> The essential
In France, the latest report shows 30,303 contaminations in 24 hours and 266 deaths.
Nearly 4,000 people are in intensive care.
More than 4.1 million French people have received the first dose of a vaccine;
half of them received two doses.
Health Minister Olivier Véran holds the government's weekly press conference at 6 p.m.
Medical evacuations will take place soon in Ile-de-France.
Containment was extended over the weekend in the Alpes-Maritimes.
The pandemic has killed more than 2.6 million people worldwide since its onset.
> Live events of the day
7:30 am.
American athletes should be vaccinated "well before" the Olympics.
The United States Olympic Committee (USOPC) expects American athletes scheduled to participate in the Tokyo Olympics (July 23 - August 8) to be vaccinated "well in advance" against Covid-19, given the acceleration of the vaccination campaign in the country.
"The situation looks very positive ... the vast majority of athletes could have access to the vaccine sooner than we initially thought."
7:20 a.m.
In Wallis and Futuna, 18,000 vaccines.
“No less than 18,000 doses of vaccines” will be sent next week to the Wallis and Futuna Islands, where 67 first cases of Covid-19 were detected in five days, announces Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of Overseas France.
In a statement on Wallis-and-Futuna La 1ère television, he indicates that this volume represents "a sufficient quantity to vaccinate all adults who wish it in Wallis-and-Futuna", a Polynesian archipelago of approximately 11,500 inhabitants.
"It is a mass action: we will be able to vaccinate the entire territory to stop the spread of the virus as soon as possible," he also said.
7:10.
Half-price tickets to boost tourism in Australia.
Nearly a million Australians will be able to fly at half price to discover the huge island-continent as part of a government plan to boost domestic tourism.
The government will spend 1.2 billion Australian dollars (778,000 euros) to subsidize 800,000 plane tickets to regions far from large cities and "heavily dependent on international tourism".
Australia's external borders have been closed for a year.
At the beginning of March, this measure was extended for three months.
7 hours.
The English variant is more lethal.
The English variant is not only more contagious but also 64% more deadly than the classic Covid-19, according to an English study published on Wednesday, which confirms initial observations made at the end of January.
6:50 a.m.
Jordan is extending restrictions.
Jordan is extending its curfew in the face of the resurgence of the disease on its soil.
In effect since February 24 on Fridays, a weekly day off, and effective from Thursday evening 10 p.m. until Saturday 6 a.m., it will now begin at 7 p.m.
Public gardens, sports clubs and hammams are administratively closed.
6:40 am.
Brazil exceeds 2,000 deaths in 24 hours for the first time.
Brazil deplores for the first time more than 2,000 deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours, Wednesday, with a total of 2,286 new deaths.
This country of 212 million inhabitants, the second most bereaved in the world in terms of number of victims after the United States, now has 270,656 dead and 11.2 million infected.
“We are at the worst time of the pandemic in Brazil, the rate of transmission with the variants makes the epidemic even more serious.
The year 2021 will still be very tough, ”says Margareth Dalcolmo, pulmonologist and researcher at Fiocruz, a benchmark public health institute.
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6.30 a.m.
Two positive NBA basketball players.
Without giving their names, the organizer of the NBA, the North American Basketball Championship, announces that two players tested positive last week.
6:20 am.
The United Nations fears a generation of sacrificed children.
Schools closed, poverty and forced marriages on the rise, depressions ... After a year of pandemic, the indicators measuring the development of children and adolescents have almost all "regressed", a decline heralding lasting consequences for a whole generation, warns the Unicef.
“The number of children who are starving, isolated, abused, anxious, living in poverty or forced into marriage has increased,” said Henrietta Fore, director of the United Nations Children's Fund.
“At the same time, their access to education, socialization opportunities and essential services such as health, nutrition and protection has diminished.
Everything indicates that children will suffer the consequences of the pandemic for years to come. ”
In developing countries, projections show a 15% increase in child poverty.
Six to seven million more children could be suffering from malnutrition or wasting (a very strong weight loss) by 2020.
6:10 am.
The South African variant identified in Guadeloupe.
The South African variant was detected for the first time in Guadeloupe, when the archipelago experienced a “stabilization” of its indicators and the British variant predominated.
6 hours.
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