The essential
Vaccination of children is "desirable" but not mandatory, says Emmanuel Macron.
In France, there are 153 deaths in 24 hours, and the threshold of 15,000 hospitalizations has been crossed.
The Omicron variant could be dominant in Europe by mid-January, warns Ursula von der Leyen.
Marcel Meys, the oldest of the French, died at the age of 112 from Covid.
More than 78,000 cases have been identified in the United Kingdom, unheard of since the start of the pandemic.
Follow the events of the day live:
6:35 am.
Morocco will close its borders after a first case of the Omicron variant.
Morocco will soon close its borders.
“After investigation, we discovered that this variant is not entering, it is local.
It is the result of a transfer in the city of Casablanca ”, explained the Minister of Health.
The authorities have decided to end from December 23 the system put in place to allow Moroccans stranded abroad to return to their country and all passenger flights to the kingdom will be banned.
6:20 a.m.
The Omicron variant at the heart of the European summit of 27.
The leaders of the Twenty-Seven will today try to improve their coordination in the face of the Covid outbreak and the rapid progression of the Omicron variant. Already, several countries of the European Union have started to restrict the conditions of entry into their territory unilaterally. To combat the progression of the Omicron variant, executives should stress the importance of further expanding vaccination, including the administration of booster doses. Some 67% of the European population is fully vaccinated but this rate is below 50% in three countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia), Croatia being barely above (50.4%). But the WHO warned that vaccination alone would not be enough to fight the spread of the Omicron variant.
6:15 a.m. South Korea is reinstating mandatory closing hours.
Authorities in South Korea have announced the reinstatement of mandatory closing times at 10 p.m. for cafes, restaurants, cinemas and other public places, and of limiting gatherings to four people, in an attempt to stem a new outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of those restrictions had been relaxed in South Korea in November, following a decline in the epidemic. The new rules, which will take effect Saturday for at least two weeks.
6:05 am.
China has reached 100,000 cumulative patients since the start of the epidemic.
Two years after its appearance, the number of people who have been infected by the Covid has just exceeded this symbolic bar.
Apart from small sporadic foci, the country has managed to stop the spread of the coronavirus on its soil from the spring of 2020. The population has resumed an almost normal life, thanks to a drastic prevention policy.
The Ministry of Health reported on Thursday 77 new patients nationwide.
By way of comparison, the United Kingdom on Wednesday reported a record 78,610 contaminations in just 24 hours.
6 hours.
Welcome to this live.
It will allow you to follow the events and the evolution of the pandemic throughout the day.