New measures, new reports and highlights: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.
The situation in France
Hospitalizations continue to rise. The rise in the number of people hospitalized and admitted to intensive care due to Covid-19 continued on Monday, according to health authorities. Some 32,374 patients are currently in hospital with a Covid diagnosis (compared to 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). The number of new cases stood at 82,657: it is always lower on Mondays due to the weekend. 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 (against 127 the day before).
Restrictions lifted on Wednesday. Now dominant, the Omicron variant causes less severe forms of Covid, which results in shorter hospital stays and a lower risk of going to intensive care. The government has therefore decided to start lifting restrictions on the French from Wednesday, ending the wearing of masks outside, gauges or compulsory teleworking.
Vaccination. 53,986,046 people have received at least one injection (80.1% of the total population) and 52,720,676 are fully vaccinated (78.2% of the population). Since the start of the booster campaign, 35,523,188 people have received a booster dose.
The boss of Paris-2024 deprived of JO. The president of the Olympic Games-2024 organizing committee Tony Estanguet, positive for Covid-19, will not travel to Beijing for the 2022 Olympic Games, Paris-2024 announced on Monday to AFP.
The situation in the world
The balance sheet: More than 5.66 million dead. The pandemic has officially killed more than 5.66 million people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP on Monday at 11:00 GMT. The United States is the country with the most deaths (884,260), ahead of Brazil (626,854) and India (495,050). 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 established.
Euro zone: GDP rebound. Gross domestic product (GDP) in the euro zone recorded historic growth of 5.2% last year, as in the whole of the EU, in line with forecasts from Brussels, according to a first estimate made public Monday by Eurostat. These figures confirm that the economy has recovered well after a collapse linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, GDP recorded a no less historic fall of 6.4% in the 19 countries sharing the single currency and 5.9% within the European Union, according to the European statistics office.
Justin Trudeau tested positive. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he had tested positive for Covid-19, but had no serious symptoms. “I feel good, and I will continue to work remotely this week, in accordance with public health instructions,” said the head of the Canadian government, who recently received his third dose of vaccine, on Twitter.
The Moderna fully licensed in the USA. Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, which previously only had emergency use authorization in the United States, is now fully licensed in the country for people over 18, authorities said on Monday. sanitary.
Cyprus: unvaccinated priests threatened with suspension. The head of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus has warned that he will suspend a dozen unvaccinated priests from Tuesday if they continue to refuse vaccination against Covid-19 and encourage the faithful to act in this direction. Priests and theologians refuse to be vaccinated, for “selfish reasons”, and influence the faithful, accused Archbishop Chrysostomos II. According to him, 27 of the 123 priests in his diocese have not been vaccinated, including 15 who are exempt for medical reasons.
Partygate: Boris Johnson “sorry”. Boris Johnson apologized to MPs on Monday and promised to learn from the mistakes made, after being called to order in a report on parties organized in Downing Street during confinement, which shocked the opinion. “I’m sorry for the things we just didn’t do well. And also sorry for the way this matter was handled,” the British prime minister said, trying to salvage his post in the face of the scandal.
More precarious jobs for young Britons (study). Young Britons, particularly hard hit by unemployment at the height of the pandemic, have quickly found work, but many of them are in more precarious jobs, the think tank Resolution Foundation has warned.
Vaccination pass in Libya. The Libyan interim government announced on Monday that access to public places would be subject from February 15 to the obligation to present a vaccination card against Covid, after an increase in the number of cases of contamination. Libya recorded a national record of some 4,500 contaminations and ten additional deaths on Sunday, according to an official report.
Spotify accused of disinformation. Spotify will take steps to combat misinformation about Covid-19 on its platform, the Swedish online music giant announced on Sunday, after a boycott movement launched by folk-rock legend Neil Young. The world number one in music streaming will in particular introduce links in all its podcasts evoking the Covid, which will guide its users to factual and scientifically sourced information, announced its CEO and founder Daniel Ek. “Based on the feedback we have had over the past few weeks, it has become clear to me that we have an obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely accepted information from the medical and scientific communities,” said the Swedish billionaire said in a statement. The announcement follows a growing controversy instigated by American-Canadian Neil Young, who this week announced the withdrawal of his music from the Swedish platform if it did not give up hosting the podcast of controversial but widely listened to American host Joe Rogan. . The latter is accused of having discouraged vaccination among young people and of having pushed for the use of an unauthorized treatment, ivermectin, against the coronavirus. An online movement to unsubscribe from the platform had been launched on social networks, and country singer Joni Mitchell had in turn announced her withdrawal from Spotify on Friday. The controversy had also raised the debate on the new responsibilities of streaming platforms on disinformation, like the measures taken by social networks like Facebook in recent years.
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