Rise in hospitalized patients in France, South Korea which is lifting its physical distancing restrictions, the automotive sector under pressure in the face of confinements in China...
Le Figaro
takes stock this Friday, April 15 on the latest information related to the coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19.
Read the fileCovid-19: the coronavirus pandemic in figures and infographics
Nearly 25,000 patients hospitalized in France
143 people died of Covid-19 in hospital this Friday, according to the daily report of Public Health France.
The number of hospitalized patients was up slightly: 24,909 patients are currently hospitalized (against 24,827 on Thursday), including 1,953 who arrived in the past 24 hours.
1,652 patients are being treated in critical care units, compared to 1,648 the day before.
Read alsoCovid-19 has been more deadly for men
“Serious risk” of overspending on health spending in 2022
The health expenditure target linked to the Covid-19 epidemic for 2022, set at 4.9 billion euros,
“risks being significantly exceeded”
, according to the alert committee on the evolution of expenditure health insurance.
While recalling
“the high uncertainty linked to the development of the epidemic (of Covid-19)”,
the committee already notes certain overruns for the current year, in a notice dated Friday and published on the security-social site .Fr.
Like, for example, a payment
“of 1.2 billion euros not covered by this provision”
and mainly dedicated to orders for vaccines and anti-Covid drugs placed at the end of 2021.
Or even the expenses linked to the tests which, at the end of the first quarter,
“exceeded the annual provision by 0.5 billion euros”
of 1.6 billion, due to the epidemic rebound at the start of the year.
There is, in addition, the surge in work stoppages which, in January and February alone, reached 0.6 billion.
Read alsoHealth, a key issue for the presidential election
South Korea lifts physical distancing restrictions
South Korea will lift all physical distancing restrictions, the government announced on Friday.
"The midnight curfew"
for businesses and gatherings limited to 10 people
"will be lifted from Monday
," Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum announced.
The move marks the end of two years of tight restrictions due to the pandemic, which have strained small businesses, and hints at a return to normalcy in South Korea.
Mask-wearing, however, will remain mandatory indoors
'for a considerable period of time'
, authorities said, adding that they could lift the requirement to wear masks outdoors in two weeks, if the number of cases continues to fall. .
The context for the lifting of restrictions in South Korea seems favorable: the country has overcome the epidemic wave caused by the Omicron variant, and the number of daily cases fell below 100,000 last week, after reaching a peak of more than 620,000 daily cases in mid-March.
Read alsoCovid-19: South Korea lifts physical distancing restrictions
Covid in Brazil: higher mortality in pro-Bolsonaro cities
The death rate linked to Covid-19 is
“significantly”
higher than the average in municipalities which voted overwhelmingly for far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during the last presidential election, the authors of a study revealed on Thursday. .
Researchers compared the results of the 2018 election with death rates in municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais (southeast), and found that the coronavirus wreaked more havoc in those where President Bolsonaro got the most votes.
The study, which analyzed data from January 21 to November 10, 2021, found that the infection rate was 30% higher in municipalities where Jair Bolsonaro was chosen by the majority of voters in the second round of voting, at 7,600 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Read alsoJair Bolsonaro in the dock after the ravages of the Covid in Manaus
The finding of the study, conducted by the Society of Infectiology of Minas Gerais and the Association of Epidemiology and Infection Control of the same Brazilian state, is even more edifying for the mortality rate, 60% higher than in the municipalities which had not voted in the majority for Jair Bolsonaro, at 212 per 100,000.
“Bolsonaro denied the seriousness of Covid-19, promoted treatments that have never been proven effective, opposed social distancing, mask-wearing, confinement and other protective measures. “,
recalled Carlos Starling, co-author of the study.
According to him, the positions of the head of state
"likely resulted in higher infection and mortality rates among his supporters",
he added in a statement.
” SEE ALSO –
Covid-19: “Omicron did not kill anyone”, according to Jair Bolsonaro
China: the automotive sector under pressure in the face of confinements
Several automakers in China fear a halt in their production, at a time when the containment of Shanghai and several regions is undermining the country's supply chains.
China, which for two years had largely brought the Covid-19 epidemic under control on its soil, has been facing its worst outbreak of the entire pandemic since last month.
Several tens of millions of Chinese are notably confined to the northeast of the country, the cradle of the automotive industry, as well as to Shanghai, the economic capital.
These measures seriously harm logistics transport, supply chains and have brought many companies to a standstill.
Read alsoCovid fear in China weighs on global activity
If no improvement is quickly noted,
"all Chinese equipment manufacturers will have to stop production in May"
, said Thursday the boss of the Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicles XPeng, He Xiaopeng.
XPeng is one of the competitors in China of the American Tesla, which itself has suspended the activity of its gigantic factory in Shanghai for more than two weeks, due to restrictions against the Covid.
Sales of new vehicles in China thus fell in March by 10.5% over one year.
The major international manufacturers are also penalized by the confinements.
Volkswagen indicated on Thursday that they were having a
"serious impact"
on its activity in China, where the group has joint ventures in Changchun (north-east) and Shanghai.
Due to travel restrictions, the German auto giant says it is
“temporarily unable to meet the strong demand”
on the Chinese market.
” SEE ALSO –
China at an impasse in the zero Covid strategy
