Washington advises against travel to Japan
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Covid-19: vaccination as the only remedy
The United States recommended Monday, May 24 to its nationals not to travel to Japan, the host country of the Olympic Games this summer, because of the risks associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.
"
Because of the Covid-19, do not travel to Japan
", it is written on the site of the Department of State, which raised to the highest level its notice to the travelers.
Read also: Japan very late on anti-Covid vaccination
Vaccination open to priority professions in France
Before opening up to the entire adult population from Monday, May 31, vaccination is now available, as of today, for a whole list of professions considered to be exposed to the virus.
All French people exercising one of the professions listed on the website of the Ministry of Health and Solidarity have been able to reserve a time slot as of Friday May 21, and can still do so on the Sante.fr website, or on one of the vaccination slots reservation sites.
"War economy"
UN chief Antonio Guterres called on the world to go beyond solidarity and enter a "
war economy
" against the coronavirus pandemic, at the opening of the World Health Assembly on Monday.
“
We are at war with a virus.
We need the logic and urgency of a war economy
, ”said Antonio Guterres in Geneva.
Malta European champion of vaccination
Malta, European champion of vaccinations against Covid-19, has injected a first dose to 70% of its population, the Maltese Ministry of Health announced on Monday.
The smallest EU country, with a population of around 500,000, estimates it has achieved "
collective immunity
" ahead of its initial predictions, although that term is usually reserved at a higher rate.
Beijing denies that three researchers had the Covid at the end of 2019
China denied Monday that three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a city that was once the epicenter of the pandemic, had a disease that required hospital treatment before the virus spread around the world.
Claiming to be based on a US intelligence report, the Wall Street Journal affirms that three researchers from the Chinese laboratory were affected by November 2019 with "
symptoms compatible with both those of Covid-19 and a seasonal infection
".
Read also: Covid-19: the WHO investigation hampered by China
Threshold of 300,000 dead in India
India announced Monday that it has passed the 300,000 coronavirus death mark, becoming the third country in the world to reach that figure, behind the United States and Brazil, as the pandemic continues to rage.
Compared to the population (1.3 billion inhabitants in India), the Indian death rate linked to Covid is much lower than those of these two countries but the death toll is considered undervalued by experts.
Plane wedding
An Indian couple chartered a plane to get married in the clouds in front of 161 guests, in violation of anti-Covid restrictions, press reported on Monday.
The Indian Civil Aviation Authority ordered an investigation and suspended the aircraft crew.
State of emergency in Haiti
The Haitian authorities declared on Monday a state of health emergency throughout the country for a period of eight days in the face of an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.
Haiti, is one of ten countries in the world that have not yet started its vaccination campaign, but is waiting for these vaccines through the Covax program, a global mechanism for supplying vaccines to the 92 poorest countries.
More than 3.46 million dead
The pandemic has killed at least 3,465,398 people around the world since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources Monday at 10:00 GMT.
After the United States (590,262), the countries with the highest number of deaths are Brazil (449,068), India (303,720), Mexico (221,647) and the United Kingdom (127,721).
These figures, which are based on daily reports from national health authorities, are generally underestimated.
They exclude the upward revisions carried out a posteriori by certain statistical organizations.
By taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, the WHO estimates that the real toll of the pandemic is "
two to three times higher
".
