Peak of cases in China, end of the mask in Rio, Moderna which will set up a factory in Kenya...
Le Figaro
takes stock this Monday, March 7 on the latest information related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read the fileCovid-19: the coronavirus pandemic in figures and infographics
Rise in cases in China
More than 500 infections were reported across mainland China on Monday, the highest number since the initial outbreak in the central city of Wuhan was brought under control in mid-2020.
Still applying a zero-Covid policy, the country reacts to epidemic outbreaks with local confinements, mass testing and control of its population through tracing applications.
Authorities are currently trying to contain outbreaks in more than a dozen cities.
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Rio drops the mask, including in closed places
Wearing a mask is no longer compulsory in Rio de Janeiro, indoors or outdoors, announced Monday Eduardo Paes, the mayor of the first capital of a state in Brazil to make this decision.
This measure was made possible by the drop in the number of contaminations and deaths linked to Covid-19 throughout the country in recent weeks.
"A decree published in an extraordinary edition of the Official Journal this afternoon puts an end to the wearing of the compulsory mask, in closed places as well as outside"
, declared Eduardo Paes on Twitter, at the end of the meeting of the scientific committee. responsible for guiding municipal health policies during the pandemic.
"When 70% of the city's population has received its booster dose, we can also end the health pass,"
he added.
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Bali relaxes entry rules
The tourist island of Bali, Indonesia, on Tuesday lifted the quarantine for vaccinated travelers from more than 20 countries and reintroduced visas on arrival for vacationers, in view of a reopening of the country.
This easing of constraints comes as the wave of infections with the Omicron variant decreases in the Southeast Asian archipelago, and after some international airlines have resumed direct flights to Indonesia in recent weeks.
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Expats flee Hong Kong
Faced with the chaos linked to the Omicron variant, more than 71,000 people, including 63,000 residents, left Hong Kong in February, a record since the start of the pandemic.
Foreign workers make up around 8% of Hong Kong's population and some expats are leaving for fear of being separated from their children if they catch the coronavirus.
Cases of young children being snatched from their parents after testing positive to be placed in solitary confinement have indeed been reported in recent weeks.
Since the start of the pandemic, the city of 7.4 million inhabitants has applied a strict “zero-covid” policy thanks to which it has recorded only 12,000 cases in two years.
But since the appearance of Omicron in January, the number of infections has exploded,
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Moderna to set up its first vaccine factory in Africa in Kenya
The American vaccine manufacturer Moderna announced on Monday the construction of its first African vaccine factory in Kenya, after signing a preliminary agreement with this country which provides for the production of 500 million doses per year.
The company intends to invest 500 million dollars (460 million euros) in this factory, which will produce messenger RNA vaccines for the entire African continent, which still largely lacks doses to fight against Covid-19.
“The fight against the Covid-19 pandemic over the past two years has been a reminder of the work needed to ensure equitable access to health. Moderna is determined to be part of the solution,”
CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement.
Moderna says it hopes that this factory will start distributing its Covid-19 vaccine in Africa next year, with a view to increasing vaccination coverage in countries least protected against the virus.
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Nearly 6 million dead
The pandemic has officially killed at least 5,996,378 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, out of more than 444 million confirmed contaminations, according to a report established by AFP on Tuesday at 11 a.m. GMT.
The United States is the country with the most deaths (958,621), ahead of Brazil (652,143) and India (515,102).
But compared to the population, the countries where the epidemic has wreaked the most havoc are Peru with 640 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, Bulgaria (515), Bosnia and Herzegovina (473), Hungary (458), and North Macedonia (436).
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.