While the number of Covid-19 patients in French hospitals continues to decline slowly, the WHO announced Wednesday, May 26 that the variant of the coronavirus detected in India has been officially reported in 53 territories.
Le Figaro
takes stock of the latest information related to the epidemic.
To discover
Covid-19: vaccination as the only remedy
Covid-19: "favorable" dynamic in France
"
It is a very favorable dynamic in which we find ourselves and which should be kept for a few more weeks because the lower we go down, the better positioned we will be for the coming summer
", commented Professor Fontanet, less one week after the first phase of reopening (terraces, cinemas, museums, etc.).
After the peak of the third wave, all indicators have been down since the end of April.
Read also: Covid-19: the Academy of Medicine recommends making the vaccine mandatory
The number of new daily infections is around 12,000 over the last seven days, compared to more than 30,000 a month ago.
The number of hospitalized Covid patients (19,701 on Monday) dropped back below the 20,000 mark on Saturday, for the first time since October 27.
Among them, some 3,500 patients are treated in critical care units, compared to nearly 6,000 in the second half of April.
Read also: Covid-19: should we really be afraid of the Indian variant?
For people infected a year ago, only one dose of vaccine recommended
According to the High Authority for Health, for patients from the first wave infected 13 or 14 months ago, a single dose of vaccine is sufficient.
There is sufficient immune memory, allowing the body to fend off the virus if it is encountered again.
Read also: Breton, Belgian, Californian ... The circle of missing variants
Covid-19: the Indian variant detected in at least 53 territories
The coronavirus variant detected in India for the first time has been officially reported in 53 territories, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday in a report.
WHO has also received information from unofficial sources that the B.1.617 variant has been found in seven other territories, according to figures from the weekly epidemiological update of the French health agency. United Nations, bringing the total number to 60. According to the report, this B.1.617 variant shows increased transmissibility while the severity of the cases concerned is under investigation.
"SEE ALSO -
Faced with the Indian variant, Jean-Yves Le Drian does not exclude" somewhat stronger health measures "towards the United Kingdom
Only a small number of vaccinees still infected
About 0.01% of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 between January and April were then infected with the virus, according to a US government study published Tuesday, May 25, confirming the very high effectiveness of the vaccines.
Read also: Should we get vaccinated again in the fall?
"
Even if the authorized vaccines are highly effective
", rare cases of contamination were "
expected, in particular before the immunity of the population reached a level sufficient to further reduce transmission
", explains the report of the American Centers of disease control and prevention (CDC).
Origin of Covid-19: the Chinese laboratory theory revived
Long brushed aside by most experts, deemed highly improbable if not far-fetched, the theory of the laboratory accident to explain the origin of Covid-19 has come back in force in recent weeks in the American debate.
Read also: Covid-19: Does the WHO really have the means to investigate the origin of the virus?
"
A year ago
", supporting the thesis of a natural origin "
made a lot of sense because it was the most probable scenario
", he explained on CNBC Scott Gottlieb, former boss respected of the American agency drugs (FDA).
But what is called "
the intermediate host
", that is, the animal from which the virus was transmitted to humans, has still not been discovered.
Several countries, including the United States, on Tuesday called on the World Health Organization to continue studying the origins of Covid-19.
Moderna vaccine effective in teens
The American company Moderna announced on Tuesday that its vaccine against Covid-19 was "highly effective" in adolescents aged 12 to 17, according to full results of clinical trials.
She plans to submit an application for authorization to use her vaccine for this age group "at the
beginning of June
".
More than 450,000 dead in Brazil
Brazil exceeded the threshold of 450,000 deaths from Covid-19 on Tuesday, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health, and epidemiologists fear a third wave of contamination.
Read also: In Brazil, the Covid-19 epidemic is out of control
In total, 452,031 deaths have been recorded since March 2020, including 2,173 in the last 24 hours, official figures largely underestimated according to specialists.
This country of 212 million inhabitants, the second most bereaved in the world behind the United States, also has 16 million confirmed cases of contamination, including more than 73,000 in a single day.
»SEE ALSO -
Brazil, Peru, Argentina: drive-in vaccination in Latin America
Argentina: no restrictions for international sporting events
Argentina, under strict confinement for nine days since Saturday, May 22, announced Tuesday the exemption from health restrictions for international sporting events, just under three weeks before the start of the Copa America on its soil.
"SEE ALSO -
Covid-19: Argentina decrees total confinement of nine days in the face of"
a record level of contagions and deaths
"
The administrative decision grants an exception to "
the ban on movement within the national territory
" and to "
the training of professional sportsmen
" within the framework of the health restrictions imposed by the government.
More than 3.475 million dead
The pandemic has killed more than 3.475 million people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to an assessment established by AFP from official sources on Tuesday at midday.
After the United States (590,906), the countries with the highest death toll are Brazil (452,031), India (307,231), Mexico (221,695) and the United Kingdom (127,724).
»SEE ALSO -
At least 115,000 health professionals have been swept away by the Covid-19, according to the WHO