End of compulsory isolation in the United Kingdom, Australia which is reopening its borders, Hong Kong which is launching a vaccine pass...
Le Figaro
takes stock this Monday, February 21 on the latest information related to the Covid-19 pandemic .
Read alsoCovid-19: why does Emmanuel Macron wait until the end of March to lift health restrictions?
2,905 patients in intensive care in French hospitals
The number of patients with Covid-19 is decreasing in French hospitals.
28,383 patients were thus hospitalized on Monday against 28,643 the day before.
1570 people have been admitted in the last 24 hours.
The decline also continues in the intensive care units where 2,905 patients are hospitalized against 2,923 the day before.
283 people have also died in French hospitals in the past 24 hours.
Read the fileCovid-19: the coronavirus pandemic in figures and infographics
England ends mandatory isolation for the sick on Thursday
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday the end in England, as of Thursday February 24, of compulsory isolation for people infected with the coronavirus, thus removing the main anti-Covid restriction remaining there after two years of pandemic.
“We now have sufficient levels of immunity to move from protecting people to (an approach based on) vaccines and treatments as the first line of defense,”
the Conservative head of government told parliament.
“The restrictions have a significant cost to our economy, our society, our mental well-being and our children's opportunities, and we must not pay this price any longer”
, he added, citing the success of the vaccination campaign and the ability to
“respond quickly in the event of the emergence of a new variant”
.
Read also“We are taken for weather vanes”: the exasperation of the French in London with the Covid measures
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The first deliveries of the Novavax vaccine scheduled for the weekend
A fifth anti-Covid vaccine about to arrive in France.
The first deliveries of the Novavax vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, are expected “
at the end of the week
”, indicates to
Figaro
the General Directorate of Health (DGS).
In total, “
1.14 million doses
” are to be received this week, for the first vaccinations scheduled “
the first week of March
”.
Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the vaccine from the American laboratory - validated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) at the end of December and by the French High Authority for Health (HAS) in mid-January - is not based on the messenger RNA but on a more "classic" technique, called recombinant protein.
It uses the Spike protein from SARS-CoV-2 combined with an adjuvant.
Thus, “
its particular technology could make it possible to direct its administration towards people who are reluctant or cannot be vaccinated via a messenger RNA vaccine
”, explains the DGS.
Read alsoCovid-19: the first deliveries of the Novavax vaccine scheduled for the weekend
Rapid saliva tests not reliable enough, maintains the HAS
Rapid saliva screening tests for Covid-19 show
“insufficient” performance,
estimated Monday the High Health Authority (HAS), which remains unfavorable to the reimbursement of these devices by Social Security.
These tests are self-tests, carried out at home by the buyer.
They are therefore to be distinguished from saliva tests whose results are analyzed in the laboratory.
The health authority had already decided, in April 2021, against the reimbursement of salivary self-tests
"for lack of sufficient diagnostic performance"
, she recalls in a press release.
Since the presence of the highly contagious Omicron variant, the Ministry of Health wanted a new assessment of the place of these self-tests in the repeated screening strategy, particularly in schools, among other things because of
"the potential positive impact that could have the saliva sample on the acceptability”
, adds the HAS.
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Australia reopens its borders
Jolting passengers were in Australia on Monday, the first day borders reopened to vaccinated tourists, nearly two years after the country adopted some of the world's toughest travel health restrictions to combat Covid -19.
The mainland country had closed its borders in March 2020 to all visitors except citizens and permanent residents, trying to take advantage of its insularity to protect itself from the pandemic.
Read alsoCovid-19: Australia reopens after two years of closures
Hong Kong launches vaccination pass
Hong Kong will launch a vaccine pass this week, authorities announced on Monday as hospitals are overwhelmed by a wave of cases linked to the Omicron variant.
From Thursday, all residents aged 12 and over will have to show proof that they have received at least one dose or have a medical exemption to eat out.
The city of 7.5 million inhabitants, one of the most densely populated in the world, is facing the worst wave of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Like neighboring mainland China, Hong Kong applies a zero Covid strategy and the territory has not recorded any local cases for months despite a low vaccination rate.
Read alsoCovid-19: the leader of Hong Kong rules out total containment of the city
Dispute in New Zealand
New Zealand police have accused anti-vaccine protesters set up around the Houses of Parliament in Wellington of throwing human excrement on Monday at law enforcement who were carrying out a pre-dawn operation to set up roadblocks around the encampment.
Two weeks after the start of their action, inspired
by the Canadian "freedom convoys"
, the demonstrators continued to arrive this weekend despite calls from the police urging them to leave.
Some 800 vehicles blocked downtown streets on Monday.
»SEE ALSO –
Covid-19: New Zealand anti-vaccine protesters determined despite the threat of Cyclone Dovi
More than 5.88 million dead
The pandemic has officially killed at least 5,884,689 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report compiled by AFP from official sources on Monday at 11 a.m. GMT.
In absolute terms, the United States is the country with the most deaths (935,335), ahead of Brazil (644,286) and India (512,109).
Among the hardest hit countries, Peru is the one with the highest death toll in relation to its population.
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 officially established.