Pandemic

Pandemics such as coronavirus are the result of humanity's destruction of nature, according to leaders at the UN, WHO and WWF International, and the world has been ignoring this stark reality for decades.

Global cases of the novel coronavirus reached over 8 million on Monday, as infections surge in Latin America and the United States and China grapple with fresh outbreaks.

Greece will be better prepared if the coronavirus pandemic resurfaces in fall, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on a television interview on Sunday night.

Mitsotakis said Greek society is better prepared, having adopted social distancing and protective measures, while many more beds have been added in intensive care units than what existed last March.

Lately, however, China has been stepping up its media game and taking centre stage, surfing on the pandemic wave.

"The Chinese embassy in Slovakia has started an information offensive," the Slovak cyber security portal Infosecurity.sk noted last month.

So far the fiscal impact from the measures to combat the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy adds up to 9-10 billion euros. The costs are set to grow further in the coming months, for a number of reasons.

The recent spike in the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey prompted Health Minister Fahrettin Koca to issue yet another warning to the public that the outbreak is far from over.

"The figures [from June 13] made us face the reality that the outbreak remains a serious matter," Koca said on Twitter on June 14.

China reported its highest daily number of new coronavirus cases in months on June 14 with parts of Beijing still under lockdown, offering a second wave warning to the rest of the world as the pandemic rages in South America.    

The ancient city of Bergama has been re-opened for the visitors within the normalization phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. (AA Photo)

Hamams (Turkish baths) have started to welcome visitors again after months of closure due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. (AA Photo)

A worrying social crisis is brewing in Latin America where the coronavirus pandemic is spiralling, experts are warning, as fears of a second wave in the United States sent shivers through global markets.