On the Global Pandemic for Week Ending May 30Number of Cases WorldwideAs of May 30, the worldwide statistics for COVID-19 pandemic as reported by Worldometer were: - Total reported cases: 6,052,261. This is 731,427 more than the total reported on May 23 of 5,320,834. This compares to the increase in cases in the previous week of 676,364. - Total active cases: 3,009,678. This is 198,384 more than the number reported on May 23 of 2,811,294. The increase in total active cases compared to the previous week was 243,311. - Closed cases: 3,042,583. This is 529,552 more than the number reported on May 23 of 2,513,031. This compares to an increase in the previous week of 433,053. - Deaths: 367,287. This is 27,026 more deaths than on May 23, when the toll was 340,261. This compares to an increase in the previous week of 31,276. - Recovered: 2,675,296. This is up 502,589 from the May 23 figure of 2,172,707 and compares to an increase the previous week of 401,714 recoveries. These figures indicate that the higher number of closed cases worldwide this week is due to an increased number of recoveries, rather than an increased number of deaths. There were 125,511 new cases on May 29, the highest one day increase ever, as part of an overall trend of an increasing rate of daily new cases. This surpasses the previous high mark set on May 28 of 116,304 new daily case. The disease was present in 213 countries and territories, the same as the week prior. Of these, 45 countries had less than 100 cases, as compared to May 23 when there were 48 countries with less than 100 cases. There are 21 countries/territories without active cases this week, down from 22 the previous week. They are Montenegro (324 cases; 315 recovered; 9 deaths); Faeroe Islands (187 cases, all recovered); Trinidad and Tobago (116 cases; 108 recovered; 8 deaths); Aruba (101 cases; 98 recovered; 3 deaths) French Polynesia (60 cases, all recovered); Macao (45 cases; all recovered); Eritrea (39 cases, all recovered); Timor-Leste (24 cases, all recovered); Belize (18 cases; 16 recovered; 2 deaths); Saint Lucia (18 cases, all recovered); Dominica (16 cases; all recovered); Saint Kitts and Nevis (15 cases, all recovered); the Malvinas (13 cases, all recovered); Montserrat (11 cases, 10 recovered; 1 death); Seychelles (11 cases, all recovered); British Virgin Islands (8 cases; 7 recovered; 1 death); Papua New Guinea (8 cases; all recovered); Caribbean Netherlands (6 cases; all recovered); St. Barth (6 cases, all recovered); Western Sahara (6 cases, all recovered); Anguilla (3 cases, all recovered); Saint Pierre et Miquelon (1 case, recovered). The five countries with the highest number of cases on May 30 are noted below, accompanied by the number of cases and deaths per million population: USA: 1,793,530 (1,169,419
active; 519,569 recovered; 104,542 deaths) and 5,421 cases per million;
316 deaths per million Brazil: 468,338 (247,213
active; 193,181 recovered; 27,944 deaths) and 2,205 cases per million;
132 deaths per million Russia: 396,575 (224,551
active; 167,469 recovered; 4,555 deaths) and 2,718 cases per million;
31 deaths per million Spain: 285,644 (61,565 active;
196,958 recovered; 27,121 deaths) and 6,110 cases per million; 580
deaths per million UK: 271,222 (active and
recovered N/A; 38,161 deaths) and 3,997 cases per million; 562 deaths
per million On May 23-24, Brazil overtook Russia as the country with the second highest number of cases. Overall, the rate of daily new cases, daily deaths and total active cases in Brazil continue to increase. Over the past week, the number of new daily cases ranged from 13,051 to an all-time high of 29,526. In the U.S., the rate of daily new cases has fluctuated between 19,031 and 25,069. In Russia, daily new cases ranged 8,371 to 9,434 over the past week. When looking at the other countries with the highest daily new cases on May 29, they are in decreasing order: India, 8,105; Peru, 6,506; Chile: 3,695; Mexico: 3,377; Iran, 2,258; Pakistan, 1,260; and Bangladesh. Of these countries, Brazil, India, Peru, Chile, Mexico and Pakistan all have increasing rates of daily new cases and daily deaths. Daily new cases in the U.S. and Russia appear to have plateaued or decreasing slightly. In Iran, active cases peaked on April 5 with 32,612 cases, going as low as 12,799 cases on May 4. However, since that time, active new cases have risen to 23,234. In the same period, the rate of daily new cases went from 802 on May 2 to as high as 2,392 on May 21. Cases in Top Five Countries by RegionIn Europe on May 30, the three other European countries with the highest number of reported cases after Spain and the UK, listed above, are Italy, France and Germany: Italy: 232,248 (46,175 active;
