Hospitalizations on the rise, 11,000 faithful at Mass in Lourdes, 600 dead in 24 hours in Iran, demonstration in Bangkok ...
Le Figaro
takes stock, Sunday, August 15, on the latest information related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
To discover
Covid-19: what we know about the Delta variant
Hospitalizations still on the rise
The Covid-19 epidemic is still impacting hospitalizations in France, including critical care services, according to figures from health authorities released on Sunday.
The number of hospitalized patients is still on the rise, rising to 9,798 (9,648 Saturday, 9,546 Friday), including 399 new admissions.
Hospitalizations in critical care services, which take care of the most serious cases, also continue to increase, with 1852 patients (1837 Saturday, 1831 Friday), including 73 in 24 hours.
This indicator, closely scrutinized by health authorities who want to avoid saturation of hospitals as in the West Indies, fell below the threshold of 1000 patients on July 7.
Read also: "My body exploded and my mind shattered": the chilling testimony of a Covid survivor released from intensive care
In addition, between Saturday and Sunday, 44 people succumbed to Covid (51 counted on Saturday, 74 on Friday), bringing the total death toll to 112,702 deaths since the start of the epidemic in March 2020. On the side of contaminations, 21,172 cases have been recorded Sunday (against 24,427 Saturday and 26,453 Friday).
In its weekly update Friday, Public Health France drew up a “
mixed
”
assessment
of the health situation, observing a slowdown in the progression of the incidence rate at the national level (236 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), but which does not yet translate to the hospital.
In Martinique, a mass against the pandemic
Public Health France also underlined a strong geographic heterogeneity, with a "
very worrying
" situation in Guadeloupe and Martinique, where contamination is exploding and hospitals are overwhelmed.
Martinique thus has an incidence rate of nearly 1,200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Read also: Covid-19: the reasons for the rejection of vaccines in the West Indies
This outbreak of Covid-19 cases does not prevent the holding of masses: on this day of the Assumption, the parishioners of Schoelcher, a few kilometers from Fort-de-France, gathered at dawn to "
find the courage to pass this test
”.
11,000 faithful in Lourdes for the Assumption Mass
The Assumption Mass gathered 11,000 Catholics on Sunday in Lourdes, the largest French Catholic pilgrimage center, despite a context of epidemic recovery and limited travel abroad.
However, fewer than usual, they accompany some 300 patients in search of a miraculous cure.
Read also: After 18 months in the twilight of the Covid-19, Lourdes finds the light again for August 15
The day before, some 9,300 faithful took part in the traditional Marian torchlight procession.
The cave where, according to Catholic tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858, is closed to the public to avoid contamination.
More than 600 dead in 24 hours in Iran
More than 600 deaths from Covid-19 have been recorded for the first time in Iran in the past 24 hours, authorities said on Sunday, a record coinciding with the imposition of new restrictions to stem the epidemic in the country.
Read also: Covid-19: Iran announces a record number of deaths in 24 hours
The 620 new deaths and 36,736 new infections recorded bring the total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic to 97,828 and the number of cases to 4,425,821, according to figures from the Ministry of Health.
Poland sells vaccines to Australia
Poland has sold one million doses of the anti-Covid Pfizer vaccine to Australia, as part of a "
responsible policy of solidarity
", the Polish Ministry of Health announced.
According to the Minister, Adam Nedzieslki, the purchases of vaccines from Poland "
allow us to meet the needs of our citizens but also to come to the aid of those who need it
".
Poland has already provided full vaccination to 55% of its population, but the vaccination rate has slowed significantly in recent months, with several vaccination centers closing due to low demand.
Congolese president urges vaccination
Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso called on his fellow citizens to massively adhere to vaccination against Covid-19 to achieve collective immunity, “the
only way to salvation
” in the fight against this pandemic.
Read also: The "Belgian variant" is in fact from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In Congo, only 1.8 to 2% of the population eligible for vaccination received their doses, because of resistance and mistrust of vaccines.
Demonstration in Bangkok
Several thousand demonstrators marched by car in Bangkok on Sunday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-O-Cha, increasingly criticized for his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
In question, the outbreak of Covid-19, with more than 20,000 new cases daily, the slowness of the vaccination campaign and the economic impact of the restrictions.
More than 4.3 million dead
The pandemic has killed at least 4,353,003 people around the world since the end of December 2019, out of more than 206.7 million infections, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Sunday at 10:00 GMT.
The United States is the country with the most deaths (621,253), ahead of Brazil (568,788), India (431,225), Mexico (248,167) and Peru (197,340).
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that calculated from the figures officials.