![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cultureteca-34.png?resize=696%2C464&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Asia Pacific, Western Europe, and the Northeastern United States, each in their own ways former epicentres of coronavirus<\/strong>, were breathing more freely this week as the rest of the world sailed in the wrong direction, with Latin America and South Asia bearing the worst of the storm. Over the course of the week cases in Brazil climbed from half a million<\/a> past 600,000<\/a>, while day after day of record fatalities<\/a> saw the death toll surpass 34,000 by the weekend<\/a>. The country was now second for global infections and third for COVID-related fatalities, but instead of stepping up its response to the crisis the government of Jair Bolsonaro sought to suppress the figures, hiding the cumulative data<\/a> and alleging undisclosed reporting mistakes<\/a>. The virus was also surging in Mexico, where spiralling deaths took the tally from 10,000<\/a> to more than 13,000<\/a> in a matter of days<\/a>, yet with an air of defiance<\/a>\u00a0both countries continued to ease restrictions<\/a>, especially in the major centres of S\u00e3o Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Mexico City. Peru<\/a> and Chile<\/a> offered variations on a theme, per capita two of the most infected countries in the world<\/a>, but whether it was stricter measures or reporting differences, their death counts remained relatively low. Meanwhile lockdowns were extended across Buenos Aires<\/a> and the other major urban centres of Argentina.<\/p>\n India narrowly evaded most of Cyclone Nisarga<\/a> amid a season of cyclones, earthquakes, and locust swarms<\/a>, but the coronavirus was everywhere as cases stretched past 250,000 with more than 7,000 fatalities<\/a>, even as the country took steps to unlock the economy<\/a> and prepared for the reopening of shrines and malls<\/a>. Pakistan lifted a lockdown<\/a> deemed too costly to afford<\/a>, amid suggestions that more than 100,000 reported cases<\/a>\u00a0were merely the tip of the iceberg<\/a>. As the first Rohingya refugee died in Bangladesh<\/a>, the country reported record deaths and cases in excess of 65,000<\/a>, while disaster loomed ever closer in war-torn Afghanistan<\/a>. Across the Middle East there were no signs of a let-up in Iran<\/a> and Saudi Arabia<\/a>, which both reported record infections, but eased restrictions<\/a> followed the first signs of a slowdown<\/a> in the United Arab Emirates<\/a> and Qatar<\/a>. Amid protests over Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank<\/a>, daily cases in Israel appeared to at least provisionally flatten out<\/a>. Protests prompted a reduced evening curfew in Senegal<\/a>, cases continued to creep up in Egypt<\/a>, and a spike in South Africa<\/a> whose lockdown measures were challenged in the courts<\/a> served to drive the situation across the continent, where total cases swept past 180,000 over the course of the weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some parts of the United States afforded some much-needed respite. New York City recorded no daily deaths for the first time since the start of the pandemic<\/a>, deaths reached new lows across the whole of New York<\/a>, and New Jersey saw declining cases and hospitalisations<\/a> as the outlook eased across America’s two most affected states. Seven regions in New York were even able to resume outdoor dining<\/a>. On the other hand states in the south and west of the country including Florida<\/a>, Texas<\/a>, and California<\/a> continued to prioritise reopening<\/a> even amid rising cases<\/a>, the offset with the northeast placing America on a temporary plateau<\/a>. Places like New York City<\/a> and Michigan<\/a> could look forward to eased restrictions with some degree of justification, but states like Florida<\/a>, Mississippi<\/a>, Arizona<\/a>, and California<\/a> pressed ahead despite rising cases and record-breaking weeks. As commentators questioned whether Americans had simply grown tired of the threat posed by coronavirus<\/a>, Louisiana also stepped into a new phase of reopening<\/a> while in the crosshairs of Tropical Storm Cristobal<\/a>.<\/p>\n For the time being however the spread of coronavirus across the United States was overshadowed by a long legacy of police brutality and racial inequality, whose latest outpouring came in the form of nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd<\/a>. Despite outbreaks of violence<\/a> and the imposition of evening curfews<\/a>, marches and demonstrations continued at a steady pace throughout the week<\/a>, culminating on Saturday when more than 10,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C.<\/a> while late reprieves<\/a> and defiant activism<\/a> saw protests extend to Sydney<\/a>, London<\/a>, and beyond<\/a>. President Donald Trump responded with typical magnanimity, berating governors and urging them to ‘dominate’ protesters using National Guard troops<\/a>, while in a divisive speech on Monday he threatened to call in the military<\/a> as police used tear gas and flash grenades to clear his path to a local church<\/a>. Meanwhile both the Minnesota authorities and an independent autopsy concluded that Floyd’s death was the result of homicide<\/a>, and charges were brought against three more Minneapolis police officers<\/a>, before Floyd was eulogised in a memorial service towards the end of the week<\/a>. By Sunday curfews were being lifted<\/a> and the National Guard were ordered to withdraw from the streets<\/a>, as overwhelmingly peaceful protests<\/a> continued to stretch their reach<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite concerns over drabs of data<\/a>, deaths had slowed to a trickle in Spain<\/a>, where Pedro S\u00e1nchez secured one final extension to the state of alarm<\/a> as the regions steadily reopened<\/a>. Fatalities in France swept past 29,000<\/a> after a surge in the middle of the week<\/a>, but the wider story was of dwindling deaths and hospitalisations as Paris welcomed back restaurants and cafes<\/a>. The country claimed to have the pandemic under control<\/a> as it hosted socially-distanced D-Day commemorations<\/a>. The course of coronavirus was also slowing in Italy<\/a>, while bars and restaurants made comebacks in the Netherlands<\/a>, Norway<\/a>, and Finland<\/a>. In the United Kingdom the slowdown was more sedate, as the country became the second in the world with more than 40,000 fatalities<\/a>, belatedly imposing traveller quarantines<\/a> and face masks on public transport<\/a>. Sweden, which once more recorded the world’s highest weekly per capita death rate<\/a>, launched an inquiry into its tepid response to the outbreak<\/a>. Cases stretched beyond 450,000 in Russia<\/a> as the country took steps to reopen<\/a>, were on the rise in the Ukraine<\/a>, and spiked among miners in Poland<\/a>, while Turkey enjoyed a rare curfew-free weekend<\/a> as the country claimed recovery in eighty percent of patients<\/a>.