The International Monetary Fund will probably have to raise its estimate of losses to global GDP caused by Covid until 2024 from the current 12.5 trillion dollars. This was stated by the director general of the IMF Kristalina Geoergieva during a webinar organized by the Financial Times on global recovery and vaccine nationalism.
She therefore weighs the new wave that has swept the world with new case records from Mexico, to Brazil, to Pakistan, while other countries begin to see the flattening of the pandemic curve and to ease restrictions.
UNITED KINGDOM -
The return to Plan A opens today in London, as established by the British government, which envisages in the first phase the lifting of the anti Covid restrictions regarding the indication of smart working where possible and the obligation of masks in schools.
Measures that are therefore no longer in force in England, as is happening in ways and times decided at the local level in the other nations of the United Kingdom, usually in line in pandemic matters with what is decided by London.
The second stage of the farewell to plan B starts on January 27: in that case the legal obligation to wear masks in public places and the mini green pass provided only for access to discos or mass collective events will be eliminated.
FRANCE -
After the announcement arrived yesterday by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the end of most of the anti Covid restrictions in the coming days, France could give signals in the same direction, even if the health situation in the country still does not allow for a start of easing of the rules with the dissemination of a timetable for the end of the restrictions. For several days, in France, the data from hospitals have been improving in particular, and in particular those of the number of patients in intensive care, which have fallen sharply. But hospitalizations and above all the number of daily infections - over 400,000 - remain high. Beyond the Alps it is the second day of
strike and demonstrations by teachers
against the government's management of the health emergency in schools.
SWEDEN -
Sweden will relax the quarantine rules for Covid to prevent the wave of infections fueled by Omicron from leading to social paralysis. The positives or those who live with a positive will have to isolate themselves for 5 days and no more 7, and some categories, such as those who work in health care and the police, will not have to go into quarantine even if in contact with positives.
THAILAND -
From February 1st, Thailand
will lift the quarantine obligation
for fully vaccinated travelers arriving from abroad.
This was announced by the local authorities, thus putting an end to the tightening introduced at the end of December in light of the spread of the Omicron variant.
Immunized tourists will still be required to have a negative test carried out in the country of origin, another upon arrival and a last one 5 days later.
AUSTRIA -
The Austrian parliament will vote in the evening on the vaccination requirement which should come into effect in February. In addition, Vienna will introduce a
national lottery with prizes of 500 euros
to encourage those who have not yet vaccinated against Covid to immunize themselves: the government has announced, according to the Guardian. The government will also allocate 400 million euros for the 'virtuous' municipalities with the highest percentage of immunized.
UNITED STATES -
The United States has adopted an emergency measure to ensure the functioning of the schools.
Some US states are resorting to increasingly extreme measures to avoid the closure of schools due to staff shortages due to the increase in cases of covid for the Omicron variant.
And so
the National Guard
was called
in place of the teachers
.
State workers can now serve as alternate teachers in some districts hit hard by the virus, while other states are loosening rules to speed up the hiring of alternate teachers or to bring retirees back to class.
The overcoming of the peak of infections for the Omicron variant could arrive in the country by mid-February, according to the US virologist Anthony Fauci. The White House super expert believes it is still too early to predict whether Omicron's rapid spread will help push the covid from the pandemic phase to a more manageable endemic phase. But "I hope so", he added as reported by CNN.
UNITED NATIONS -
Good news arrives for the poorest countries.
Generic drug manufacturers will offer a
low-cost version of the anti Covid pill
, developed by the pharmaceutical giant Merck, for the 105 poorest countries: the organization supported by the UN Medicines Patent Pool announced today.
'' This is a critical step to ensure global access to the urgently needed anti Covid treatment and we are confident that these treatments will be available shortly in low and middle income countries, '' commented the director of the Medicines Patent Pool, Charles Gore