas, he said.
Germany and France dropped border checks nearly two weeks after Italy opened its frontiers. Greece welcomed visitors on Monday with passengers on flights from other European countries not having to undergo compulsory coronavirus tests.
The European Union’s 27 nations and other European states are not expected to start reopening to visitors from outside the continent until at least the beginning of July and possibly later.
Spain allowed thousands of Germans to fly to its Balearic Islands without a 14-day quarantine in a pilot programme designed to help authorities gauge what is needed against possible virus flare-ups.
Slovenia lifted travel restrictions with Italy, and the mayors of two towns on opposite sides of the border jointly removed a traffic sign that barred movement from one to the other. The towns of Nova Gorica in Slovenia and Gorizia in Italy are closely linked culturally and economically.
In Beijing, where an outbreak was traced to a market that supplies much of the city’s meat and vegetables, thousands lined up for tests, following what looks to be the largest outbreak since China largely stopped its spread at home more than two months ago.
Tests were administered to workers at the Xinfadi market, anyone who had visited it in the past two weeks, or anyone who had come in contact with either group. The market is Beijing’s largest wholesale food market, prompting inspections of fresh meat and seafood in the city and elsewhere in China.
Authorities also locked down the neighbourhood around a second market, where three cases were confirmed. In all, 90,000 people are affected in the two neighbourhoods in the city of 20 million.
原文出處 南華早報