Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Saturday, Feb 21, 2026

Pandemia no cede en Estados Unidos, Chile e India y Europa da pasos hacia la normalidad

Pandemic continues in the United States, Chile and India; Europe takes steps towards normality

The coronavirus has already caused more than 534,000 deaths worldwide and advanced worryingly in the last few hours in countries like Chile, the United States or India, as Europe struggles to regain minimal normality.

According to AFP official figures, more than 11 million people have been infected by coronavirus in the world, although the real numbers will undoubtedly be much higher.

With more than 2.9 million cases and some 128,000 deaths, Latin America is the eye of the epidemic's hurricane.

In Chile, deaths from coronaviruses exceeded 10,000 on Sunday, taking into account "probable" deaths, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the last 24 hours, 3,548 infections were registered and 288,089 infected have already been counted.

However, the authorities began to report the first 'optimistic' figures after four months, with a decrease in infections by 21% in the last two weeks.

CARDBOARD BEDS

On Monday, India became the country with third most infections, behind the United States and Brazil, registering 24,000 new cases in 24 hours and totaling 697,358 infections and nearly 20,000 deaths.

Hospitals are overcrowded and in New Delhi, for example, a gigantic 10,000-bed isolation center was opened, many of them made of cardboard.

The situation is also critical in the United States, where 40,000 contagions were recorded daily over the weekend, but President Donald Trump said the health crisis is 'about to end'.

His remarks sparked criticism from local authorities, such as Texas Democrat Mayor of Austin Steve Adler, who called Trump's tone dangerous for the residents of his city, whose resuscitation services may collapse in 10 days.

So far, covid-19 has infected more than 2.8 million people and claimed nearly 130,000 lives in the United States, which holds the sad record for deaths, ahead of Brazil (64,867), the United Kingdom (44,220) and Italy (34,861).

In the Dominican Republic, the opposition Luis Abinader proclaimed himself the winner of the presidential elections held on Sunday, marked by an explosion of coronavirus cases in the country.

Peru, where 300,000 cases were already exceeded over the weekend, is already the second country in Latin America with the most infections, behind Brazil, and the fifth in the world.

EUROPE

In Europe, the lack of confinement coexists with fear and worrying of contagion that force to decree partial reconfinements.

Germany, one of the countries in Europe least affected by the pandemic and one of the first to lift the containment measures, continues to operate at medium level.

"The situation is dramatic," summarize those responsible for the hotel sector.

Angela Merkel's government expects a return to growth after the summer break and at the latest from October, according to government officials.

In Kosovo, the government on Monday decided to reintroduce a curfew in the capital, Pristina, and in three other cities in the face of a flare-up of covid-19 cases.

In Paris, after three and a half months closed, the Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, reopened on Monday but with hardly any tourists and with a limited number of visitors.

This is our fifth or sixth visit to the Louvre. But we have never been able to see "La Gioconda" (due to the massive number of visitors), this time we hope so, said Parisian Helene Ngarnim.

UNEMPLOYMENT

In addition to irreparable human damage, the pandemic is causing an economic disaster, for example on the labor market in Latin America.

The unemployment data in the second quarter speak for themselves: 7.8 million jobs were lost in Brazil and 12.7 million people are unemployed; Chile has its highest unemployment rate in 10 years; Colombia has the highest monthly urban unemployment rates since 2001.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 41 million people are unemployed in Latin America and the Caribbean, compared to 25 million unemployed in January.

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