296,097 positive cases of Covid-19 were identified in 24 hours in France, a million cases in Morocco since the start of the epidemic, demonstrations in Brussels ...
Le Figaro
takes stock this Sunday, January 9, 2021 on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.
Read alsoCovid-19: can vaccines increase the risk of infection?
296,097 positive cases identified in France
296,097 positive cases of Covid-19 were identified in 24 hours in France - against 58,432 cases recorded in 24 hours on Sunday, January 2.
A record of contaminations which could be explained, in part, by the explosion in the number of tests carried out in the country, in particular with the new health protocol introduced in schools, colleges and high schools.
Read also Covid-19: is the record for new infections explained by the boom in screening tests?
Demonstration in Brussels against health restrictions
Several thousand people demonstrated in Brussels on Sunday against the health pass and the restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, with cries of
"freedom"
.
Belgian Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke spoke out on Sunday for the organization of a debate in the Federal Parliament on the vaccination obligation or the establishment of a vaccination pass, as in France.
Read alsoCovid-19: "No to unfair closure", the cultural world in the street in Belgium
Greece: February 1 deadline for the vaccine booster
People who have not received their booster dose against Covid-19 by February 1 will no longer be able to access places in Greece reserved for vaccinated people, announced the Greek Minister of Health Thanos Plevris.
France: strengthening of testing capacities
French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal announced
"a plan to strengthen"
the testing policy, including the deployment of
"several hundred"
screening centers near vaccination centers.
Read also Covid-19: Attal announces "a plan to strengthen" testing capacities
Italy: no forced exile for inhabitants of small islands
The Italian government has decided to grant an exemption to the inhabitants of small Italian islands, exempted in some cases from the vaccination pass required from Monday to access transport and which risked placing them
"in forced exile"
.
Read alsoCovid-19: Italy makes the health pass compulsory for 18 million workers
Morocco: 1 million cases since the start of the epidemic
Morocco has passed the milestone of one million Covid-19 infections since the start of the epidemic in 2020, against the backdrop of the meteoric spread of infections with the Omicron variant, the Ministry of Health said on Sunday.
Tennis: Australia insists Djokovic "is not vaccinated"
The Australian government insisted on Sunday that world tennis number one Novak Djokovic, who came to participate in the Australian Open,
"is not vaccinated against Covid-19"
and estimated that his legal fight to stay in the country was doomed to failure, on the eve of the examination of its appeal.
Read also Djokovic's impossible match against Australian anti-Covid rules
Over 10 million cases in Africa
Africa has recorded a total of more than 10 million cases of coronavirus, according to figures from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the continent (Africa CDC), which depends on the African Union (AU), consulted on Sunday by the 'AFP.
China: 14 million people tested in Tianjin
The northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Sunday advised its some 14 million residents to stay at home while it conducts massive testing after a string of recent cases, including several linked to the Omicron variant, state media reported.
This port city about 150 km southeast of Beijing has become a new area of concern after more than 20 cases of Covid have been reported there in recent days, most of them imported from abroad, according to the National Commission of the health.
Read alsoChina locks up the city of Xi'an and locks itself in its zero Covid strategy
Record cases in Mexico and Peru
Mexico, the fifth worst country in the world with more than 300,000 dead, recorded more than 30,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, a record, leading some Mexican states to close schools again.
Peru recorded more than 16,000 new cases on Saturday, a record in this country which has the highest Covid-19 death rate in the world (6,122 deaths per million inhabitants).
More than 5.4 million dead
The pandemic has killed more than 5,483,023 worldwide, according to AFP's report on Sunday at 11:00 GMT.
The United States is the most bereaved country with 837,264 dead, followed by Brazil (619,937), India (483,790) and Russia (316,163).
However, the World Health Organization 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 officially recorded.