The World Health Organization calls on Europe to make more efforts, the United States is approaching the bar of 4,000 daily deaths, Brazil exceeds the threshold of 200,000 deaths ... To not miss any of the latest highlights related to the Covid-19,
Le Figaro
takes stock of the latest news from this Friday, January 8.
WHO calls on Europe to "do more"
The WHO has called on Europe to react more to the
"alarming situation"
created by the new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus, while two at-risk outbreaks have been detected in France.
Twenty-two countries in the European zone (out of 53) have recorded cases linked to this new strain.
In France, two high-risk “clusters” of this variant of Covid-19 have been detected.
Spain, which has ruled out generalized containment, announced that it alone has identified more than two million people infected.
Read also: Covid-19: why the English variant risks making the epidemic uncontrollable in France
The French border with the United Kingdom remains closed
The border with the United Kingdom remains closed
“until further notice”
, announced Thursday evening the Prime Minister Jean Castex, the measure having been decided on December 20.
Cultural and sporting venues will remain closed until the end of January, restaurants and bars
"at least until mid-February"
, he also announced.
The 6 p.m. curfew is expected to be extended to ten new departments.
The decision on the ski lifts, which were to reopen this Thursday, has been postponed until January 20.
Read also: Covid-19: vaccine, curfew, variant viruses, restaurants, skiing ... What to remember from Castex's announcements
United States breaks new record
The United States on Thursday recorded a new 24-hour death record, almost hitting the 4,000 daily death mark, according to benchmark figures from Johns Hopkins University.
California authorities have deployed at least 166 refrigerated trailers to serve as temporary morgues in hospitals overwhelmed by Covid-19-related deaths.
With at least 2,500 deaths from the coronavirus each week, California has become one of the main hotbeds of the pandemic in the United States and traditional mortuaries are full.
Brazil has a tragic start to the year
Brazil has passed the threshold of 200,000 deaths from Covid-19 and specialists expect the worst at the start of the year, while the chaotic management of the Bolsonaro government is criticized from all sides.
The virus has killed 200,498 people in this country of 212 million people, the second heaviest death toll after the United States.
The latest official bulletin from the Ministry of Health shows other worrying data: a record of new contaminations (87,843) and no less than 1,524 new deaths recorded in the last 24 hours.
To read also: Bolsonaro: "Brazil is bankrupt, I can not do anything"
Vaccination accelerates around the world
Thanks to the international Covax program, the poorest countries will start receiving their first doses of Covid-19 vaccines between the end of January and mid-February, announced the World Health Organization (WHO).
In the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles will begin their vaccination campaign against the new coronavirus on Sunday, which will make it one of the first African countries to launch such an operation.
Finally, the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, has been shown to be
“78% to 100%” effective
against Covid-19 during clinical tests carried out in Brazil, according to the governor of the state of Sao Paulo.
More than 1.88 million dead
The pandemic has killed at least 1,884,187 people around the world since the end of December 2019, according to a latest report established by AFP.
The United States is the most affected country in terms of both cases and deaths, with 364,691 deaths.
Next come Brazil with 200,498 dead, India (150,336), Mexico (129,987) and the United Kingdom (77,346).
The global death toll is globally underestimated.
In France, 21,703 new cases of Covid-19 have been detected and 277 deaths have been recorded in 24 hours.