The pandemic is decreasing almost everywhere in the world, suspension of judicial services in the midst of the Covid wave in Hong Kong, nearly 6 million deaths worldwide...
Le Figaro
takes stock this Friday, March 4 on the latest information related to Covid- 19.
Read alsoCovid-19: great disparities in vaccine coverage across the globe
The pandemic is decreasing almost everywhere in the world this week
The Covid-19 pandemic continued its sharp decline in the world this week, with contamination decelerating everywhere except in Asia and Oceania.
With 1.47 million contaminations recorded every day worldwide, the indicator has fallen sharply for the fifth consecutive week (-12% compared to the previous week), according to an AFP report stopped on Thursday.
Daily contaminations have been more than halved since their peak at the end of January (3.37 million daily cases).
Read alsoCovid-19: despite large stocks, vaccination is slipping in Nigeria
This week, only Asia and Oceania saw their situation deteriorate, with respectively 25% and 72% more contamination compared to the previous week.
South Korea becomes the country with the highest number of new infections in absolute value this week (170,300 daily cases, +40%), dethroning Germany (153,700, -7%).
Vietnam (120,600, +119%) takes third place.
Globally, the number of daily deaths continues to decline (-19%, 7,596 deaths per day).
The United States has the highest number of daily deaths in absolute value, 1,644 per day this week, ahead of Russia (776) and Brazil (455).
In proportion to the population, as for contaminations, the territory having recorded the most deaths over the past week is Hong Kong (12.6 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants), ahead of Latvia (6.6) and Georgia (6). ,3).
Omicron represents "
99.6% of
interpretable sequences
" in France, according to the authorities
In its last weekly update dated Thursday, Public Health France indicates that "
Omicron represented 99.6% of interpretable sequences
" during the week of February 14 to 20.
“
The epidemic situation continued to improve
”, also writes the organization, specifying that “
all the virological and hospital indicators were down
”.
Between February 21 and 27, 392,427 new cases were detected, compared to 560,510 the previous week.
Read alsoCovid-19: the number of screening tests has returned to a pre-Omicron level
End of the mask and the vaccination pass on March 14 in France
French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the end of wearing a mask wherever it was compulsory except in transport and the suspension of the vaccination pass, starting March 14.
The health pass will however remain in force in medical establishments, such as hospitals and retirement homes, as well as the vaccination obligation which applies to caregivers, he said.
“
The situation is improving thanks to our collective efforts, thanks to the measures that we have taken (..), the conditions are met for a new phase of easing of the measures
”, justified the head of government.
” SEE ALSO – Covid-19: “There is reason to believe” at the end of the pandemic, says Vincent Bordenave
Ireland: President positive for Covid-19
Irish President Michael D. Higgins, 80, has tested positive for Covid-19 and is suffering from "
mild
" symptoms, a spokesman said on Friday.
The head of state and his wife Sabina, both positive, "
will isolate themselves for the next seven days
," said the spokesperson.
“
The president, while isolating himself, continues to telecommute
,” he added.
The President exercises essentially ceremonial functions in Ireland.
Read alsoCovid-19: vaccinated travelers now exempt from testing anywhere in the EU
Hong Kong: suspension of judicial services in full wave of Covid
The operation of judicial services is suspended for a month in Hong Kong, which has recorded more than 50,000 new cases of Covid-19 for the third consecutive day, authorities announced on Friday.
The epidemic has reached its worst level in recent days, overwhelming hospitals and undermining the government's "
zero Covid
" strategy.
Most of the hearings scheduled between March 7 and April 11 will be adjourned, so as to "
strike a balance between public health considerations and the proper administration of justice
", said the communication from the judicial services.
Hearings in progress and urgent requests are therefore not affected by the suspension.
Around 1,000 prisoners have tested positive according to authorities and local media have reported that judges have also been infected.
»SEE ALSO – Covid-19: Hong Kong announces aid of up to 19 million euros
Brazil recovered from Covid and returned to growth in 2021
Brazil emerged from recession in the last quarter of 2021 and Latin America's largest economy returned to growth last year, with a 4.6% GDP rebound offsetting the crisis-related decline in 2020 of the coronavirus.
These data made public on Friday by the IBGE statistics institute are in line with analysts' expectations, after the 3.9% plunge in 2020.
"
The numbers are positive, unsurprisingly, but it's not a solid recovery, because we expected things to return to normal
," Silvia Matos, economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, told AFP.
For the year 2022, the experts consulted for the latest weekly Focus survey from the central bank expect weak growth of only 0.3%.
Read alsoIndian growth is running out of steam after the strong post-Covid rebound
Nearly 6 million dead worldwide
The pandemic has officially killed at least 5,962,297 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, out of more than 436 million confirmed contaminations, according to a report established by AFP on Wednesday midday.
The United States is the country with the most deaths (956,440), ahead of Brazil (650,578), India (514,246) and Russia (353,230).
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.
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