SITUATION UPDATE – New measures, new reports and highlights: Le Figaro takes stock of the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pandemic is declining almost anywhere in the world, the suspension of court services in the midst of the Covid wave in Hong Kong, nearly 6 million deaths worldwide … Le Figaro takes stock this Friday, March 4 of the latest information related to Covid- 19 .
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162 died in 24 hours, 22,643 hospitalized patients
162 deaths have been counted in the last 24 hours, according to French public health. 22,643 hospitalized patients, including 1,012 from the previous day. 2,153 people were treated in intensive care – 104 of them arrived at these services this Friday. 57,789 new cases were discovered.
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This week, the pandemic is declining almost everywhere in the world
The Covid-19 pandemic continued its sharp decline in the world this week, with infection slowing everywhere except in Asia and Oceania. With 1.47 million pollutants recorded every day worldwide, the figure is falling sharply for the fifth consecutive week (-12% over the previous week), according to an AFP report stopped on Thursday. Daily pollution has been reduced by more than half since its peak at the end of January (3.37 million daily cases).
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This week in Asia and Oceania alone, their situation has deteriorated, with 25% and 72% more pollution, respectively, than the previous week. South Korea became the country with the highest number of new infections in absolute terms this week (170,300 cases per day, + 40%), dethroning Germany (153,700, -7%). Third place is Vietnam (120,600, + 119%).
Globally, the number of daily deaths continues to decline (-19%, 7,596 deaths per day). The United States has the highest number of daily deaths in absolute terms, 1,644 per day this week, ahead of Russia (776) and Brazil (455). In proportion to the population in terms of pollution, the area with the highest number of deaths in the past week is Hong Kong (12.6 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants), ahead of Latvia (6.6) and Georgia (6). (3) .
Omicron represents “99.6% of interpretable sequences” in France, according to authorities
In its latest weekly update on Thursday, Public Health France stated that “Omicron represents 99.6% of interpretable sequences” during the week of February 14-20. “The epidemic situation has continued to improve,” the organization said, adding that “all virological and hospital indicators have decreased.” Between 21 and 27 February, 392,427 new cases were opened, up from 560,510 in the previous week.
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End of the mask and the vaccination pass on March 14 in France
French Prime Minister Jean Castex has announced the cessation of wearing a mask wherever it is mandatory, except in transport and the suspension of the vaccination pass, as of March 14. However, the health pass will remain in effect in hospitals such as hospitals and retirement homes, as well as the vaccination obligation for carers, he said.
“The situation is improving thanks to our collective efforts, thanks to the measures we have taken (..), conditions are being created for a new phase of easing the measures,” the head of government said.
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Ireland: The president is positive about Covid-19
Irish President Michael D. Higgins, 80, has tested positive for Covid-19 and is suffering from “mild” symptoms, a spokesman said on Friday. The head of state and his wife Sabina, both positive, “will be isolated for the next seven days,” the spokesman said. “The president, while isolated, continues to work remotely,” he added. The president essentially performs ceremonial functions in Ireland.
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Hong Kong: Suspension of full-court litigation by Covid
Judicial services have been suspended for a month in Hong Kong, where more than 50,000 new Covid-19 cases have been registered for the third day in a row, authorities said on Friday. The epidemic has reached its worst in recent days, flooding hospitals and undermining the government’s Zero Covid strategy.
Most of the hearings scheduled for March 7th and April 11th will be postponed in order to “strike a balance between public health considerations and the administration of justice,” the judicial services said in a statement. Therefore, the provisional hearing and the urgent requests were not affected by the suspension. Authorities say about 1,000 prisoners tested positive, and local media reported that judges were also infected.
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Brazil recovered from Covid and returned to growth in 2021
Brazil emerged from recession in the last quarter of 2021 and Latin America’s largest economy returned to growth last year, with a 4.6% recovery in GDP offsetting the crisis-related decline in coronavirus in 2020. These figures published on Friday by the statistical institute IBGE, are in line with analysts’ expectations after the 3.9% decline in 2020.
“The numbers are positive, not surprising, but it’s not a solid recovery, because we expected things to return to normal,” Sylvia Matos, an economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, told AFP. For 2022, experts consulted for the latest weekly Focus survey by the central bank expect weak growth of just 0.3%.
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Nearly 6 million dead worldwide
The pandemic has officially killed at least 5,962,297 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, out of more than 436 million confirmed infections, according to a report released by AFP on Wednesday afternoon.
The United States is the country with the highest number of deaths (956,440), ahead of Brazil (650,578), India (514,246) and Russia (353,230). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, taking into account the over-mortality directly and indirectly related to Covid-19, that the number of pandemics could be two to three times higher than officially established.