COVID-19 rallies in America set back the reopening

Brazil and the United States continue to break records for coronavirus infections and deaths, while several countries in the Americas such as Chile and Peru have had to backtrack on their reopening due to the unstoppable advance of COVID-19. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of deaths worldwide from the coronavirus reached 408,025 and cases 7.14 million, of which 3.41 million were recorded in the Americas, while in Europe the figures remain stable at around 2.32 million.

The accelerated rate of expansion of the coronavirus in Brazil makes it the second country with the most cases of COVID-19, with 772,416, and is close to taking second place in terms of the number of deaths to the United Kingdom (41,213 deaths), since in the last 24 hours it registered 1,274 new deaths and its total rose to 39,680. 

The state of Sao Paulo, home to some 46 million of Brazil's 210 million people, remains the epicenter of the pandemic in the country, with 156,316 infected and 9,862 dead, but this has not prevented the reopening of several businesses in several locations. 

The capital, Sao Paulo, the most populous city in Latin America, continued the de-escalation process initiated at the beginning of the month and opened the doors to street commerce, as did the state of Rio de Janeiro, the second hardest hit city in Brazil, with nearly 75,000 cases and 7,138 deaths, which is relaxing interpersonal distancing measures. 

With 17,500 new cases and 550 deaths in one day, the United States is approaching 2 million infections and counting more than 112,000 deaths, amid recent protests against racism and calls by its president, Donald Trump, to continue rallies in the run-up to the November elections. 

While almost half of its states report rising numbers due to the pandemic, more and more economic and social sectors are beginning to reopen in the face of bad omens for the country's economy. 

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday warned about "the high uncertainty and considerable risk" that hovers over the U.S. economy and said that the pandemic will cause a contraction of 6.5% and an unemployment rate of 9.3% at the end of the year, while interest rates will remain close to 0% until 2022.

Given the increase in cases, Chile extended the quarantines that were already in place and incorporated another eight new zones to the measure from Friday onwards in the country, which already has 148,496 infections and 2,475 deaths, to occupy the third place with the most sick people in Latin America. 

Peru, the second in the Latin American region with a higher number of cases, has 208,823 sick people, after registering a new peak of 5,087 new cases in the last 24 hours, while deaths are close to 6,000. In addition, Peruvian health authorities are considering early outpatient treatment with hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin "as a serious and safe alternative" against the coronavirus. 

Ecuador has recorded 3,720 deaths from coronavirus and 2,462 probable deaths, in addition to 44,440 cases, while applying the de-escalation process and a relaxation of containment measures. 

Nicaragua continues to raise concerns both outside and inside the country about its government's handling of the pandemic with its controversial "unique strategy" based on a balance between health and economy, which it compares to Sweden. 

The opposition Blue and White National Unit and the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep), Nicaragua's main employer, demanded the implementation of a strategy based on WHO recommendations to "prevent further spread", which according to official figures leaves 1,464 infections and 55 deaths, while the independent COVID-19 Citizen's Observatory reports 4,217 cases and 980 deaths. 

However, the Costa Rican government warned agricultural companies about the health protocols if they do not want to be exposed to the closure, since more infections are being reported in that sector. The country registered a record 86 new cases to complete 1,461 infections since March 6, when the first was registered, and 12 deaths. 

The US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly will start a phase one human clinical trial of a coronavirus treatment using neutralizing antibodies in the US. This same process, called JS016, has today been administered in China to the first healthy patient by its collaborating partner Junshi Biosciences, with whom it is jointly developing a possible cure for COVID-19. 

In addition, the US group Johnson & Johnson said it will begin human trials for a vaccine in the second half of July, rather than in September as planned, as it has been possible to "accelerate the clinical development" of the product. In this first human trial, the vaccine will be tested on 1,045 healthy adults aged 18 to 55, as well as people over 65, and will be conducted in the United States and Belgium. At least 124 vaccines are currently being developed for COVID-19, according to WHO data, and at least a dozen are already in clinical trials.