New measures, new reports and highlights: the update of this Wednesday, December 29, 2021 on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic in the world.
The situation in France
Public Health France figures announced on Friday indicated that France had registered 232,200 new cases of Covid-19 in twenty-four hours, a new record. The Omicron variant, now in the majority, contributed to the surge in cases, which exceeded 200,000 per day in France on Wednesday and Thursday. Faced with this “tidal wave”, the government announced new health restriction measures such as the compulsory use of teleworking in the companies concerned or the return of gauges for public events.
The number of hospitalizations linked to Covid-19 continues to increase, with more than 3,500 patients in critical care who are treating the most serious cases, according to figures released Friday by Public Health France. In total, French hospitals welcome 18,715 Covid patients, including 1,928 new admissions in 24 hours. Critical care services, including resuscitation, take care of 3,543 patients (3,306 the day before) suffering from the most serious forms of the disease. And counted 320 new admissions between Thursday and Friday. In 24 hours, 189 people have succumbed to Covid, bringing the total death toll to 123,741 since the start of the epidemic.
It is still unclear to what extent this explosion of contaminations will result in serious, potentially fatal forms, overwhelming hospitals and forcing more drastic restrictions. Since the start of the vaccination campaign, 76.8% of French people have been fully vaccinated (i.e. 51,756,570 people), and 78.5% have received at least one injection (52,914,262 people).
In his wishes to the nation, French President Emmanuel Macron however declared himself “resolutely optimistic”, wishing that 2022 also be “the year of exit from the epidemic”.
To read : Emmanuel Macron: “2022 may be the year of the end of the epidemic”
The number of new cases of Covid-19 has quadrupled in four days in Guadeloupe, a rate “well above the alert threshold”, announced Friday the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and the prefecture. As of December 31, the number of new cases accumulated over four days is 2,191 (against 543 cases over 7 days last week), for 18,300 people tested. The 10-19 year olds and the 20-39 year old represent 65% of these new cases. The shift towards older age groups is underway, details a press release. “The positivity rate is 10.4%, and the incidence rate is 634 / 100,000 inhabitants over the last 7 rolling days. These rates are very clear increase, and now the rates have fallen in a few days very low. – Above the alert threshold. The spread of the virus is exponential, “the text warns.
The situation in the world
A second New Year under the shadow of the covid. The world celebrated the transition to 2022 on Saturday with often restricted festivities, against the backdrop of an explosion in Covid contaminations, and in mourning in India where 12 people died in a crowd movement during traditional New Year’s prayers.
The symbolic milestone of one million daily cases of coronavirus in the world was crossed in the last hours of the year 2021, after the emergence of the Omicron variant, which is particularly contagious, according to an AFP count. Officially, more than 5.4 million people have died since the virus was first identified in China in December 2019. Experts hope the year 2022 will mark a new, less deadly phase of the pandemic.
The distribution of vaccines to about 60% of the world’s population offers a glimmer of hope, although some poor countries still have limited access and a segment of the population remains reluctant to do so. But the World Health Organization foresees trying months ahead; its leader, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying he fears that Omicron “more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta, causes a tsunami of cases”.
The balance sheet in the world
The pandemic has killed at least 5,428,240 people worldwide since December 2019, according to an assessment established by AFP from official sources, Thursday in the middle of the day. The United States is the most bereaved country with 825,477 dead, followed by Brazil (618,984), India (481,080) and Russia (308,860). The World Health Organization estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that officially recorded.
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