While the coronavirus curve appears to flatten in the US and Europe, new hotspots emerge

For the United States, the nation worst-hit by COVID-19 with more than 1.1 million confirmed cases and over 67,000 deaths, the situation is slowly starting to look up.

Some states have eased their lockdown restrictions while others have seen the curve increasingly flatten.

Spain, the second hardest-hit country, has seen over 245,000 confirmed cases and over 25,000 deaths. The nation, which has been under strict lockdown orders since mid-March, has reduced the daily number of new infections from 20 percent per day to less than one.

On Saturday it was announced that Spaniards were now allowed to exercise outdoors.

However, as these milestones are reached in these two nations, other countries have started witnessing a spike in the number of new cases and overall deaths.

Russia and Pakistan are now reporting some of their highest single-day case numbers.

Pakistan

As of May 2, Pakistan has recorded over 19,103 cases, an increase of more than 1,000 over the previous day. In Pakistan, the government has extended the lockdown for their 212 million citizens until May 9, with certain exceptions made for Ramadan which started on Thursday, April 23.

However, despite the spike, Prime Minister Imran Khan has spoken about the possibility of easing lockdowns, something that has been heavily cautioned against by doctors.

Russia

With a population of 144.5 million people, Russia has reported 124,054 new cases as of May 2, an increase of 9,623 from the day before. As a result, the mayor of Moscow, Russia’s capital, announced the construction of temporary hospitals to deal with the influx of patients. It’s been reported that these temporary hospitals will be set up in stadiums and shopping centers, among other areas.

Both Russia’s prime minister and minister of construction and housing have been infected with the deadly virus.

Brazil

Brazil has recorded over 97,000 cases, an increase of 4,450 over the previous day, among their population of 209 million.

The spike has also been attributed to the cavalier attitude of the nation’s president, who has labeled the coronavirus “a little flu.” When asked recently about the nation’s death toll, at that point just over 5,000 people, President Jair Bolsonaro responded, “so what?”

While his remarks caused massive backlash among the community, both nationally and worldwide, some have stood by the president.

The three nations have relatively weak healthcare systems, with the World Health Organization (WHO) ranking Pakistan at 122, Russia at 130 and Brazil at 125 out of 191 member states. To put this in perspective, the US is 37th and Spain is 7th.

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