152,844 recovered; 33,229 deaths) and 3,841 cases per million; 550
deaths per million France: 186,835 (90,318 active;
67,803 recovered; 28,714 deaths) and 2,863 ; 440 deaths per million Germany: 183,019 (9,525 active;
164,900 recovered; 8,594 deaths) and 2,185 cases per million; 103
deaths per million In Britain on May 26, the British Office of National Statistics (ONS) released a figure for the number of deaths "involving" COVID-19 deaths, a figure based on separate ONS studies tallying all fatalities in which COVID-19 is suspected or mentioned on the death certificate. This figure is substantially higher than the official death toll on May 26 of figure 37,460. Agence France Presse noted that "Countries have struggled to count their dead from the new disease. Spain took the unusual step [on May 25] of revising down its toll by nearly 2,000 to 26,834. This happened because Spanish officials switched to a new data gathering system that discovered that some deaths were being counted twice. [...] "Italy, which bore the initial brunt of the disease in Europe, discovered in early May that there were nearly 11,700 unaccounted deaths in hospitals, care homes and the community between February 20 and March 31 alone. If these deaths were added to the official death toll, Italy's number of COVID-19 fatalities would be similar to those reported by the ONS for Britain on Tuesday. "Britain is one of the last European countries to start emerging from its coronavirus lockdown. "Most stores are closed and the few restaurants and cafes that are open only provide take out and delivery service. "But Prime Minister Boris Johnson intends to reopen schools for younger children on June 1, after easing stay at home orders in May. "Non-essential retail will resume on June 15 if the virus remains contained, Johnson said." The Guardian reported on May 28 that "Several European countries a few weeks ahead of the UK on the road out of lockdown have experienced local spikes in coronavirus infections, but all have maintained an overall downward trend in new daily cases of the virus. "Most governments, though, continue to warn of the real threat of a second wave of COVID-19 cases and to insist on the importance of physical distancing if the spread of the virus is not to pick up again as restrictions ease further." In France, which began lifting lockdown measures on May 11, "Several dozen new coronavirus clusters, some with more than 50 cases, have been detected since. These have been linked to hospitals, abattoirs, hostels, schools and a funeral service. Officials are also seeking to test 400 people who attended an illegal football match in Strasbourg. "Epidemiologists have said that 1,000 new cases a day represents 'a safe zone' for France. In recent days, between 200 and 400 cases have been recorded, with the R -- or reproduction -- rate at 0.77 in most of the country." In Germany, multiple sizeable new outbreaks have occurred since lockdown measures began to be eased in late April, including at Amazon logistic centres and in several meatpacking plants around the country. "One slaughterhouse in North Rhine-Westphalia found 270 of its 1,200 workers were infected, while a similar outbreak at another, in Bavaria, boosted the infection rate past 50 per 100,000 residents, the level at which local restrictions must be reimposed," the Guardian writes. In Italy, "The country had a big jump in cases in its hardest-hit region, Lombardy, after it lifted its strictest lockdown measures on 4 May, its second phase of the emergency," the Guardian reports. "A week later new infections in the region had risen to 1,000 from a few hundred. Lombardy still accounts for most of the country's 300-600 new daily cases, down from 6,500 daily in March." In Sweden, the government's strategy of working toward "herd immunity" to avoid strict lockdown measures and an economic shutdown, that has not flattened the curve and resulted in an unnecessarily high number of deaths, has not been borne out. U.S. National Public Radio reported on May 25 that "Sweden's Public Health Agency last week released the initial findings of an ongoing antibodies study that showed that 7.3 per cent of people in Stockholm had developed antibodies against COVID-19 by late April. [Anders Tegnell, chief epidemiologist at Sweden's Public Health Agency] later described the study's figure as a 'bit lower than we'd thought,' adding that the findings represented a snapshot of the situation some weeks ago and