New measures, new reports and highlights: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.
The situation in France
The number of people hospitalized for Covid-19 was up on Sunday compared to the previous day, and that of patients in critical care was stable, according to official figures released on the eve of the lifting of the vaccine pass and the end of the almost compulsory mask. everywhere. The number of new positive cases for Covid-19 over the past 24 hours was down from the previous day with 60,422 contaminations (72,443 on Saturday), according to data published by Public Health France. But the average of the last seven days, more representative of the trend, is more than 65,250 daily contaminations, against 50,646 last Sunday.
The total number of hospitalized patients reached 20,917 against 20,860 on Saturday and 22,253 people last Sunday. The number of new admissions (285) is down from the previous day (577) but up from that of Sunday the previous week (256). The critical care services, which receive the most serious cases, had 1,855 Covid patients on Sunday (including 27 admissions), almost as many as the day before (1,857). They were 2,079 the previous Sunday.
Over 24 hours, 29 people died in hospital with a Covid-19 diagnosis according to figures released Sunday evening, compared to 52 on Saturday. Vaccination is stagnating, with 6,536 injections in the past 24 hours, according to figures from the Directorate General of Health. In total, 54.25 million people have received at least one injection (80.5% of the total population), 53.32 have a complete vaccination schedule (79.1%) and 39.3 million have received a dose of reminder.
End of indoor mask
This Monday also marks the end of the indoor mask – except in transport and in health establishments. Companies can always decide to impose it on their employees and the Ministry of Education “strongly” recommends it to contact cases “indoors for 7 days after the occurrence of the confirmed case”. The vaccination pass is also lifted. Conceding that there was currently a “recovery of cases”, Jean Castex however excluded, on Saturday, to “change strategy”.
Record in China
China registered 3,393 cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, official data showed, a record since the outbreak began in February 2020. Due to a spike in cases across the country, authorities closed schools in Shanghai and confined several cities in the northeast, while more than ten provinces are rushing to stem local outbreaks. In the northeast of the country, the city of Changchun, which has nine million inhabitants, has been confined since Friday. A partial lockdown was also imposed on Jilin City.
Only one person per household is now allowed to go out, once every two days, to ensure supplies, said the town hall, which is preparing to screen the entire population. This confinement is the largest announced in China since that of the metropolis of Xi’an (north) and its 13 million inhabitants at the end of last year.
The balance sheet in the world
The pandemic has officially made at least 6,026,306 dead worldwide since the end of December 2019, out of more than 451 million confirmed contaminations, according to a report established by AFP on Friday at 11:00 GMT. The United Statess are the country with the most deaths (967.158), in front of Brazil (654,945), India (515,714) and Russia (359,585). But compared to the population, the countries where the epidemic has caused the most damage are Peru with 641 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, Bulgaria (518) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (476).
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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