- Glance at Covid-19:
As of July 18, the total global confirmed cases of Covid-19 have reached a new high – almost 14 million people have been infected in 188 countries, and nearly 600,000 losing their lives. It has officially been over six months since the world started fighting with this pandemic. Nevertheless, after months of significant cooperation and mutual effort of the world, the WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned most countries that the pandemic has not been ameliorated and still “getting worse”.
Latin America now has become the center of the outbreak with Brazil almost reaching two million confirmed cases. After infections worsened in several areas in Colombia and death toll exceeding 6,000, the country has also extended its nationwide lockdown. The U.S. remains the top country with most confirmed cases, and steadily increasing a range of 58,000-67,000 new cases daily for the past week. Testing rates has been reported to be extremely low in parts of South Africa and Egypt, possibly adding inaccuracies to official estimates of virus spread.
- Update on BLM movement
Starting from 2009, the world had come together each year on July 18, Nelson Mandela’s birthday, to celebrate the great changes he has made to take action, reduce inequality and poverty. The recent death of George Floyd has triggered the black lives matter movement and protest around the world against racism and police brutality, and some influences has been made in this nonviolent war fighting for change.
A controversial 17th century British sculpture of a slave trader has recently been taken down. Before it was toppled by protestors, this statue has stood for more than 100 in the U.K. The statue now has been replaced with a sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protestor.
In Washington D.C., the capital of the U.S., a gigantic mural has been painted by city workers and activists on a major street leading to the White House, occupying 2 blocks. People around the world has been demanding a decrease in police budget and justice for excessive police force. Police force shall be a way to protect its citizens, instead of harming and corruption.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51235105
https://covid19.who.int/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh-uTlfjV6gIVmgsrCh2O2wZMEAAYASAAEgI6cPD_BwE
Written by Jinxin