he believed that by now 'a little more than 20 per cent' of Stockholm's population should have contracted the virus." Australian epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, in a March 30 article explains that "Herd immunity is an epidemiological concept that describes the state where a population [...] is sufficiently immune to a disease that the infection will not spread within that group. In other words, enough people can't get the disease -- either through vaccination or natural immunity -- that the people who are vulnerable are protected." He goes on to explain that based on its level of infectiousness, herd immunity to the novel coronavirus would require about 70 per cent of the population to have been infected and thus have COVID-19 anti-bodies."Which brings us to why herd immunity could never be considered a preventative measure," he states. "If 70 percent of your population is infected with a disease, it is by definition not prevention. How can it be? Most of the people in your country are sick! And the hopeful nonsense that you can reach that 70 per cent by just infecting young people is simply absurd. If only young people are immune, you'd have clusters of older people with no immunity at all, making it incredibly risky for anyone over a certain age to leave their house lest they get infected, forever. [...] "Until we have a vaccine, anyone talking about herd immunity as a preventative strategy for COVID-19 is simply wrong. Fortunately, there are other ways of preventing infections from spreading, which all boil down to avoiding people who are sick. "So stay home, stay safe, and practice physical distancing as much as possible." From March 29 to May 29, Sweden had 250 to 750 new daily cases, with a steadily rising number of cases. As of May 30, Sweden has 36,476 cases (27,155 active; 4,971 recovered; 4,350 deaths) with its number of deaths per million population four to eight times higher than other Scandinavian countries. Meanwhile, in countries like Taiwan and, especially, Vietnam, more populous countries that implemented lockdowns, social distancing and other measures with great haste, there have been far fewer cases and deaths (Vietnam with a population of over 97 million has just 328 cases no deaths), and economies are reopening. In Eurasia on May 30, Russia tops the list of five countries with the highest cases in the region, with the figures reported above, followed by: Turkey: 162,120 (31,668 active;
125,963 recovered; 4,489 deaths) and 1,924 cases per million; 53 deaths
per million Kazakhstan: 10,382 (5,288
active; 5,057 recovered; 37 deaths) and 554 cases per million; 2 deaths
per million Armenia: 8,927 (5,483 active;
3,317 recovered; 127 deaths) and 3,013 cases per million; 43 deaths per
million Azerbaijan: 4,989 (1,806
active; 3,125 recovered; 58 deaths) and 492 cases per million; 6 deaths
per million The Russian Health Ministry announced May 26 that at least 101 medical personnel have died from COVID-19 during the course of fighting the pandemic. A list compiled and maintained by medical personnel themselves has as many as 186 medical personnel who died in the line of duty. Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted at the end of April that "Despite increased production, imports [of personal protective equipment] -- there's a deficit of all sorts of things." Putin said that Russia is producing 100,000 protective suits for medics per day, up from 3,000 a day in March. Lockdown measures began to be lifted gradually in Russia on May 12, at the height of the pandemic when at least 10,000 daily new cases were being recorded. As of May 29, Russia was still recording some 8,500 new daily cases. Its number of active cases have plateaued in the past week, however this appears to be due to an increasing rate of daily deaths. In this region, besides the high number of cases in Russia, Turkey has steadily brought its number of active cases down from an all-time high of 80,575, while its number of daily deaths has also decreased from more than 100 per day in mid-April, to about 30. However, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan all have increasing rates of new daily cases and daily deaths. In West Asia on May 30: Iran: 148,950 (24,389 active;
116,827 recovered; 7,734 deaths) and 1,775 cases per million; 92 deaths
per million Saudi Arabia: 81,766 (24,295
active; 57,013 recovered; 458 deaths) and 2,352 cases per million; 13
deaths per million Qatar: 52,907 (32,267 active;
20,604 recovered; 36 deaths) and 18,393 cases per million; 13 deaths
per million UAE: 33,170 (15,813 active;
