Corona threatens Arab countries

Several countries, particularly the United States and some Latin American countries, are still experiencing a significant increase in the number of Coronavirus infections, at a time when the World Health Organization has warned of the disastrous consequences in Arab countries following of the epidemic. Despite the many experiences in vaccine manufacturing and positive results, the organization indicated that it does not plan to use them until next year.
The Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s Emergency Program, Mike Ryan, announced that researchers are making great progress in developing vaccines to prevent Covid-19 disease, with some of them entering final testing. . But he added that it was not possible to expect them to start using them before the start of 2021.
For his part, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, warned of the “serious consequences linked to the political and social conditions in Arab countries following the spread of the Coronavirus”, in a video message recorded during his release of a “political brief on the implications of the Corona virus on Arab countries “.

He said the current pandemic “revealed the fragility of Arab economies and societies and the difficulties in the region’s response to the virus.” He stressed that “while millions of people fall to the bottom of the economic ladder, a quarter of the entire Arab population will live in poverty in a region full of tensions and inequalities, which will have disastrous consequences for political and social stability”.
“Some communities are particularly affected, including women and migrants, who account for 40% of the workforce. 55 million people are already dependent on life-saving humanitarian aid and 26 million refugees and internally displaced people are involved in armed conflict in the region,” she said. Guterres.
In the same context, the United Nations Development Program stressed that some three billion people are among the poorest in the world, they must have access to temporary basic income to help slow the spread of Corona. A report released yesterday said that as the number of infections in developing countries increases, there is an “urgent need” for measures to protect the most vulnerable populations. He stressed that a $ 199 billion grant provides temporary basic income for 2.7 billion people and covers the costs of “access to food, health care and education.”
“Unprecedented times call for unprecedented social and economic measures,” said Achim Steiner, administrator of the United Nations Development Program.
In figures, the number of people infected with the corona in Latin America and the Caribbean has exceeded four million, more than half in Brazil, and the outbreak has claimed more than 80,000 lives to date.
South Africa also recorded 572 deaths due to infection with the virus, bringing the total number to 5,940 cases. South Africa leads the African countries for the number of injured.
Additionally, US President Donald Trump has held the protesters in the country responsible for the spread of Corona. He said there are several reasons for the high incidence of the Coronavirus in his country, including the recent protests against racism, adding that “cases began to escalate among young people immediately after the demonstrations.” He also stressed that “youth gatherings at events and in bars have contributed to the high number of injuries, and perhaps even on the beaches”.
Regarding the obligation to wear masks in the country, Trump said that “wearing masks is left to the governors of the states, but I recommend wearing them”. And the local government in Washington, DC, decided to enforce the use of masks, but it didn’t apply to federal buildings.

Interestingly, the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in California has reached around 409,000 people, bypassing New York, the worst affected by the outbreak, according to Johns Hopkins University. But in terms of death toll, New York still outnumbers California.
For the ninth consecutive day, the United States recorded more than 60,000 new injuries in the past 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins, bringing the number of injuries to over 3.9 million injuries, including 63,967 injuries recorded in the past 24 hours.
In the Arab world, the number of people healed exceeded 688,520, while the number of reported injuries exceeded 870,772 and more than 15,615 deaths. Globally, the number of people infected with the virus worldwide has exceeded 15,398,550 infected people, of whom more than 630,750 have died, while the number of people in recovery globally has reached 9,373,516 people, according to Johns Hopkins.