Tens of thousands of people, sometimes going so far as to denounce
“totalitarian”
tendencies
, demonstrated on Saturday in Australia, France and Italy in particular against the health measures imposed to stem the resumption of the Covid-19 epidemic due to the virulent Delta variant.
To discover
Covid-19: what we know about the Delta variant
In France, it is with cries of
"Liberty, liberty!"
, that more than 160,000 people, including 11,000 in Paris, demonstrated against the extension of the health pass and compulsory vaccination for certain professions such as medical personnel.
However, a very large majority of French people (76%) approve of the decision to make vaccination compulsory for healthcare workers and other professions, according to a July 13 survey.
The health pass also receives a majority of approvals.
Yellow stars in Italy
There were also thousands of demonstrators in Italy, protesting again against the adoption of a mandatory health pass to access places closed from August 6.
“Freedom!” “No to dictatorship”
chanted the demonstrators from Naples to Turin.
"Better to die free than to live as a slave"
, one could read on a sign in front of the cathedral of Milan, when in the historic center of Rome, another presented a photo of the portal of the Auschwitz extermination camp (where appears the inscription "Arbeit macht frei", "Work makes you free", note), with these words: "Vaccines make you free".
In Genoa, the demonstrators wore yellow stars which read "not vaccinated".
As in France, the announcement of new restrictive measures in the face of the progression of the Delta variant, however, caused a rush on vaccination: up to + 200% in some regions, according to General Francesco Figliuolo, extraordinary commissioner in charge of the campaign. vaccine.
Sydney scrambles
Earlier today, scuffles took place in Sydney between mounted police and protesters, as residents of the city of five million people are ordered to stay at home for a month.
In Melbourne, thousands of people according to local media had taken to the streets after rallying outside the Victoria State Parliament.
Signs
read
“Wake up Australia”
, slogans echoing messages seen at similar protests overseas.
Vietnam borders
All over the planet, health restrictions are multiplying in order to limit the impact of the dizzying spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus on hospital services.
The pandemic has already killed more than 4.1 million people since the end of 2019.
Vietnam placed the eight million inhabitants of its capital Hanoi in lockdown on Saturday in an attempt to contain the surge in Covid cases, which has already forced a third of the country's population to stay at home.
Authorities reported more than 7,000 new cases on Friday, the third record of infections in a day broken in a week.
Restrictions tightened in Spain
Germany, Europe's largest economy, itself struggling with an acceleration in contaminations, has decided to tighten restrictions on travel to Spain, including the Balearics and the Canaries, in the face of a resurgence of Covid cases in these destinations tourist attractions popular with its citizens.
Spain: quarantine for travelers from Latin America
For its part, Spain will impose a ten-day quarantine on travelers from Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia and Namibia from July 27, the government announced on Saturday.
A measure prompted by the increase in cases in the Latin America and Caribbean region, the most bereaved in the world by the pandemic, which on Saturday exceeded the threshold of 40 million declared cases of Covid-19 for more than 1.3 million deaths .
Critical situation in Lebanon
The situation is also worrying in Lebanon, where the economic collapse and power shortages are making hospitals more vulnerable.
"All hospitals (...) are now less prepared than they were at the time of the wave at the beginning of the year,"
Firass Abiad, director of the Rafic University Hospital, told AFP. Hariri, the largest public hospital in the country.