17,097 recovered; 260 deaths) and 3,357 cases per million; 26 deaths
per million Kuwait: 25,184 (15,717 active;
9,273 recovered; 194 deaths) and 5,905 cases per million; 45 deaths per
million In a May 26 interview with the Tehran Times, Dr. Christoph Hamelmann, the WHO's representative in Iran, gave a positive assessment of that country's response to the pandemic. Iran is benefiting from strengths in fighting against the coronavirus epidemic, including a strong primary health care system, a production surge within a reasonable time, and a multisectoral response, he said. In the early days of the outbreak, Iran was among the few countries with a self-sustaining plan in the fight the epidemic, after China and south Korea, Dr. Hamelmann said. "On February 19, the first two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Iran, but in a short period, Iran developed the right concept asking for China's experience and WHO's support through the country office and a special international WHO expert mission which visited the country in early March. "At that time, we were aware of only a few symptoms and ways to stop the transmission, for instance, we knew that diagnostic tests must be conducted at a large scale to detect infected people very early because hospital capacities were limited and there would have been medical equipment shortages, he explained. "So, one of the very important early achievements in Iran was the rapid establishment of a decentralized laboratory testing for COVID-19," he explained. Iran, to a certain degree, is a good experience to learn from by other countries due to the strong primary health care system, which focuses on promoting health care in rural areas, he added. The second strength of Iran was a surge in the production of essential commodities needed for the COVID-19 response, as well as all protective tools for health workers in clinics, while the global market is still dealing with shortages, Dr. Hamelmann highlighted. He went on to explain that thanks to the experience of dealing with the U.S.-led sanctions, Iran made a very early decision on production of the needed items, trying to be self-sufficient and resilient in the health sector, adding that the country has rapidly identified how to scale up existing products and produce new ones. Iran was one of the few countries in the world which developed test kits as soon as possible despite problems such as licensing and evaluation, he explained. Dr. Hamelmann said that the WHO has been working with Iran's Ministry of Health for the past two years to identify and quantify the impact of sanctions on the health sector. "Although it has been repeatedly said by all parties [applying sanctions] that there are no direct sanctions on health commodities, we are all aware in practice that there is an impact, particularly on banking transactions, to import essential items. Certain medicines were not available in sufficient volume and some laboratory equipment has been difficult to maintain," he explained. Some suppliers refused to continue business with Iran, which to a certain degree is over-compliance with the sanctions on their side, he said, so when the pandemic started, the health system in Iran was already stressed and affected treatment and diagnosis. However, this was mitigated during the coronavirus crisis through international collaboration and solidarity, and the strategy of further strengthening a resilient health system in Iran, he said. Regarding sanctions, the U.S. on May 27 announced that it is ending the remaining sanctions waivers in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), for countries carrying out cooperation with Iran in the field of nuclear energy. The Foreign Ministries of both China and Russia expressed opposition to the U.S. unilateral actions to undermine the JCPOA as an instrument of international security. In South Asia on May 30: India: 174,301 (86,589 active;
82,731 recovered; 4,981 deaths) and 126 cases per million; 4 deaths per
million Pakistan: 66,457 (40,931
active; 24,131 recovered; 1,395 deaths) and 301 cases per million; 6
deaths per million Bangladesh: 44,608 (34,623 ;
9,375 recovered; 610 deaths) and 271 cases per million; 4 deaths per
million Afghanistan: 14,525 (12,973
active; 1,303 recovered; 249 deaths) and 374 cases per million; 6
deaths per million Sri Lanka: 1,559 (768 active;
781 recovered; 10 deaths) and 73 cases per million; 0.5 deaths per