<\/p>\n East Asia showed a familiar picture, with a relatively small number of cases subsumed by careful tracking and concern over further outbreaks. Tokyo sounded the alarm after a small spike in cases at the start of the week<\/a> following the reopening of cinemas, gyms, and other businesses<\/a>, while the hub of cluster infections in South Korea switched from a distribution centre in Bucheon<\/a> to churches in Incheon<\/a>. Widescale testing in Wuhan showed no silent carriers of the virus<\/a>, but China still suffered a spurt in cases at the start of the week<\/a>, with another cluster prompting curbs in Hong Kong<\/a> as the city held its annual Tiananmen vigil<\/a>. Cases were higher across Southeast Asia, where community infection showed a slight uptick in Singapore, but the bulk of new cases were still in migrant worker dormitories<\/a> as the tally approached 38,000 and the country reopened at the end of circuit-breaker mode<\/a>. Where community transmission was occurring, it was often among asymptomatic patients<\/a>. Cases raced past 30,000<\/a> as Indonesia haltingly entered the new normal<\/a>. And plans were also apace<\/a> for eased restrictions<\/a> as cases fluctuated in Malaysia<\/a> and the Philippines<\/a>. Meanwhile in the far-off south, New Zealand became the first major countr<\/a>y to talk tentatively of eliminating the virus<\/a>.<\/p>\n If the recent killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor showed black lives imperilled on neighbourhood jogs<\/a> or even in the confines of their own apartment<\/a>, inevitably the wave of protests raised concerns around the spread of coronavirus<\/a>, as the response in the United States was also tested by primary elections<\/a>. At the initiative of two music industry professionals, Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang, who under the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused<\/a> called for ‘a day to disconnect from work and reconnect with our community’<\/a> in light of the death of Floyd, Blackout Tuesday became a phenomenon beyond musical circles, as labels and streaming platforms issued statements of solidarity<\/a> while artists and influencers posted black boxes via social media, with some arguing that the original intention had been lost<\/a>. Meanwhile another Bandcamp Friday saw the company waive its revenue share in favour of artists, who prepared special releases in support of racial justice<\/a> and pledged the proceeds to Black Lives Matter groups<\/a>. The coronavirus was still disproportionately affecting black and other minority communities<\/a>, leading to the redoubling of data collection efforts in a belated attempt to buck the trend<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other entertainment industries struggled to weather the impact of the virus. The NBA approved plans for a curtailed end to the basketball season at Disney World in Orlando<\/a>, the Metropolitan Opera cancelled its fall calendar<\/a>, and tennis stars cast doubt on the viability of the US Open<\/a>, while authorities in Japan began to contemplate a streamlined Summer Olympics<\/a> for 2021. Practical changes to buffets and props heralded the return of Hollywood production<\/a>. France cancelled its annual Bastille Day parade<\/a>, eased restrictions led to a run on South African alcohol stores<\/a>, and Indonesia preempted a decision from Saudi Arabia by unilaterally calling off the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca<\/a>. Italy<\/a> and the Czech Republic<\/a> gained a head start as the European Union vowed to lift internal border restrictions<\/a> at the latest by the end of the month<\/a>. With travel back on the agenda and despite the reduced industrial output, coronavirus had failed to stall the threat to the environment,\u00a0as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels hit record highs<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a topsy-turvy week for treatments, the first randomised clinical trial of the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine showed that the drug failed to prevent people contracting the virus<\/a>, but the World Health Organization resumed its own trial<\/a> while a controversial study in the medical journal The Lancet<\/em><\/a> which had negated the benefits of the drug was retracted owing to concerns over the dataset<\/a>. Just as there seemed to be some hope for hydroxychloroquine, the Recovery trial led by Oxford University declared categorically that the drug does not work<\/a>. As a fifth doctor in Wuhan succumbed to COVID-19<\/a>, reports suggested that China had sat on the genome for more than a week at the start of the pandemic<\/a>. The World Health Organization finally updated its guidance to recommend face masks in public<\/a>. Continuing jobless claims in the United States rose to 21.5 million<\/a>, but the job report for May indicated that the unemployment rate actually fell to 13.3 percent from 14.7 percent in April<\/a>, prompting a victory lap from Donald Trump who claimed that the news represented a good day for George Floyd<\/a>.\u00a0A federal appeals court blocked the expansion of mail voting in Texas<\/a>, while coronavirus continued to play havoc with plans for the Republican National Convention<\/a>. By Sunday’s toll, cases had topped 7 million with more than 400,000 deaths worldwide<\/a>.<\/p>\n