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Covid-19: WHO urges not to “let our guard down”

2022-04-13T16:06:00.604Z


UPDATE ON THE SITUATION - New measures, new reports and highlights: Le Figaro takes stock of the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic.


The WHO which calls not to

"let our guard down"

in the face of Covid, Greece which opts for a summer without a mask or vaccination certificate, the vaccination which has prevented 150,000 deaths in Italy ...

Le Figaro

makes the point this Wednesday, April 13 on the latest information related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Read the fileCovid-19: the coronavirus pandemic in figures and infographics

The WHO emergency committee “unanimous” to say that we must not “let our guard down”

The WHO Emergency Committee on Covid-19 was

“unanimous”

in believing that it was not

“the time to let our guard down”,

said its president, Doctor Didier Houssin, on Wednesday.

"The situation is far from over regarding the Covid-19 pandemic,"

said the Frenchman, during a press briefing by the World Health Organization in Geneva.

The organisation's director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has therefore maintained the public health emergency of international concern for Covid-19, the WHO's highest alert level.

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"The observation is that the situation is far from over with regard to the Covid 19 pandemic, the circulation of the virus is still very active, mortality remains high and the virus is evolving in an unpredictable way"

, warned the doctor. Houssin, as more and more countries have lifted all or part of the health restrictions put in place to control the virus.

“Now is not the time for relaxation on this virus, no weakness in surveillance, testing and reporting, no laxity in public and social health measures and no resignation s' acting on vaccination,”

urged the chairman of the emergency committee.

” SEE ALSO –

Covid-19: the WHO considers it “premature” to declare victory in the face of the pandemic

Greece opts for a summer without masks or vaccination certificates

Greece announced on Wednesday the lifting of the last measures against the coronavirus for the summer, specifying that the compulsory wearing of a mask and the presentation of the vaccination certificate in shops would no longer be required at the opening of the tourist season.

“Given the epidemiological data and the recommendations of experts, we are announcing the easing of measures against the Covid-19 pandemic”

, announced the Minister of Health, Thanos Plevris.

“From May 1 to August 31”

, the vaccination certificate, the presentation of which was until now compulsory in restaurants, bars and shops, will no longer be requested, he told the press.

As for wearing a mask, it will no longer be compulsory in enclosed spaces from June 1.

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Our map of open countries and restrictions for French tourists

Pfizer boss does not rule out a multi-variant vaccine in the fall

A vaccine against Covid-19 effective against multiple variants by the fall

"is a possibility but not a certainty",

said Wednesday the boss of the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Albert Bourla.

"I hope that by the fall - but it is not a certainty - we could have a vaccine"

which is effective

"against everything that is known at the moment"

, underlined Albert Bourla, during a press briefing organized by the International Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry (Ifpma).

Pfizer is currently conducting studies to find out what might be the best formula.

"Once we have the data that allows us to decide which (vaccine) is the best

," said Albert Bourla.

Read alsoVaccines: how BioNTech and Moderna are preparing for the post-Covid era

Vaccination prevented 150,000 deaths in Italy

The vaccination campaign in Italy against Covid-19 has prevented around 150,000 deaths, the Superior Institute of Health (ISS) said in a study published on Wednesday.

Vaccination has also prevented eight million additional cases of Covid-19, more than 500,000 hospitalizations and more than 55,000 cases in intensive care, according to the same source.

“This estimate concerns the period between December 27, 2020, the start date of the vaccination campaign, and January 31, 2022”,

specifies the ISS in its report.

The ISS, which is the reference institute in Italy for public health issues, explains that

“the calculation was made with a methodology initially developed for flu vaccines but which has already been applied in other countries. for studies concerning SARS-CoV-2”.

Italy is one of the European countries that has paid the heaviest price for the pandemic, which has claimed more than 161,000 lives so far.

According to the Ministry of Health, nearly 90% of the population over the age of 12 have completed the vaccination, while this figure drops to just over 34% for the 5-11 age group.

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China: the Covid leads to an unprecedented decline in imports since 2020

At their lowest since 2020, China's imports fell unexpectedly in March.

The first country affected by Covid-19 but also the first to emerge from it, China had for the past two years been massively supplied abroad to support its recovery, mainly by buying raw materials and agricultural products there.

But the Asian giant has been facing its worst outbreak of the entire pandemic in recent weeks: millions of people have been hastily confined, especially in Shanghai, the economic capital.

Travel restrictions are straining supply chains in the city of 25 million people.

Read alsoCovid fear in China weighs on global activity

The port metropolis is an important entry and exit point for goods in China.

As a result, China unveiled mixed trade figures for the month of March on Wednesday.

Last month, imports fell 0.1% year on year, Customs said.

This unexpected drop is the first since August 2020, when the Asian giant was gradually recovering from the first wave of the pandemic.

As for exports from China, they experienced a slowdown: Chinese sales abroad certainly increased in March by 14.7% over one year.

But this rate is lower than that of January and February combined, the only data then published (16.3%).

Source: lefigaro

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