million In the Indian state of Gujarat, the solicitor general has deposed in the Gujarat High court that the government is not testing people because, if tested, more than 70 per cent of the population would test positive and that would cause panic. The Gujarat High Court has rendered 11 rulings against the government in the last two months related to the government's inaction. But the government has not corrected itself revealing the callous attitude of the ruling elite and their "Gujarat Model." Many high courts in India have come forward to help the migrant workers by issuing orders to governments to provide them with appropriate arrangements for travel, food and medicine. Most people however know that no action will be taken. A legal scholar pointed that in the 1970s, more than 2000 court judgements made about land reform have never been implemented. Things have only gotten worse since those times. Reports from India also point to the inaction by leaders of political parties, trade unions and farmers' unions when it comes to organizing the people to take control of the food grains which are hoarded. Millions of tons of food grains are rotting in warehouses. Even the Supreme Court passed an order more than a decade ago to give food that is rotting in the warehouses to the hungry. The Manmohan Singh government refused to do so. The Modi government is following the same path as are the leaders of other parties, trade unions and farmers' unions whether they call themselves " left and liberal" or followers of Modi. Instead of taking action on Supreme Court judgements, they have surrendered initiative to the ruling elite and reduced themselves to doing charity work. The truth about "Digital India" and "the largest democracy in the world" is stark indeed. In Southeast Asia on May 30: Singapore: 34,366 (14,712
active; 19,631 recovered; 23 deaths) and 5,878 cases per million; 4
deaths per million Indonesia: 25,773 (17,185
active; 7,015 recovered; 1,573 deaths) and 94 cases per million; 6
deaths per million Philippines: 16,634 (11,972
active; 3,720 recovered; 942 deaths) and 152 cases per million; 9
deaths per million Malaysia: 7,762 (1,317 active;
6,330 recovered; 115 deaths) and 240 cases per million; 4 deaths per
million Thailand: 3,077 (59 active;
2,961 recovered; 57 deaths) and 44 cases per million; 0.8 deaths per
million In East Asia on May 30: China: 82,999 (63 active;
78,302 recovered; 4,634 deaths) and 58 cases per million; 3 deaths per
million Japan: 16,719 (1,591 active;
14,254 recovered; 874 deaths ) and 132 cases per million; 7 deaths per
million South Korea: 11,441 (774
active; 10,398 recovered; 269 deaths) and 223 cases per million; 5
deaths per million Taiwan: 442 (14 active; 421
recovered; 7 deaths) and 19 cases per million; 0.3 deaths per million Xinhua reported on May 25 that "The central Chinese city of Wuhan conducted 6,574,093 nucleic acid tests to screen novel coronavirus infections between May 14 and 23, according to the local health authority. "According to the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, the city performed 1,146,156 tests on Saturday [May 23] alone, more than 15 times the figure on May 14, when Wuhan kicked off a citywide testing campaign. This is to better understand the number of asymptomatic cases or people who show no clear symptoms despite carrying the virus. "The largest single-day number was on May 22, when the city of about 10 million people performed 1,470,950 nucleic acid tests. "The decision to expand the tests to cover all those who have not been tested before was made as Wuhan continued to report asymptomatic infections. This raised public concerns as Wuhan reopens its factories, businesses and schools. "Prior to the campaign, the city had completed over 3 million nucleic acid tests." In North America on May 30: USA: 1,793,530 (1,169,419
active; 519,569 recovered; 104,542 deaths) and 5,421 cases per million;
316 deaths per million Canada: 89,418 (34,921 active;
47,518 recovered; 6,979 deaths) and 2,371 cases per million; 185 deaths
per million Mexico: 84,627 (15,602 active;
59,610 recovered; 9,415 deaths) and 657 cases per million; 73 deaths
