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Between tears, slogans: the funeral of George Floyd, in a Texas church on Tuesday, mixed tributes to this black man killed by a white police officer and fiery calls to attack, finally, racism which “Hurts the soul” from America.
From family to pastors, President Donald Trump was repeatedly mistreated at this funeral in the Fountain of Praise Church in Houston, where this 46-year-old African American had spent most of his life.
A figure in the civil rights struggle, Reverend Al Sharpton, who delivered the funeral praise broadcast live in millions of homes, even accused the president of “Maleficence”, accusing him of encouraging the police to believe themselves above the law.
On a more intimate note, the relatives of the deceased, very moved, greeted «Big George», their «superman», their “Sweet giant” whose stature – nearly two meters – did not prevent a police officer from suffocating him, kneeling for almost nine minutes on his neck, two weeks ago in Minneapolis, in the north of the country.
“You have to grieve in public, it’s difficult”, Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden told them in a very personal video released during the ceremony. But for him, “The time for racial justice has come”.
At the end of the ceremony, hundreds of people chanting the name of George Floyd accompanied his remains, transported in a white funeral carriage to the Memorial Gardens cemetery in the Houston suburbs. For the privacy of the family, the press was not allowed to attend the burial.
Switzerland, with the end of the extraordinary situation decided today to start towards a true return to normal, pre-pandemic. Given the encouraging data – still 0 infections and 0 deaths in Ticino and Grisons, 17 infections and 2 deaths at the national level – the federal Council has decided to withdraw nearly all of the measures in force starting from Monday 22 June.
In particular, they will be again possible events up to a maximum of 1’000 people, are revoked closing times for bars and clubs and also in the restaurant there will be no more obligation to eat in the seated position. With regard to the demonstrations and civil society, the maximum limit of people has been completely abolished, but will apply the requirement to wear a mask. Mask that remains “is only” strongly recommended on public transport.
Remain in full force and the distancing of society, even if reduced from 2 meters to 1.5 m, and the hygienic measures increased.
Managing the second wave assigned to the Cantons
In contrast to the first wave, the management of a new increase in cases of coronavirus “falls mainly in the responsibility of the Cantons” was explained by Bern. “The Cantons that they will see a new increase in the number of cases will need to take appropriate measures”, primarily those that have proved to be particularly effective against the spread of the infection. For the management of a possible second wave, the federal Council has conferred to the departments a series of assignments, with the objective, for example, to quickly obtain detailed data or to ensure the supply with medicines and the necessary protective equipment.
The chronicle of Thursday
The report of the day Wednesday
Joe Pieracci, Dario Lanfranconi, Elena Boromeo and Marija Milanovic
The Covid emergency is causing the growth of reports of anxiety and fear, sleep disturbances and even serious depression. The general director of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus explains this in an editorial that will be published in World Psichiatry. In the article Ghebreyesus notes that “mental health systems in all countries need to be strengthened to cope with the impact”.
“Any success in addressing people’s anxiety and anguish will make it easier for them to have the will and ability to follow the guidelines of the health authorities” to contain the infection.
“Many people in the world – he adds – suffer from the loss of livelihoods and opportunities, those who love a person with COVID-19 are faced with concerns and separation. Some turn to alcohol, drugs or potentially risky behaviors such as gamble.
The Belgian federal government unveiled the kingdom’s deconfinement plan on Friday evening after an interminable meeting of the National Security Council. In this country of 11 million inhabitants, where the coronavirus killed nearly 6,700 people, the return to normal will be “Progressive, evolutionary and not definitive”, warned the Prime Minister, Sophie Wilmès. “Nothing, nothing is set in stone and certainly not the deadlines”, she warned again, specifying that a resumption of contamination could result in questioning the planned steps, or even going backwards.
In Belgium, there are three dates to remember: May 4, May 11, May 18. A first step will be taken on May 4, with the possibility of meeting two people outside of his family circle and not just one as is currently the case and the resumption of public transport. It is from this date that masks will become mandatory in public transport for all people over the age of 12. Users should bring them to the bus and tram stops, but also when they enter the stations. And it is to facilitate the production of masks that fabric stores and haberdashery will be allowed to reopen on May 4. The federated entities also undertook on Friday evening to provide the population with at least one mask per person. Companies without contact with customers are also invited to resume their activity, but with the greatest preference for teleworking.
In class, no more than ten students
A week later, on May 11, all retail businesses will reopen. With probably strict rules which still need to be clarified. Perhaps museums could resume their activity. On May 18, part of the children will return to school. But there will be no more than 10 children per class and each pupil must have at least 4 m².
