Omicron dominates in US, announcements of restrictions by Biden
The Omicron variant is now largely in the majority in the United States, where President Joe Biden is due to deliver a speech on Tuesday, while in Germany, the new Chancellor Olaf Scholz will announce restrictions, without confinement on the agenda.
Omicron accounted for 73.2% of new Covid-19 infections in the United States during the week ending December 18, according to data from US health authorities released Monday evening.
The previous week the figure was only 12.6%.
It is in this context that Joe Biden must announce on Tuesday new “
measures
” aimed at “
increasing access to screening
” for Covid, according to his spokesperson, Jen Psaki.
The president will insist on "
the risks run by unvaccinated individuals"
, but no "
confinement of the country
" is planned, she said.
Read also Covid-19: Biden does not plan to "confine" the United States
Omicron makes progress in the world
Colombia has detected its first three cases of the Omicron variant in two travelers from the United States and one from Spain, according to the health ministry.
Panama has announced that it has recorded a first case of the Omicron variant, a 50-year-old man who had recently traveled to South Africa.
Read also Omicron variant: international experiences to counter it
France passes the bar of 3,000 patients in intensive care
The epidemic continues to grow in France on Monday, where 15,918 patients are currently hospitalized, against 15,528 on Sunday.
1,466 people have been admitted in the last 24 hours.
3,025 Covid-19 patients are also hospitalized in intensive care, including 340 admitted since the day before.
The threshold of 3,000 patients in intensive care had not been reached since May 29.
15,075 cases have also been detected in the last 24 hours, against 12,036 last Monday.
The positivity rate for the tests is 6.8%.
225 people have also died in hospitals in the past 24 hours, bringing the toll to 94,703 hospital deaths since the start of the pandemic in France.
France: vaccination of children imminent
After the Ethics Committee on Friday, the French High Authority for Health in turn spoke out on Monday in favor of vaccination against Covid in children aged five to 11, but does not wish to make it "mandatory".
"Due to its vaccine efficacy against the major variants currently circulating and its satisfactory tolerance profile, the HAS considers that Pfizer's vaccine can be used from the age of 5 years",
with the consent of the parents, announced the Haute Autorité de santé.
The HAS also recommends that priority be given to vaccinating
"middle school students (under 12 years old, whose characteristics are similar to those of other school children) in order to quickly complete the vaccination campaign for children aged 12 and over".
Read also Should children be vaccinated against Covid-19?
182,000 false health passes detected in France
The police have unearthed a total of 182,000 false health passes since the establishment of the device this summer, as part of 400 investigations, according to a new report drawn up on Monday by the Ministry of the Interior.
The previous figure given by Beauvau on Thursday reported 110,000 false health passes in circulation.
On Friday, AFP learned from a source close to the matter of the dismantling, at the beginning of December after facts noted in Metz, of a network which made it possible to create between 5,000 and 10,000 false health passes for a profit of around two million euros.
According to the Interior Ministry, the site of the National Order of Physicians was also hacked.
Several large-scale cyber investigations are carried out following these hacks of doctor and pharmacist accounts.
Read also Covid-19: 182,000 false health passes generated, according to the Ministry of the Interior
The idea of a generalized health pass at work crashes the social partners
"Ineffective"
process
"punitive"
can generate
"tension"
: the idea of an extended sanitary passes all companies arouses strong reluctance among social partners, consulted Monday by the Minister of Labor, Elizabeth Borne , which ensures that
"nothing is acted".
Generalizing the pass to the entire professional sphere - beyond the health sectors and in contact with the public as is the case today - is only a
"hypothesis"
, underlined Sunday the spokesperson of the Gabriel Attal government.
"What emerges from the discussions is that the trade unions are not in favor of it, and that the employers' organizations are reserved and wonder about the practical methods of implementation"
, noted Élisabeth Borne.
The government wants to "protect without isolating" the residents of Ehpads for Christmas
“I want every resident to enjoy celebrating the holiday season with their loved ones, because I know how important they are. However, I do not want these essential moments of reunion to be spoiled by the Covid-19 ”
, declared the Minister Delegate in charge of Autonomy, Brigitte Bourguignon, during a press conference to announce the new recommendations for them. Ehpad as the holidays approach.
Residents will be able to receive visits from their loved ones with the presentation of a health pass, go out with their family, participate in events or activities in the establishment, the minister promised.
However, in the case of clusters, the directors
"may be required to take proportionate and temporary protective measures"
.
Read also The government wants to avoid any re-containment of nursing homes
Novavax: European green light
The European Union on Monday authorized the use of the Covid vaccine from the American firm Novavax, whose more conventional technology could reduce skepticism among the unvaccinated.
Nuvaxovid is a so-called “subunit” vaccine, based on proteins that trigger an immune response, without viruses.
It becomes the fifth serum approved by the European Commission, which followed the advice of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
“After a thorough evaluation, the EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) concluded by consensus that the data on the vaccine were robust and met EU criteria for efficacy, safety and quality, ”
the agency indicated on Monday.
Read alsoCovid-19: the protein vaccine from Novavax should soon arrive in Europe
Germany: towards minimum holidays
In Germany, the government is preparing to tighten health restrictions on the New Year, according to a project consulted on Monday by AFP and which is still to be discussed Tuesday during a crisis meeting between the government and representatives of the 16 German regions , followed by a press conference by Olaf Scholz.
From December 28, excluding children under 14, people vaccinated or cured will not be able to welcome more than 10 guests into their homes and provided that they are all immunized, according to the text.
Non-vaccinated people are only allowed to invite a maximum of two people from one household.
Canceled New Years in London
The Labor Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced Monday evening the cancellation of the festivities planned in the British capital for the New Year, in the face of the drastic increase in cases of the highly contagious variant Omicron.
“With Covid-19 infections at record levels in our city and across the UK, I am determined to (...) do everything possible to slow the spread of the new variant and ensure that our services (public health) are not overwhelmed this winter, ”Khan said in a statement.
Brazil: 4th dose of vaccine for immunocompromised
People with an immune deficiency in Brazil will be able to receive a fourth dose of the anti-Covid vaccine, four months after the third, the Ministry of Health announced on Monday.
Vaccination in Brazil has accelerated in recent months despite President Jair Bolsonaro's regular attacks on vaccines.
Rise in contamination in Argentina
The cases of Covid-19 in Argentina have sharply increased in recent weeks - especially because of the Omicron variant -, with more than 5,000 new cases per day recently, an average of four to five times more than a month ago, according to a report established Monday by the Ministry of Health.
WHO wants to end the pandemic in 2022
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday called for 2022 to be the year "in which we end the pandemic", calling for tackling vaccine inequity and urging caution during holidays.
More than 5.35 million dead
The pandemic has killed at least 5.35 million people worldwide since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December 2019, according to a report compiled by AFP from official sources Monday.
In absolute terms, the countries that have recorded the most deaths since January 2020 are the United States with 807,924 deaths, Brazil (617,873), India (477,554) and Russia (298,222).
Reported to the population, the countries where the epidemic has wreaked the most havoc are Peru, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Hungary.
The Europe region is the one which currently records the most deaths (57% of the total), followed by the USA / Canada zone (19%).
The WHO estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the results of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that officially recorded.