per million The death toll in the United States has reached more than 100,000, the highest in the world. It is an indictment of the U.S. and its health system. In spite of spending close to 20 per cent of GDP on health, the expenditure to delivery ratio is the worst in the world. The "Medical Industrial Complex" siphons off trillions of dollars to benefit narrow private interests, delivering nothing in return. There is talk about the need to launch a criminal negligence investigation into what the Trump administration is up to. But the heart of the matter goes deeper -- it is all about the medical mafia comprised of insurance companies, pharmaceutical giants, corporate hospitals and "big doctors." There is no accountability; trillions of dollars are handed over to them by the state which this mafia controls. Even when it became known there was a pandemic, Trump cut off funding for the Centers for Disease Control and other health institutions on February 10. Two years prior to this, Trump had already disbanded the pandemic unit in the national security council. Many believe he should be tried for the murder of thousands of people. Some journalists have installed a "Trump Death Clock" in Times Square in New York City. It records 60,000 deaths due to negligence and inaction by the Trump administration. A Trump advisor referred to U.S. workers as "Stock Capital" ready to go back to work -- bringing to mind the experience of the people in the 18th century when people were enslaved and referred to as "capital." This reveals the mindset which guides the ruling elite in their policy towards the working class in the U.S. Besides speculation on how the next election will be conducted and reaction to Trump's antics from various quarters who seek to disassociate themselves from his outrageous behaviour and advice, the talk which dominates the media is that two things were known -- one that the pandemic would come and the U.S. was not prepared, and two that a recession is on its way and will arrive sooner rather than later and that the people will be made to pay dearly with disastrous results. The ruling elite took the path of negligence and inaction on the pandemic while using it to give the cartels and oligopolies trillions of dollars in state funds. Now economists, scholars, and intelligence officials are pointing out that as another recession looms, the third in the last 20 years, no questions will be permitted about the kind of economic system which exists in the U.S. The ruling elite is very conscious of its interests and what is at stake and will do anything in its power, which is considerable, to protect these interests. It is disastrous for the people who are deprived of power. In the latest attempt at diverting from its illegitimacy and the political crisis within the U.S., by scapegoating China and the WHO, the Trump administration on May 29 announced that the U.S. government is terminating its relationship with the WHO, following up on an arrogant letter sent to the WHO on May 18. "China has total control over the World Health Organization despite only paying $40 million per year, compared to what the United States has been paying, which is approximately $450 million a year," Trump said during a press conference at the White House Rose Garden. "Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization, and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving, urgent global public health needs," Trump said. He made no mention that China on May 18 pledged U.S.$2 billion to the WHO for the next two years. A report from CNBC points out that "It's unclear exactly what mechanism Trump intends to use to terminate WHO funding, much of which is appropriated by Congress. The president typically does not have the authority to unilaterally redirect congressional funding." Overall, the number of daily new cases in the U.S. is dropping, however, this is largely the result of decreases in the hard-hit states of New York and New Jersey, while many other states are actually experiencing increasing rates of daily new cases. In Central America and the Caribbean on May 30: Dominican Republic: 16,531
(6,777 active; 9,266 recovered; 488 deaths) and 1,525 cases per
million; 45 deaths per million Panama: 12,531 (4,665 active;
7,540 recovered; 326 deaths) and 2,908 cases per million; 76 deaths per
million Honduras: 4,886 (4,159 active;
528 recovered; 199 deaths) and 494 cases per million; 20 deaths per
million Guatemala: 4,607 (3,869 active;
648 recovered; 90 deaths) and 258 cases per million; 5 deaths per
million Cuba: 2,005 (163 active; 1,760
recovered; 82 deaths) and 177 cases per million; 7 deaths per million In Cuba, Dr. Francisco Durán, Director of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health, reported on May 27 that the country is making the necessary adjustments to enter the post-pandemic phase. "It's very important to maintain restrictive measures and social isolation. Cuba is expected to complete the cycle of the disease within approximately 15 days, during which we need to deliver the final blow to the pandemic," Duran alerted. The pertinent measures to be implemented during the next phase have yet to be announced, however the ministerial structures are currently organizing the post-emergency health stage, a process that will be carried out with full scientific rigour, he informed. Cuba is entering what is known as the "endemic phase," a period in which people must learn how to deal with the disease in their daily life, according to experts. Cuba continues with a positive trend in the ratio of medical discharges to the number of new admissions. In the last 21 days, except for May 25, the country has shown an upward curve in this regard, with more patients discharged from hospitals than new cases. In South America on May 30: Brazil: 468,338 (247,213
