Covid-19: the drop in new cases continues, stable situation at the hospital

As the epidemic curves continue to decline in France, the police have regained control of Ottawa, occupied for fifteen days by opponents of health policy, and Queen Elisabeth II has tested positive for Covid-19.

provides an update on new information related to the pandemic.

Read alsoCovid-19: immunity, spearhead of the health crisis

• Contaminations in decline and stable hospitalizations

No pause for the decline: with 59,003 positive cases recorded in 24 hours, the average over the last seven days is down to 82,571 per day, against 86,562 on Saturday.

Since the peak reached on January 25 (more than 366,000 cases on average), contaminations have dropped by 77%.

Olivier Véran spoke on Sunday

The Minister of Health also underlined the

even if this trend changed during the weekend: there are now 28,643 patients with Covid (+11 in 24 hours, -2,978 over a week) including 2,923 in critical care services (+5 in 24 hours, -382 over a week).

At the same time, 79 infected people died in hospital, bringing the death toll from the epidemic to 136,663.

The next lifting of restrictions remains scheduled for

because

patients in hospitals, the Minister of Health confirmed on Sunday.

Read alsoCovid-19: why does Emmanuel Macron wait until the end of March to lift health restrictions?

• Police take back control of Ottawa

Canadian police almost regained control of central Ottawa on Sunday, paralyzed for 24 days by truckers opposing the government's health policy.

The authorities said they had arrested 190 demonstrators and towed around fifty vehicles, which for weeks sounded their horns in this city usually known for its calm.

Read alsoThe “freedom convoy” gets bogged down in Paris

• Elizabeth II infected

Queen Elizabeth II, 95, has tested positive for Covid-19 but has only "mild" symptoms comparable to those of a cold, Buckingham Palace announced on Sunday.

The monarch, who has just passed the milestone of 70 years of reign, had met her son Prince Charles on February 8, two days before he tested positive.

According to British media, the queen, who will turn 96 on April 21, is triple vaccinated.

Read alsoQueen Elizabeth II positive for Covid with “mild” symptoms

• 'Fortress Australia' reopens

Australia has reopened its external borders to all vaccinated tourists, almost two years after imposing some of the toughest travel restrictions in the world to combat the spread of Covid-19.

The huge island had closed its borders in March 2020, trying to take advantage of its insularity to protect itself from the pandemic.

During these two years, Australians were mostly not allowed to leave their country, and only a few visitors obtained an exemption to enter the territory.

• Israel: border opening soon to non-vaccinated

Israel will reopen its borders to unvaccinated people from March 1, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday, a first since the start of the pandemic.

All foreign visitors will be able to enter Israel, provided they take a PCR test before their departure and another on their arrival, Israeli citizens will only have to take it on arrival.

Read alsoIn Israel, does the record of deaths linked to Covid-19 demonstrate the failure of vaccines?

• Hong Kong in “battle mode”

Hong Kong, which is facing its worst wave of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, is in

, assured a senior city official on Sunday, who has received reinforcements from China to build two centers temporary quarantines intended to place nearly 10,000 people in solitary confinement.

Read alsoCovid-19: the leader of Hong Kong rules out total containment of the city

• More than 5.87 million dead

The pandemic has officially killed at least 5,879,826 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, out of more than 421 million confirmed contaminations, according to a report established by AFP on Sunday midday.

The United States is the country with the most deaths (935,057), ahead of Brazil (643,880) and India (511,903).