India, the second most populous country on the planet with more than 1,300 million inhabitants, exceeded half a million cases and 15,685 deaths, a record daily jump with 385 new victims and 18,500 new infections in the last 24 hours.

The Asian giant is the country with the most cases behind the United States, Brazil and Russia, although the death toll is much lower.

According to epidemiologists, there are still several weeks to reach the critical point, so the number of infected could exceed one million before the end of July.

In New Delhi, with more than 80,000 cases among its 20 million inhabitants, the authorities have ordered the requisition of hotels, nightclubs and train cars to convert them into isolation centers for those infected with the coronavirus.

"It is something I would never have thought I would do in my entire career in hospitality," explains Ritu Yadav, a manager at the luxurious Suryaa Hotel, where the first patients will arrive shortly.

In Iran, with 2,456 new cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the number of infected to 220,180 and 10,364 victims, the supreme guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned on Saturday that the economic situation will worsen if the country fails to control the spread of the virus.

NO BARS OR ALCOHOL

With more than 125,000 deaths and almost two and a half million cases, the United States is helplessly witnessing the growth of the pandemic. Contagions increased in 30 of the 50 states, especially California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida.

Texas, one of the first states to reopen its economy, suspended the lack of confidence that started this month and ordered the bars closed, and Florida, famous for its nightlife, banned the sale of alcohol in bars.

"We face serious problems in some areas," Anthony Fauci, a White House medical adviser, warned at a news conference, urging Americans to behave responsibly.

The figures are also growing in Latin America, where the famous peak of the epidemic - when the cases begin to decrease - has not yet arrived, with 108,222 deaths and almost 2.4 million cases.

Brazil continues to be the most affected country in the region, behind only the United States, with almost 56,000 deaths and 1.27 million infections, according to official data.

The advance of the epidemic led the Argentine government to tighten the quarantine measures imposed in Buenos Aires and its periphery, the epicenter of the disease in Argentina, which reports 1,200 deaths and totals 55,330 cases.

Away from the capital, in Bariloche, in the Argentine Andes, the first snows of the boreal winter fell, but the covid-19 pandemic has closed hotels and has taken skiers off the slopes of this exclusive ski resort.

Faced with the dilemma of what comes first, whether health or the economy, the Peruvian government decided to end the national quarantine to reactivate work.

The deceased already exceed 25,000 in Mexico, where the Minister of Finance, Arturo Herrera, tested positive for coronavirus three days after meeting with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

NEAR HALF A MILLION DEAD

The new coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of at least 494,337 people worldwide since China reported the disease in December, and 9.8 million infected, according to AFP.

In Europe, the need to reconcile tourism with coronaviruses keeps authorities vigilant in the face of the numerous new outbreaks that are detected in the midst of lack of confidence.

The town of Lloret de Mar, on the Catalan Costa Brava, has reinforced municipal staff to monitor holidaymakers and will use a drone to detect crowds and warn with a prerecorded message of the need to maintain safe distances.

Colored strings mark the stripes reserved for each age group. The objective is "to find the balance between people being comfortable and relaxed and at the same time being a safe environment", explains Jaume Dulset, mayor of this municipality of 37,000 inhabitants 70 kilometers from Barcelona.

Another victim of the coronavirus is the colorful Gay Pride marches. However, LGBT groups carry out a marathon of music activities, colloquia and interviews on Saturday to give visibility to the fight for equal rights of the lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual community, which hopes to gather hundreds of millions of people in front of their computers.

Participants include pop singers Kesha and Ava Max, as well as political guests such as Carlos Alvarado, the president of Costa Rica, a country that has just legalized same-sex marriage.