ZCZC
BFF-40
HEALTH-VIRUS-WORLD
Coronavirus: latest global developments
PARIS, Sept 8, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the
coronavirus crisis:
– China hails virus success –
President Xi Jinping says China has passed “an extraordinary and historic
test” and is “leading the world in economic recovery and in the fight against
Covid-19.”
In China, where the virus first broke out late last year, it has been all
but banished through a combination of lockdowns and travel restrictions
earlier in the year. However, the United States of President Donald Trump has
criticised Beijing for its initial response to the epidemic.
– World sports disrupted –
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme tests positive for Covid-19
and will have to go into quarantine, but all the race riders are negative.
French footballer Kylian Mbappe is also positive and out of France’s Nations
League game against Croatia on Tuesday.
World Tennis women’s number one Ashleigh Barty of Australia also announces
she will not defend her French Open crown, citing coronavirus fears.
– More than 893,000 dead –
The pandemic has killed at least 893,524 people worldwide since surfacing
in China late last year, according to an AFP count at 1100 GMT on Tuesday
based on official sources.
More than 27.3 million cases have been confirmed.
The United States has the most deaths with 189,221, followed by Brazil
with 126,960, India with 72,775, Mexico 67,781 and Britain 41,554.
– South African economy shrinks by half –
Gross domestic product in South Africa shrank by 51 percent in the second
quarter compared with a year earlier, battered by the impact of the
coronavirus lockdown, the country’s statistics agency says.
– French economy to bounce back –
France’s economy, pushed into a bruising recession by the coronavirus
crisis, is poised to bounce back now that lockdown measures are lifted but
will still contract over the year as a whole, according to official data.
– Taj Mahal to reopen –
India’s top tourist attraction the Taj Mahal is set to reopen on September
21, more than six months after closing down, say officials in the nation of
1.3 billion people which has the world’s second biggest number of cases.
“All Covid-19 protocols, like physical distancing, masks, will be
followed,” Uttar Pradesh state’s Tourism Department deputy director Amit
Srivastava tells AFP.
– UN staff stricken in Syria –
More than 40 members of UN staff and their families have caught the
coronavirus in Syria, a UN official tells AFP, warning the illness is
spreading in the war-torn country.
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, says three people had to be medically evacuated, but
most of the others had only “mild” symptoms.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1857 hrs