New measures, new reports and highlights: update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.
The situation in France
New contamination record
France recorded a new record of Covid-19 contamination on Tuesday with nearly 180,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, after having already crossed the threshold of 100,000 cases on Christmas Day. Precisely, 179,807 contaminations were recorded in 24 hours, according to data published Tuesday evening by Public Health France.
Fines for employers reluctant to telework
New turn of the screw on teleworking: faced with the surge in Covid cases, the government wishes to impose administrative fines on companies reluctant to its implementation, an initiative freshly welcomed by employers. The Minister of Labor Elisabeth Borne announced it on Tuesday during a videoconference with the social partners: she wishes to “propose an amendment to the bill (strengthening the tools for managing the health crisis, Editor’s note) to set up more dissuasive and faster sanctions (of an administrative nature) ”.
Discos will remain closed
The nightclubs, which were closed for one month in early December to deal with the health situation, will remain closed for three more weeks in January, said Minister Delegate in charge of Tourism and SMEs, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, on Wednesday.
“On January 3, like the other sectors which were announced by the Prime Minister, for three weeks there will be the renewal of the closure which concerned them”, announced Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne on France Inter, finally removing the doubt that persisted on nightclubs from Jean Castex’s Monday night announcements for other sectors.
The situation in the world
The risk linked to Omicron “very high” according to the WHO
The risk posed by the highly contagious variant of the Omicron coronavirus in the world remains “very high”, warned the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday in its weekly epidemiological bulletin.
“Reliable evidence shows that the Omicron variant has a growth advantage over the Delta variant with a doubling rate of two to three days,” notes the WHO, adding that “a rapid increase in the incidence of cases is observed in a number of countries “.
New daily contamination records
France, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Greece on Tuesday recorded new records of daily cases of Covid-19, proof, according to the authorities, of the meteoric progression of the Omicron variant.
In France, nearly 180,000 cases have been identified in the last 24 hours. Daily record also in the United Kingdom, one of the European countries most affected by the pandemic, with nearly 130,000 infections in England and Wales.
In Greece, the number of cases more than doubled compared to Monday.
Majority Omicron in Switzerland and the Netherlands
The Omicron variant has become dominant in Switzerland (around 55% of cases) and the Netherlands, authorities said on Tuesday, warning of an increase in hospital admissions.
Sharp increase in cases in Argentina
Argentina has experienced an acceleration of the Covid-19 pandemic, with nearly 34,000 new contaminations in the past 24 hours, 10,000 more than the day before, six times more than a week ago, but the chief of the state has so far ruled out new restrictive measures.
More than 5.4 million dead
The Covid-19 pandemic has killed at least 5,404,577 people around the world since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources, Tuesday at 11:00 GMT.
In absolute terms, the United States is the most bereaved country with 820,679 dead, followed by Brazil (618,705), India (480,290) and Russia (306,090).
The World Health Organization (WHO) 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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