As for social life, it remains very supervised. Dinners with friends at home could possibly resume from May 18. The opening of part of the restaurants is planned for June 8, but no date has been given at this stage for cafes and bars. And the frail, especially the elderly, are the big ones missing from this deconfinement plan. This means that the rules, especially those concerning retirement homes, continue.
As in other countries, tracking will be implemented on a voluntary basis. “Each federated entity will have a call center with around 2,000 people in total who will follow up with the support of a common platform and a common database”, said Elio du Rupo, Minister-President of Wallonia. The tests, which are lacking, will not be deployed on the whole population but reserved for people who need them: those who have symptoms, whose profession exposes them or who have been in contact with infected people.
Question of “balance”
Belgium entered the confinement phase on March 18. On Friday, the national security council, which is piloting the crisis and in which the representatives of the federated entities sit, did not follow all the recommendations of the experts. They recommended a faster but much more gradual reopening of businesses. Questioned on this point during the press conference, Sophie Wilmès argued that a deconfinement was a question of“balanced” and that this balance would be respected, in particular with rules which would limit the influx of customers into stores. “There is suffering, entrepreneurs who can no longer make a living, also stressed the Prime Minister. If you choose companies based on their size, you are creating discrimination. ” Even if health remains the number one priority for the government, Belgium, like so many other countries, must try to revive the economy and businesses. Support measures have already been very expensive. In early April, in an interview at Evening, Federal Budget Minister David Clarinval said that the Belgian budget deficit would reach 24 billion euros this year, compared to 9.3 billion in 2019 and 3.4 billion in 2018.
Who knows how long this crisis will last? Anxious not to lull the Belgians into an illusion, the Prime Minister repeated, in any case, that the proposed steps were only indicative. She also showed great humility. “Many are waiting for clear perspectives but it is impossible to offer guarantees, to answer all the uncertainties because deconfinement, an operation never carried out, largely depends on the evolution of the health situation and that nobody can predict with certainty What will happen tomorrow”.
INTERVIEW – Mattia Maestri returns for the first time to these days that forever changed the world and its existence.
By LENA
Mattia Maestri, patient number 1, in his accommodation in Codogno.Giampaolo Visetti
By Giampaolo Visetti (La Repubblica)
“The past two months have been very trying. The situation that I experienced is difficult to imagine and has nothing to do with what you can see in the movies. I suddenly fell ill, came close to death and got up. My wife and mother were also infected, but are now healed. This unknown virus killed my father. And we welcomed Giulia, our first daughter. I learned to resist and believe in the difference between trust and utopia, to consider each moment of normalcy as essential. Life and death touch each day silently around us without our being able to notice it. “
Mattia Maestri returns for the first time to these days that forever changed the world and its existence. He talks to us from the front door of his Codogno home: not inside, to guarantee the safety of his wife Valentina and little Giulia, who came into the world
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A hidden Congress who votes almost unanimously for hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, a president who suggests injecting bleach into the lungs and a Democratic candidate locked in his basement who warns by video against an indefinite postponement of the presidential election. Begun in an unreal atmosphere of political fiction, Trump’s mandate risks ending in that, tragicomically, of a catastrophic film.
Locked in the White House, deprived of visits and travel, surrounded by televisions, Trump made the daily press conference devoted to the virus his main means of communication with the Americans. Every day at the end of the afternoon, surrounded by his collaborators and his medical advisers, the president gives a strange television show, a mixture of information on the situation and a press conference with broken sticks interspersed with personal comments and foucades. Without preparation or script, the session regularly takes unexpected turns, between political declarations by the president, digressions sometimes eccentric and acrimonious exchanges with journalists.
Would it be possible to give an injection inside the body for cleaning, since you see, it attacks the lungs … It sounds interesting
Donald trump
On Thursday, the American president extrapolated on the possibility of destroying the Covid-19 inside the body by ultraviolet or household cleaning products. After Bill Bryan, Undersecretary for Homeland Security, presented the results of a study into the lifespan of the Covid-19, highlighting its vulnerability to humidity, heat, ultraviolet light, and also to disinfectants like bleach or household alcohol, Trump has made some comments on the subject. “I asked a question that many of you are asking and which seems interesting to me … Suppose we direct a very strong light inside the body … through the skin or in some other way?”, suggested the President. “And then the disinfectant, which destroys the virus in a minute … Would it be possible to inject inside the body for cleaning, since you see, it attacks the lungs … It sounds interesting”, he added, while his advisers found it difficult to hide their dismay. Trump said on Friday that his remarks were “Sarcastic”. But detergent producers have been quick to issue warnings to dissuade consumers from ingesting them.
