New measures, new reports and highlights: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.
The situation in France
One week before the end of the obligation to wear a mask (except for public transport) and the suspension of the vaccine pass, the number of patients hospitalized due to Covid-19 continues to slowly decrease, according to daily figures published by the health authorities.
Hospitals had 22,208 hospitalized patients on Monday with a diagnosis of Covid-19 (including 1,274 admitted in the past 24 hours), 45 less than the day before (22,253) and 2,871 less than a week ago (25,079).
The critical care services received 2,089 patients (including 153 admissions). This is slightly more than the day before (2,079), but 367 less than last Monday (2,456). The number of new positive cases stood at 14,496, according to Public Health France. Monday figures are not necessarily representative due to the closure of many laboratories on weekends. The seven-day average, the most faithful witness to the real trend in recorded contaminations, stood at 52,715 cases, down from the 57,034 cases recorded last Monday. Hospital deaths in 24 hours stood at 173, bringing to 139.451 the number of deaths since the start of this epidemic, a little over two years ago.
Vaccination continues, at a moderate pace: 54.23 million French people have received at least one dose (i.e. 80.4% of the population), nearly 53.3 million are fully vaccinated (79% of the total population) , and more than 39.19 million received a booster dose, according to the General Directorate of Health.
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Case spike in China
More than 500 infections were reported across mainland China on Monday, the highest number since the initial outbreak in the central city of Wuhan was brought under control in mid-2020. Still applying a zero-Covid policy, the country reacts to epidemic outbreaks with local confinements, mass testing and control of its population through tracing applications. Authorities are currently trying to contain outbreaks in more than a dozen cities.
Expats flee Hong Kong
Faced with the chaos linked to the Omicron variant, more than 71,000 people, including 63,000 residents, left Hong Kong in February, a record since the start of the pandemic.
Foreign workers make up around 8% of Hong Kong’s population and some expats are leaving for fear of being separated from their children if they catch the coronavirus. Cases of young children being snatched from their parents after testing positive to be placed in solitary confinement have indeed been reported in recent weeks. Since the start of the pandemic, the city of 7.4 million inhabitants has applied a strict “zero-covid” policy thanks to which it has recorded only 12,000 cases in two years. But since the appearance of Omicron in January, the number of infections has exploded, with now tens of thousands of daily cases.
Bali relaxes entry rules
The tourist island of Bali, Indonesia, on Tuesday lifted the quarantine for vaccinated travelers from more than 20 countries and reintroduced visas on arrival for vacationers, in view of a reopening of the country.
This easing of constraints comes as the wave of infections with the Omicron variant decreases in the Southeast Asian archipelago, and after some international airlines have resumed direct flights to Indonesia in recent weeks.
The situation in the world
The pandemic has officially killed at least 5,996,378 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, out of more than 444 million confirmed contaminations, according to a report established by AFP on Tuesday at 11 a.m. GMT.
The United States is the country with the most deaths (958,621), ahead of Brazil (652,143) and India (515,102). But compared to the population, the countries where the epidemic has wreaked the most havoc are Peru with 640 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, Bulgaria (515), Bosnia and Herzegovina (473), Hungary (458), and North Macedonia (436).
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.
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