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As Malta Reopens And Europe Recovers, Coronavirus Cases Worldwide Explode

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Today is a special day for Malta. As the island reopens a slew of establishments on the first day of “normality”, the smell of victory is in the air. Meanwhile, however, the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide is multiplying at its fastest pace yet.

While developed countries have been mostly recovering from a months-long battle with the coronavirus, emerging hotspots in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Middle East have only just started to feel the full force of the virus.

On 30th May, more new cases were reported in a single day worldwide than ever before: 134,064.

And this wasn’t a one-off case either: more than 100,000 new cases are being reported every single day.

According to a New York Times database, twice as many countries have reported a rise in new cases over the past two weeks as have reported declines, with most of these countries being ones that had yet to face the full wrath of COVID-19.

 

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The geography of the coronavirus pandemic is changing quickly — and the number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide is multiplying at its fastest pace yet.⁣ ⁣ The coronavirus pandemic is ebbing in some of the countries that were hit hard early on, but the number of new cases is growing faster than ever worldwide, with more than 100,000 reported each day.⁣ ⁣ Twice as many countries have reported a rise in new cases over the past 2 weeks as have reported declines, according to a New York Times database. On May 30, more new cases were reported in a single day worldwide than ever before: 134,064. The increase has been driven by emerging hot spots in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.⁣ ⁣ The death toll in Brazil passed 30,000 on Tuesday, when officials reported 1,262 deaths, which was the nation’s highest 1-day total. Despite seeming to avoid the worst of the pandemic early on, Egypt has seen its numbers rise significantly, reaching 27,536 on Tuesday. And after Sweden avoided the strict lockdowns seen in many other countries, its chief epidemiologist said on Wednesday the country should have done more to combat the coronavirus but backed the broad strategy.⁣ ⁣ Over all, there have been more than 6.3 million reported cases worldwide and more than 380,000 known deaths. More than a quarter of all known deaths have been in the United States. ⁣ ⁣ Tap the link in our bio for the latest on the coronavirus outbreak. Photo of gravediggers in São Paulo, Brazil, last week, by @victormoriyama.⁣

A post shared by The New York Times (@nytimes) on Jun 4, 2020 at 6:21pm PDT

On Tuesday, Brazil’s death toll passed 30,000 after 1,262 people died, its highest one-day toll yet. Brazil is in fact suddenly the second-worst hit country in the world, with a total of 614,941 cases… more than the entire population of Malta. Meanwhile, Egypt’s numbers are only starting to rise now, hitting 27,536 earlier this week.

Back in Europe, Sweden’s controversial decision to avoid strict lockdown restrictions might be coming back to haunt the Scandinavian country, with chief state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell saying on Wednesday that the country should have done more to combat COVID-19. Sweden has seen consistently higher daily death tolls than all of its Nordic neighbours who went into full lockdown.

There have been more than 6.5 million cases of COVID-19 reported worldwide, and nearly 400,000 known deaths. More than a quarter of all deaths have been in the US.

While all of this is happening, Malta has registered some of its best weeks yet, with no daily cases reported for most of the last days.

The current number of active COVID-19 cases in Malta is the lowest its been in over two months, with only 37 people having yet to recover from the virus and around 1,000 swab tests being carried out on a daily basis.

What do you make of this? Do you think an eventual second wave is inevitable, or has Malta permanently won the tough war against COVID-19?

READ NEXT: Blue, Yellow... And Now Green: Maltese Beach Named In Forbes' 10 Safest Post-Lockdown European Destinations

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).

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