California in turn placed in containment, Spain closes its hotels

On a street in Los Angeles, California on March 19. APU GOMES / AFP

Over half a billion people around the world are called upon by their authorities to remain confined to their homes. Every day, new measures are taken to try to stop the spread of Covid-19, which has already infected more than 240,000 people on the planet and has killed at least 9,827 since its appearance in December, according to a report. established, Thursday, March 19 in the evening, by Agence France-presse (AFP) from official sources.

To the United StatesCalifornia governor Gavin Newsom himself asked the 40 million residents to stay home on Thursday evening. This is a spectacular announcement, on the scale of a state as large as a country.

In front of a cinema in Los Angeles, March 18.
In front of a cinema in Los Angeles, March 18. CHRIS PIZZELLO / AP

"It is time for all of us, as individuals and as a community, to recognize that we must do more" to stop the spread of Covid-19, he said at a press conference. "Interdependence" Californians "Requires that we order people to stay at home at the state level. This directive takes effect tonight ", insisted Mr. Newsom.

According to the governor, this directive – one of the strictest measures announced in the United States since the beginning of the health crisis – should allow to lie some forecasts, according to which more than 25 million Californians (56% of the population the state) could contract the new coronavirus within eight weeks.

Earlier, the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, announced the confinement of all the inhabitants of the city and its region, ordering them to stay at home and to refrain from any displacement. "Not essential". The only exceptions relate to the provisioning of food or medicines, medical necessities, care of the children or elderly or handicapped, short walks while remaining at a good distance from others, details the city hall of Los Angeles.

The governor's directive ordering containment has no end date because "The situation is changing", he noted. Adopting a less firm tone than the mayor of Los Angeles, Mr. Newsom indicated that he did not think that the police would have to intervene to enforce his containment measures.

In central San Francisco, California, March 17.
In central San Francisco, California, March 17. JOSH EDELSON / AFP

For several days already, many establishments had had to close their doors in California and the schools were closed – notably in Los Angeles. Monday, the city of San Francisco, in the north of the state, had asked its people to stay at home, except for basic needs, supermarkets, grocery stores, pharmacies, banks and gas stations remaining open. Bars, gym studios and other non-essential shops, however, had to close.

In the east of the country, New Jersey’s neighbor, New York’s, was the first to announce a curfew on Monday.

The United States, which has passed the 10,000 mark nationwide, has urged the Americans to stop traveling abroad. US President Donald Trump has canceled the G7 summit scheduled for June at Camp David. It will take place by videoconference.

Italy became Thursday, ahead of China, the most bereaved country in the world by the Covid-19. One week after the start of the general containment of its population, l'Italy has 3,405 deaths, and the peak of the pandemic does not seem to have been reached. In the past 48 hours, the peninsula has registered more than the daily death toll at the height of the disease in the city of Wuhan, the cradle of the epidemic in China. Thursday's figures showed an additional 427 deaths in the past twenty-four hours.

The China, where 3,245 people died, said on Thursday no new local contamination, a first since the epidemic began in December in the country. But 34 cases "Imported" were counted.

Europe, which surpassed 100,000 registered cases on Thursday, is the continent most affected. Spain, the second most affected European country, deplored 1,002 deaths on Friday and the number of cases detected was around 20,000, according to official statistics. "The hardest days are coming (…). We will continue to see an increase in cases ”, warned the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa.

The country, the second largest tourist destination in the world, has ordered the closure of all hotels in the territory from Thursday and for seven working days, in order to stem the spread of the epidemic. Only long-term accommodation establishments will remain open, provided that they have the infrastructure necessary for their occupants to comply with the almost total confinement currently imposed in the country.

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  • No part of the world spared

No part of the world is spared: the coronavirus killed its first person in sub-Saharan Africa in Burkina Faso, in Russia, at Peru and from the first cases to Fiji, at Niger and in Haiti.

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TheIran, the third most affected country in terms of death, with 1,433 victims on Friday, is considering tougher measures to limit contamination. In the meantime, nearly 10,000 detainees will be pardoned, in order to reduce pressure in the prisons.

According to Unesco, the schools of almost half of the pupils and students in the world are closed. Schoolchildren of UK will join them on Friday.

The Brazil closed all land borders except for Uruguay on Thursday for a fortnight, and banned nationals from Europe, Australia and several Asian countries from entering its territory. The city of Rio de Janeiro will close its famous beaches and restaurants.

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TheArgentina, which has 128 cases of coronavirus and three deaths, decreed containment on Thursday "Preventive and compulsory" of the population from Friday until March 31. Argentina is the second country in Latin America, after the Venezuela, to decide on such drastic measures, similar to those taken in China and in several European countries, including Italy, Spain and France.

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A woman is blacklisted in Uruguay to be responsible for more than half of the cases of Covid-19 in his country. The Uruguayan, who had just arrived from Spain, went to a wedding on March 7, which brought together 500 people, unknowingly carrying the coronavirus that she probably caught in Europe. On March 13, Uruguay announced its first case of Covid-19. Almost a week later, that number rises to 79. At least 44 of the confirmed cases are believed to be linked to the marriage, which the 57-year-old fashion designer attended.

"People think I went to a wedding to spread the virus, and it is not. They say that I am a terrorist who brought the virus to kill everyone! ", she defended herself when she is the target of many critics in this country of 3.5 million inhabitants

  • UN concerns

"Millions" lives are at stake if the world is not united, especially vis-à-vis the least wealthy countries, warned Thursday the secretary general of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres.

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The concern is for the poorest countries, where containment will not be possible, such as in the huge Asian slums. In addition, 3 billion people do not even have the most basic weapons against the virus – running water and soap – are alarmed by UN experts.

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The World with AFP

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