MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th June, 2020) Some countries are lifting coronavirus-linked restrictions and opening borders while others are still grappling with high daily case count. But the entire world, recovering and struggling states alike, is living in the shadow of a possible second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the statistics collected by the Johns Hopkins University, 10,199,798 coronavirus cases have been registered so far across the world, with 502,947 deaths.
The United States has the largest cumulative case count in the world, with 2,545,250 cases so far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brazil has recorded 1,344,143 cases in total, as the Health Ministry's website shows. Russia has registered 641,156 cases so far, according to the official response team's statistics issued earlier on Monday.
Some countries have made progress on stemming the pandemic, but it is accelerating globally, Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday.
In his traditional briefing, the WHO chief warned against divisions � " the lack of national unity and lack of global solidarity and the divided world, which is actually helping the virus to spread" � adding that the worst was yet to come.
The WHO chief recalled that it was about six months ago that the UN health agency began receiving reports of pneumonia cases, which would later grow into a pandemic.
"The six-month anniversary coincides with reaching 10 million cases and 500,000 deaths. This is a moment for all of us to reflect on the progress we have made and the lessons we have learnt and to commit ourselves to doing everything we can to save lives," Tedros told a virtual briefing.
As for vaccines, Executive Director of WHO Health Emergencies Programme Michael Ryan said that 133 candidates were registered, many of them in clinical trials.
"But we also have to be cautious and careful. We desperately hope and we can see tremendous work towards a safe and effective vaccine, but there are no guarantees of such," the WHO official added.
Some countries are already lifting restrictions amid slowdown in new cases.
Nigeria is set to lift the coronavirus-related ban on travel between states while keeping in place the curfew as part of gradual abatement of restrictions, Boss Mustapha, the chairman of the Nigerian presidential COVID-19 taskforce, said on Monday.
Greece is set to reopen border crossings with Balkan countries and Turkey on July 1,� the Kathimerini newspaper reported citing the government's spokesman. The country will also open all airports to international flights.
But getting back to business as usual may require more than getting rid of the strict rules.
The Netherlands has lost 1.7 percent of its GDP compared to the same period last year. This marked the largest Q1 downturn for the country since 2009, when the GDP fell 3.6 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, Dutch Consul general in St. Petersburg Lionel Veer told Delovoi Peterburg outlet.
Europe is facing unprecedented challenges, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday.
"The situations we had earlier were relatively predictable and easy compared to the challenges we are facing today. There is the pandemic itself, on one hand, and on the other hand, the related economy challenges, the likes of which we haven't seen in decades or, possibly, ever," Merkel said at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.
While some countries are working to rebuild the economy, others are still at the height of the pandemic. Bolivian Health Minister Eydi Roca said on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak in the country had reached the stage of rapid growth.� Health authorities in Bolivia have so far confirmed 31,524 coronavirus cases, including 1,014 fatalities.