See also – Disinfectant injections into the lungs: Trump’s wacky proposition against Covid-19
Not far from the White House, a more serious but almost as strange atmosphere reigned at the Capitol. Meeting for the first time since March 27, Congress passed a new $ 484 billion astronomical aid measure, aimed primarily at small businesses; 100 billion were voted for hospitals.
The American parliamentarians had returned to Washington by taking the few planes that still fly in the United States, or by train or car. Some have traveled several days to reach the American capital. Most wore masks during the session. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic President of the House of Representatives, tied a silk scarf over her nose. Only a dozen elected officials, almost all Republicans, had their faces uncovered, a sign that the attitude towards the pandemic remains partly a political affair: the Republican States, the least affected, are often the most critical of them. distancing measures, while the democratic states oppose a premature resumption of economic activity.
“A guy asleep in his basement”
The question also arises for the presidential election on November 3. “Yeah! Very good question. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen, ” said Trump, who notably opposes postal voting. The president also attacked Democratic candidate Joe Biden, confined to his residence in Wilmington, Delaware. “We have a guy asleep in the basement of a house, who doesn’t want to argue because they keep him locked up because of the virus,” added Trump.
“I trample on the idea of debating with Donald Trump”, retorted Biden. “I’m ready: Zoom, Skype or in person. When he wants, where he wants! ” But the likely Democrat candidate also warned of the possibility that Trump would not let the ballot run normally. “I think he will try to postpone the elections in one way or another, to find reasons why they cannot take place. It’s the only way he can win. ”
DECRYPTION – The European Union wants an “integrated policy” between its member states in order to allow citizens to travel without health risks in the Schengen area.
View of the Parthenon from an ancient site without a tourist, in Athens, April 21.LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / AFP
Special correspondent in Brussels
Will we see again this summer the Mezquita of Cordoba, the lemon trees of Procida, the immense beaches of Zeeland or… the concrete seafront of Benidorm? Two months before the start of summer, and while there is no timetable yet for the reopening of the borders of the Schengen area, there is nothing to say that Europeans will be able to travel freely within the EU. “I can’t tell you”admitted Friday on France 2 Thierry Breton, in charge of Industry (and Tourism) at the European Commission. Which in any case has no control over border management and health issues. Brussels, however, has started to work on this puzzle. European tourism ministers will speak on Monday during a video conference. And diplomats from the Twenty-Seven discussed it for the first time earlier this week. But, admits a Brussels source, “We’re only just starting”.
Summer vacation raises real concerns
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Éric Trappier (here in September 2019), president of Gifas and CEO of Dassault Aviation *, builder of the Rafale fighter plane.ERIC PIERMONT / AFP
All lined up to lead the charge. The presidents of the employers’ organizations of aeronautics, naval navy and land armament plead with one voice so that the defense industry is part of the recovery plans in France, but also in Europe. “It is absolutely fundamental”, they said during a hearing before the defense committee of the National Assembly.
The objective is to preserve the Defense Industrial and Technological Base (BITD) with its tens of thousands of highly qualified jobs, distributed throughout the territory and along the coast. Alone, the 400 aeronautical companies members of the Grouping of French aeronautical and space industries (Gifas) employ 200,000 people. The naval sector employs 40,000 people and those working on land, 20,000. Without forgetting the employees of thousands of SMEs and VSEs, including many technological nuggets.
It is also about ensuring the armies, oversold inside
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Two months from the start of summer and when there is no timetable yet for the reopening of the borders of the Schengen area, the Germans, who travel a lot and far, will have to reduce the airfoil. .
REPORTAGE – Survivors of the villages of Italy’s first red zone, between Codogno and Lodi, will have to receive psychological help if they ever want to return to normal life.
By LENA
The center of Codogno.MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
By Brunella Giovara (La Repubblica)
Yes, we are cured. “The test is negative, go home and think no more about it”, doctors say to their patients. But you never heal. Survivors in the region will need psychological help if they ever want to return to normal life. In the meantime, they are sunbathing in their backyard, as does Andrea Facchini, officially cured, immune to the virus and a donor of plasma.
But Andrea receives us in her garden. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to get out of here. I don’t feel safe yet “, he says. Physiotherapist Andrea Facchini lives in Chignolo Po. There too, the virus has hit hard, and from Milan to Pavia, but also around Lodi, we are witnessing an endless parade of vans and international transport trucks delivering In the emergency, access to the villages is blocked, and the bells ring the bell every hour.
My legs were shaking, my eyes popping out of my sockets, I couldn’t sleep anymore.
Andrea Facchini
In the heat of his yard, Andrea tells us that he left the hospital
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