marathon vaccination in Tunisia, end of screening in the Chinese city of Wuhan

The Covid-19 pandemic has killed at least 4.28 million people and more than 202 million cases have been recorded worldwide since the end of 2019, according to a count carried out on Sunday August 8 in the middle of the day by Agence France- Press from official reports. However, 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 established.

  • In Tunisia, a marathon vaccination day to try to respond to the crisis

Tunisia, which has been facing a serious health crisis for several months, conducted an intense vaccination campaign against Covid-19 on Sunday during a day ” open doors “, after obtaining more than six million doses from Arab and Western countries. 551,008 people over 40, hosted in 335 centers, were vaccinated on this occasion, an initiative of President Kais Saied, announced the Ministry of Health. The crowd was high in the middle of the day, according to AFP correspondents. At 1 pm, they were more than 302,000 to have received a dose of vaccine, according to the monitoring unit of the Ministry of Health.

Late in its vaccination campaign, Tunisia has been hit hard by the Delta variant: since March, the number of deaths due to the new coronavirus has more than doubled to more than 20,000. Officially, this country of 11 million inhabitants today have one of the worst death rates in the world linked to the pandemic. With the millions of doses of vaccine that have poured in following donations in recent weeks, Tunisia officially hopes to vaccinate around 50% of its population by mid-October. About two million people have received a first dose of the vaccine since the campaign began in March.

  • In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, improvement in Kinshasa but resurgence in Lubumbashi

The Congolese authorities have noted an overall improvement in the situation on the front lines of the Covid-19 epidemic, in Kinshasa in particular, but not in Lubumbashi where non-wearing of the mask will be punishable from Monday to seven days in prison, we learned Sunday from official sources.

“We have seen a significant drop in Covid-19 cases across the country, especially in the city of Kinshasa, with some increases in the provinces”, in Haut-Katanga, Lualaba, North Kivu and South Kivu, in the south and east of the country, said the Minister of Health, Jean-Jacques Mbungani, after a meeting of the “Multisectoral response committee against the Covid-19 pandemic” chaired Friday by Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde. An expert report attesting to this decrease was submitted to the head of government, “Who will discuss with the Head of State so that appropriate measures are taken”, he added, according to a press release released by the Prime Minister’s services.

  • In Brunei, the first local cases detected in fifteen months

Brunei has decreed health restrictions to curb the expansion of Covid-19, after the discovery of the first cases of local transmission in fifteen months. Seven local contaminations were detected, the health ministry said on Saturday, pushing the government to close all places of worship and postpone planned events by two weeks. Gatherings will be limited to 30 people during this period, teaching will be done remotely and restaurants will no longer be able to serve indoors.

The small oil-rich Islamic emirate has remained virtually free from the coronavirus, recording only three deaths since the start of the pandemic. More than half of its 347 cases listed so far have been imported, with Covid-19 remaining under control thanks to severe border controls and quarantine measures.

  • In China, end of the vast screening operation in Wuhan

Wuhan authorities have announced the end of the vast Covid-19 screening operation among the 11 million inhabitants of this Chinese city, organized after a resurgence in the number of cases, more than a year and a half after the coronavirus made its appearance there. The tests carried out since Tuesday allow a “Full coverage” of the entire population of this metropolis except children under six and students who went on vacation, Li Tao, a senior municipal official, said at a press conference, according to the news agency Xinhua. Authorities said they had mobilized more than 28,000 caregivers and 2,800 sites for the screening campaign.

Wuhan had recorded 37 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases on Saturday while 41 asymptomatic carriers were discovered in the latest round of tests, according to Xinhua. City officials announced last week that seven cases of contamination had been discovered among migrant workers from other provinces. China had practically eradicated the epidemic a year ago, after the emergence of the coronavirus in Wuhan at the end of 2019 and a first outbreak which had led to an extremely severe containment of the population of this city in early 2020, but it is facing a renewed illness.

  • American children must wear masks at school, pleads health official

All children should wear a protective mask when they re-enter American schools, otherwise they will see new outbreaks resurface and have to return to distance education, recommended Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH ). The mask “Is a medical tool that saves lives”, launched the health manager on the ABC channel.

The question of wearing a mask, especially at school, is still causing tension in the United States, especially in Florida, where Republican Governor Ron DeSantis threatens to cut funds to schools wishing to follow the recommendations of the main public health agency on wearing a mask at school. “Children can transmit Covid-19 even if they have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all”, insisted the Centers for the fight and prevention of diseases (CDC) in a tweet Sunday morning, recommending the wearing of the mask from the age of 2 years in closed public places, including schools.

The World with AFP