New measures, new reports and highlights: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.
“Deconfinement” in France
France began a cautious deconfinement on Tuesday, December 15, while maintaining or adding health restrictions.
A curfew goes into effect from 8 p.m. daily, including December 31 (but not December 24), and cinemas, theaters and museums will remain closed until at least January 7.
To read also: "If I pay, I sink": the cry of alarm of three emblematic bosses that the crisis brings to their knees
London closes hotels, pubs and restaurants
London and parts of the south-east of England are preparing to go to the third level of alert, with the closure of hotels, pubs and restaurants, due to an
"exponential"
increase
in cases.
The new outbreak could be linked to a mutation of the virus, according to the authorities, who however considered "
highly improbable
" that this new variant does not respond to the vaccine.
Containment in the Netherlands
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Monday a new series of measures to fight Covid-19, the most severe in the Netherlands since the start of the health crisis.
A five-week lockdown will go into effect this week until January 19, he said.
Read also: Covid-19: the Dutch Prime Minister announces a five-week confinement
More than 1.6 million dead, US surpasses 300,000 death mark
The pandemic has killed at least 1.6 million people worldwide since December 2019, according to an assessment established by AFP from official sources on Monday.
More than 72 million cases have been diagnosed.
The United States is the worst affected country, with more than 300,000 deaths.
Brazil follows with 181,835 dead, India (143,355), Mexico (113,953) and Italy (64,520).
Read also: Covid-19 in France: 372 deaths in 24 hours and 3,063 new contaminations
Berlin wants rapid validation of vaccine in EU
Germany is pressuring EU authorities to speed up the validation process for the Covid-19 vaccine.
According to sources close to the government cited by the daily Bild on Tuesday, the services of Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Ministry of Health are putting pressure on the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Union so that the vaccine from American laboratories Pfizer and German BionNTech be approved by December 23, and not by December 29 as is currently planned.
Read also: Covid-19: Germany wants faster validation of the vaccine in the EU
Vaccination launched in United States, Canada and Emirates
A New York nurse on Monday became the first person to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the United States, the most damaged country.
Pentagon chief Christopher Miller was also among the first to be vaccinated.
He did it in front of a camera to encourage people to do the same.
Similarly, a caregiver from Toronto and an octogenarian from Quebec became the first people to be vaccinated in Canada, kicking off a campaign of vaccination across the country.
Abu Dhabi has also started vaccinating the public, five days after the UAE approved the vaccine from Chinese group Sinopharm.
Read also: Covid-19: two Chinese vaccines already inoculated to a million people
Symbolic opening of the European Parliament
Faced with the almost empty hemicycle of the European Parliament, its president, David Sassoli, opened its plenary session on Monday from Strasbourg to show symbolic support for the official headquarters of the institution, deserted since the start of the pandemic.
Amazon targeted by justice in California
California has taken court action to force Amazon to cooperate in the investigation opened in that state into the health practices of the online commerce giant and the measures implemented to protect its employees from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read also: Important mobilization against the installation of Amazon near Nantes
Question in Brazil on "
transparency
" around the Chinese vaccine
The Brazilian health regulatory agency (Anvisa) said on Monday that China had used "
non-transparent
"
criteria
to grant emergency marketing approval for the anti-Covid-19 vaccine CoronaVac, in phase final study in Brazil.
