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 due to Covid-19 were stable on Wednesday, still above 32,000, while the recorded contaminations declined over a week, according to figures published in the evening by the health authorities.
32,720 patients are currently in hospital with a Covid diagnosis (including 3,230 admissions in the past 24 hours) compared to 32,894 on Tuesday and 30,624 a week ago, according to Public Health France. Critical care services welcomed 3,700 patients (including 366 admissions) against 3,751 on Tuesday and 3,712 a week ago.
The number of new cases stood at 315,363. On average over seven days, 306,076 cases were recorded against 365,130 a week ago, seeming to confirm that the peak of contamination has passed. The number of deaths since the start of the epidemic, almost two years ago, now stands at 131,588 people.
According to the counts of the last 24 hours, 277 people died in hospital with a Covid diagnosis (compared to 382 the day before). 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 began on Wednesday to lift restrictions on the French, ending the wearing of masks outside, gauges in places receiving the seated public or compulsory teleworking. But in New Caledonia, a state of emergency has been declared.
To read : “A health disaster”: the government declares a state of emergency in New Caledonia
Australia denies importing Covid into Tonga Islands
An Australian defense official has assured that a warship delivering aid to the Tonga Islands after a volcanic eruption and tsunami was not the source of the first cases of Covid-19 in the archipelago.
The Australian ship HMAS Adelaide docked last week in Nuku’alofa, the capital, to unload aid, despite the discovery on board of a focus of contamination among the crew.
The kingdom of 100,000 inhabitants was until then one of the few countries spared from the virus.
Switzerland foresees the endemic Covid
Switzerland believes that the Covid-19 crisis is about to enter its endemic and therefore more manageable phase, and plans to lift all health restrictions by mid-February.
The signs of an imminent end to the crisis are increasing, “hitting a glimpse of the start of the endemic phase”, underlines a government press release announcing the lifting from February 3 of the quarantine for contact cases and the obligation to work. home.
The balance sheet in the world
The pandemic has officially killed at least 5,686,108 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP on Wednesday midday. The United States is the country with the most deaths (890,770), ahead of Brazil (628,067), India (497,975) and Russia (332,690).
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.
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