active; 193,181 recovered; 27,944 deaths) and 2,205 cases per million;
132 deaths per million Peru: 148,285 (81,264 active;
62,791 recovered; 4,230 deaths) and 4,503 cases per million; 128 deaths
per million Chile: 90,638 (51,096 active;
38,598 recovered; 944 deaths) and 4,745 cases per million; 49 deaths
per million Ecuador: 38,571 (16,047 active;
19,190 recovered; 3,334 deaths) and 2,189 cases per million; 189 deaths
per million Colombia: 26,688 (18,922
active; 6,913 recovered; 853 deaths) and 525 cases per million; 17
deaths per million In Brazil, 157 nurses have died in the course of fighting COVID-19. According to the International Council of Nurses (ICN), this is more than any other country, including the U.S., where at least 146 have died, and the UK where the number is at least 77. More than half of these fatalities in Brazil have taken place in the south-eastern states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo where a combined total of over 10,000 people have died. There have been at least 23 nurses that have died in the northeastern state of Pernambuco and 10 in Amazonas state. Brazil's Federal Nursing Council (COFEN) informs that more than 15,000 nurses have been infected by COVID-19. Manoel Neri, the president of Brazil's federal council of nursing, said nurses were the hidden heroes of Brazil's fight against the pandemic, which has also killed at least 114 doctors. "There's a huge gulf between the way nursing teams and medical teams are treated and the recognition they receive. But they are all on the frontline," Neri said. A recent Brazilian television report showed that at one COVID-19 field hospital in Rio air-conditioned rooms with beds had been prepared for doctors while nurses slept on mattresses on the floor. "Doctors are treated like heroes but our nurses are forgotten," Neri complained. She accused successive governments of neglecting nurses' demands for improved salaries and working conditions. In Bolivia, de facto President Jeanine Áñez and Foreign Minister Karen Longaric have been subpoenaed for testimonies regarding corruption crimes during the state procurement of Spanish ventilators, legislator Edgar Montano, of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), said on May 27. "This investigation will summon Jeanine Añez, Longaric, and other officials involved in this procurement that became a theft from the pockets of all Bolivian people," Montano announced. According to Montano, de facto President Añez was allegedly aware of the deal, a purchase that she ordered, and publicly announced herself, in which the government spent more than $27,000 each for 170 Spanish-made devices, while Bolivian producers had previously offered a price of $1,000 per unit. Frontline medical workers have also complained that the Spanish ventilators do not meet WHO standards. "I pledge to pursue this investigation against those who have committed corruption in the purchase of ventilators, and that every penny will be returned to Bolivians. I will continue to work to equip our hospitals with transparency," Añez posted on Twitter on May 20, a few hours after Bolivia's health minister Marcelo Navajas was arrested and dismissed from his post due to the scandal. The parliamentary commission investigating the case expects Foreign Minister Longaric to explain why no action was taken after the disclosure of a report underlining the contract's details, submitted by the Bolivian consulate in Barcelona. As of May 30, Bolivia has reported 8,731 cases of COVID-19 (7,682 active; 749 recovered; 300 deaths). On May 23, former Bolivian President Evo Morales denounced the coup government of Bolivia for failing to fulfill its promise to provide the country's regions with ventilators, reagents and safety equipment for fighting a pandemic that is starting to spread across the country. In Africa on May 30: South Africa: 29,240 (13,536
active; 15,093 recovered; 611 deaths) and 494 cases per million; 10
