Covid-19: hospitalizations on the rise, contaminations on the decline, in France

The Paris police headquarters signs the end of the outdoor mask from February 2. The lifting of health restrictions is becoming clearer. The Paris police headquarters notifies the end of wearing a mask outdoors in Paris and on the premises of the three Parisian airports, from February 2, 2022, in application of the government announcements of January 20. The end of a series of round trips on the subject after the introduction of the obligation on December 31, its suspension by the courts on January 13, the return of the obligation to places frequented on January 17, before it is lifted on February 2, therefore.

Does the drop in contamination herald the end of the fifth wave? Some 32,374 patients are currently in hospital with a Covid diagnosis (up from 29,748 seven days ago and 31,536 on Sunday). Critical care services welcomed 3,700 patients, slightly more than the day before (3,641 patients), but less than last Monday (3,776). On average over seven days, 334,363 cases have been recorded, according to Public Health France (against 360,912 a week ago), which seems to indicate the beginning of a reflux. However, the number of cases remains at levels never seen before the arrival at the end of 2021 of the particularly contagious Omicron variant. According to the counts of the last 24 hours, 348 people died in hospital.

Data on hospitalizations for Covid-19 and with Covid-19 finally available. Public Health France completes the data it puts online. We can now distinguish hospitalizations for Covid-19 from those with Sars-Cov-2 but for another reason. Entries with the virus but for another reason now reach more than 31% of new hospitalizations.

Moderna’s Covid vaccine fully licensed in the United States. Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, which until now only had emergency use authorization in the United States, is now fully authorized in the country for people aged 18 and over, health authorities announced on Monday. . This is the second vaccine against Covid-19 fully approved in the United States, that of Pfizer having been approved at the end of August 2021, for all people aged 16 and over.

“Partygate”: Boris Johnson apologizes but refuses to resign. The publication of an administrative report on the parties organized during the confinement in Downing Street kept the United Kingdom in suspense all this Monday. Written by senior civil servant Sue Gray, it found “errors of leadership and judgment”and believed that lessons should be learned “at once”. Criticism has flared against the British Prime Minister who said he was “sorry” before Parliament and promised to learn from it. Opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer, who is calling for his resignation, called him “shameless man”, but Boris Johnson has formally ruled out the possibility of a departure from 10 Downing Street. The bamboche, it’s not over!

Justin Trudeau infected with Covid-19. The Canadian Prime Minister announced on Monday that he received a positive result without however having serious symptoms. “I feel good, and I will continue to work remotely this week, in accordance with public health guidelines”, he claimed on Twitter. The head of government had already been in solitary confinement since Friday following the infection of one of his children. This weekend, major protests against health measures were taking place across the country and its capital, Ottawa.

A Danish study claims that the BA.2 subvariant is more contagious. This version of the virus, which uses the omicron pattern (BA.1) but presents several new mutations, represents only 2% of omicron cases, but is the majority in Denmark. The Statens Serum Institut study analyzed nearly 8,500 Covid-19 infections. According to his results, patients infected with the BA.2 strain are 33% more likely to transmit the disease.

Germany is missing its vaccination target. The German government, which had set itself the goal of reaching 80% vaccination coverage before the end of January, did not succeed. This Monday, January 31, the vaccination rate across the Rhine is only 75.8%. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit did not indicate a new date for reaching the 80% threshold but insisted on the need to increase the rate of vaccination.

In Cyprus, unvaccinated priests will be suspended. The law of the Covid stronger than that of God. The head of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos II said on Sunday that a dozen clerics in his diocese would be suspended for three months from Tuesday if they still refused to be vaccinated. Priests and theologians refuse to be vaccinated, for “selfish motives”, and influence the faithful, accused the prelate who has supported the government vaccination campaign from the start. In total, approximately 74.7% of the Cypriot population received a first dose of the vaccine.

The end of the obligation to vaccinate caregivers envisaged in England. Secretary of State for Health Sajid David is due to meet the cabinet committee on Covid operations today to discuss a possible reversal of the vaccination obligation. Healthcare workers, who must have had their two shots by April, may eventually be exempt. Patricia Marquis, director of the Royal College of Nursing, which represents all nurses in the country, believes that such a decision was justified in view of the lesser danger of the omicron variant. “The main problem for us at the moment is the shortage of nurses. It would make no sense to lose thousands and other healthcare workers.”she said on BBC Radio 4.

Spotify announces measures against Covid misinformation. Perhaps the beginning of the end of the controversy surrounding the Swedish streaming service’s hosting of antivax podcasts. Its founder, Daniel Ek, announces the introduction of links in all its podcasts evoking the Covid-19, which will guide its users to factual and scientifically sourced information. Meanwhile, comedian Joe Rogan, who sparked controversy after comments criticizing vaccinations on one of his shows, apologized in a video posted on Instagram. Last week, Canadian folk legends Neil Young and Joni Mitchell decided to remove all their music from the streaming platform to denounce the comments of the number one listener to podcasts on Spotify in 2021.

Austria lifts lockdown on unvaccinated. The approximately 320,000 Austrians reluctant to vaccinate today regained their freedom to move. They had been forced to stay at home since November. Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein justified this decision by easing the pressure on hospitals. However, they will remain excluded from restaurants, hotels, cultural and sports venues which require a vaccination pass and will be subject from February 4 to the vaccination obligation which will come into force. From this date, any offender will risk a heavy fine, removed if he is vaccinated within two weeks.

The Paxlovid available in France in February. After the announcement Thursday of its authorization by the European Medicines Agency, the anti-Covid pill from the manufacturer Pfizer, marketed under the name Paxlovid, must arrive in France from February. “Paxlovid is the first oral antiviral medicine recommended in the EU to treat Covid-19,” according to the EMA. The ANSM Medicines Agency, on the other hand, on Friday rejected the authorization request for synthetic antibodies against Covid-19 produced by the French company Xenothera, for lack of“therapeutic benefit” proven at this point, she said.

Peak of contamination in Beijing before the Olympics. Beijing recorded twenty new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, the largest daily toll since June 2020. The Chinese authorities are grappling with epidemic outbreaks in several cities as well as within the “health bubble” of the Olympic Games in winter, which begins on Friday. The approximately 60,000 people who are part of the health bubble, which must prevent any contact with the local population, are subjected to daily tests.

Canada: protests and desecration. Protesters opposed to health measures continued their protest overnight from Saturday to Sunday in Ottawa, while criminal investigations were opened in connection with the desecration of national monuments, police said. Truckers sympathetic to the “Freedom Convoy” blocked a cross-border highway on the other side of the country, in Western Canada. They oppose the obligation to vaccinate to cross the Canada-US land border, the longest in the world.

Bhutan in turn affected, with a fourth death. Bhutan recorded one Covid death this week, only the fourth in this Himalayan country. Despite one of the lowest death tolls in the world, the Prime Minister of this kingdom of 800,000 people has called on the population to redouble their efforts, the nation cannot afford to “losing citizens to preventable disease”.