Many countries, including France, are facing a fifth wave of the epidemic. Follow all the news related to Covid-19 in France and around the world.
1:58 p.m.
Emmanuel Macron indicated “very clearly” Wednesday during the Council of Ministers that “the democratic deadlines of our country will be maintained”, reported Gabriel Attal.
1:45 p.m.
The Omicron variant is spreading “at a very rapid pace” in France and it could become the majority between Christmas and New Year, warned government spokesman Gabriel Attal on Wednesday, for whom the epidemic could “set off again with a bang”.
The variant “is progressively becoming the majority in several regions of our country, in particular in Ile-de-France, in Paris more particularly. It should be soon at the national level, probably between Christmas and New Year ”, warned the spokesperson at the end of the Council of Ministers.
12:46
The Scandinavian airline said on Wednesday it had to cancel a dozen flights on Wednesday from Stockholm after around thirty the day before around the world, due in particular to the absence of employees affected by Covid-19 or health recommendations.
“We have employees who are sick with symptoms or with someone sick in their home and who stay at home according to current recommendations,” Freja Annamatz, head of the SAS press service, told AFP. The vast majority of flights are maintained as planned, she said.
12:35
Chinese authorities imposed confinement on Wednesday in Xi’an (north), which has 13 million inhabitants, due to a rebound in Covid-19 cases, more than a month from the Beijing Winter Olympics .
The city, known for its army buried in terracotta, had already severely restricted travel on Wednesday to contain an outbreak of Covid-19.
10:38
The number of contaminations should exceed 100,000 per day in France by the end of December due to the very high contagiousness of the new Omicron variant, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran warned on Wednesday.
“We will very likely exceed 100,000 contaminations per day by the end of the month. This is what is expected by the models,” said the minister.
The latest figures, published Tuesday evening by Public Health France, show 72,832 new cases in 24 hours. Over the past seven days, the daily average has climbed to 54,231 daily cases.
09:19
The Minister of Labor, Élisabeth Borne, on Wednesday called on companies to “accelerate” the use of teleworking in the face of Covid-19, asking them to prepare “from now” to “strengthen” it at the start of the school year with a target of 3 to 4 days a week.
“It is clear that with the situation, we must accelerate, strengthen teleworking (…). I ask companies to prepare now to reinforce teleworking at the start of the school year, therefore on January 3, with a target of three days minimum for positions which allow it, or even four days when possible “, declared the minister on Europe 1.
At present, the company health protocol provides that “employers set, within the framework of local social dialogue, the methods of recourse” to teleworking, adding that “in the context of an epidemic recovery, the target must be to two to three days “per week.
08:47
The vaccination of children from 5 to 11 years old is officially open, announced Wednesday the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, who however indicated that the booster dose was not extended to adolescents “for the moment”. “Today we are opening vaccination for children, it’s official”, declared the minister, specifying that on the sites for making appointments online, the category of 5-11 years would be open “in the morning “.
The minister formalized this measure after having “had the favorable opinions of the health and scientific authorities”. “We really have to start this vaccination of children,” he said.
“All you need is the agreement of one of the two parents, a parent will have to be physically present,” he recalled. About 350 centers will ensure with “a particular circuit” the vaccination of children, detailed the minister.
07:30
A new step in the fight against Covid-19. From this Wednesday, December 22, the vaccination of children from 5 to 11 years old is made possible. In total, 5.7 million children are affected. It is therefore all those between 5 and 11 years old, knowing that the vaccination is already open to 12-17 year olds since June 15.
Note that the process was also open since December 15 to the youngest likely to have a severe form of Covid-19 or living under the same roof as an immunocompromised person.
07:21
Two union representatives mobilized against the vaccine obligation in Martinique, including the president of the federation of independent taxis of Martinique, Alain Decaille died from the Covid, AFP learned Tuesday from hospital services. According to union sources, they would have been contaminated during a working meeting with the prefecture, like other participants including the prefect of Martinique, Stanislas Cazelles.
07:03
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday that all Israelis over 60 and medical staff would be entitled to a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, after consulting with a panel of experts.
6:20 a.m.
The life expectancy of Americans fell by more than a year and a half in 2020 compared to the previous year, an unprecedented drop for 75 years, largely linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. The life expectancy of Americans at birth has increased from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77 years in 2020, according to final figures from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), which had previously released provisional data. last July. Covid-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2020, with 350,000 deaths – behind cardiovascular disease and cancer.