deaths per million Egypt: 22,082 (15,692 active;
5,511 recovered; 879 deaths) and 216 cases per million; 9 deaths per
million Nigeria: 9,302 (6,344 active;
2,697 recovered; 261 deaths) and 45 cases per million; 1 death per
million Algeria: 9,134 (3,074 active;
5,422 recovered; 638 deaths) and 209 cases per million; 15 deaths per
million Morocco: 7,740 (2,160 active;
5,377 recovered; 203 deaths) and 210 cases per million; 6 deaths per
million On May 25, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros directed his remarks to the situation in Africa, on the occasion of African Liberation Day, stating: "Today is Africa Day -- an opportunity to celebrate Africa's vitality and diversity, and to promote African unity. "Africa Day celebrates the birthday of the Organisation of African Unity, which was established on May 25, 1963 -- 57 years ago -- and its successor organization is the African Union, which was established in 2002. "Today, on Africa Day 2020, we mark the successes and progress made throughout the African continent. "This year, celebrations are more muted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "So far, although around half of the countries in the region have community transmission, concentrated mainly in major cities, Africa is the least-affected region globally in terms of the number of cases and deaths reported to WHO. "Africa has just 1.5 percent of the world's reported cases of COVID-19, and less than 0.1 percent of the world's deaths. "Of course, these numbers don't paint the full picture. "Testing capacity in Africa is still being ramped up and there is a likelihood that some cases may be missed. "But even so, Africa appears to have so far been spared the scale of outbreaks we have seen in other regions. "The early set-up of a leaders coalition led by the African Union, under the chairmanship of President Ramaphosa of South Africa were key to rapidly accelerating preparedness efforts and issuing comprehensive control measures. "Countries across Africa have garnered a great deal of experience from tackling infectious diseases like polio, measles, Ebola, yellow fever, influenza and many more. "Africa's knowledge and experience of suppressing infectious diseases has been critical to rapidly scaling up an agile response to COVID-19. "There has been solidarity across the continent. Labs in Senegal and South Africa were some of the first in the world to implement COVID-19 diagnostic testing. "And beyond that they worked together with Africa CDC and WHO to extend training for laboratory technicians for detection of COVID-19 and to build up the national capacity across the region. "Furthermore, health clinicians, scientists, researchers and academics from across Africa are collectively contributing to the worldwide understanding of COVID-19 disease. "For many years and from the outset of this pandemic, WHO has been working through our country offices to support nations in health emergency preparedness and developing comprehensive national action plans to prevent, detect and respond to the virus. "With WHO support, many African countries have made good progress in preparedness. "All countries in Africa now have a preparedness and response plan in place, compared with less than a dozen in the first few weeks of the pandemic. "Forty-eight countries in the region have a community engagement plan in place, compared with only 25 countries 10 weeks ago. "And 51 have lab-testing capacity for COVID-19, compared with 40 countries 10 weeks ago. "WHO continues to support Africa with other life-saving supplies. "As of last week, we have shipped millions of personal protective equipment and lab tests to 52 African countries. "In the coming weeks we plan further shipments of PPE, oxygen concentrators and lab tests. "However, we still see gaps and vulnerabilities. Only 19 per cent of countries in the region have an infection prevention and control program and standards for water, sanitation and hygiene in health facilities. "And disruption to essential health services, such as vaccination campaigns and care for malaria, HIV and other diseases pose a huge risk." In Oceania on May 30: Australia: 7,184 (476 active;
6,605 recovered; 103 deaths) and 282 cases per million; 4 deaths per
million New Zealand: 1,504 (1 active;
1,481 recovered; 22 deaths) and 301 cases per million; 4 deaths per
million Guam: 165 cases (5 deaths) French Polynesia: 60 (all
recovered) and 214 cases per million New Caledonia: 19 (1 active; 18
recovered) (With files from news agencies, WHO, the Guardian, Xinhua, PressTV, teleSUR)
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