162 dead in 24 hours, 22,643 hospitalized patients

The epidemic is declining almost everywhere in the world, judicial services have stopped in the midst of the Covid wave in Hong Kong, and nearly 6 million deaths worldwide … le Figaro It provides an update on Friday, March 4, on the latest information regarding Covid-19.

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162 dead in 24 hours, 22,643 hospitalized patients

A total of 162 deaths have been counted in the past 24 hours, according to French Public Health. 22,643 hospitalized patients, including 1,012 since the day before. 2,153 people are being treated in critical care – 104 of whom arrived at these services on Friday. 57,789 new cases were detected.

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The epidemic is decreasing almost everywhere in the world this week

The covid-19 pandemic This week it continued its steep decline in the world, as pollution slowed everywhere except Asia and Oceania. With 1.47 million daily infections recorded worldwide, the index fell sharply for the fifth consecutive week (-12% compared to the previous week), according to an AFP report that stopped Thursday. Daily infections have more than halved since their peak at the end of January (3.37 million daily cases).

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This week, only Asia and Oceania saw their situation deteriorate, with pollution increasing by 25% and 72%, respectively, compared to the previous week. South Korea became the country with the most new infections in absolute terms this week (170,300 daily cases, +40%), given up by Germany (153,700, -7%). Vietnam (120,600, +119%) ranks third.

Globally, the number of daily deaths continues to decline (-19%, 7,596 deaths per day). The US has the most daily deaths in absolute terms, 1,644 per day this week, ahead of Russia (776) and Brazil (455). In terms of population, as for infections, the region with 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 stands for “99.6% of interpretable sequencesIn France, according to the authorities

in his last life weekly point As of Thursday, the French Public Health Authority notes that “Omicron represents 99.6% of the interpretable sequencesDuring the week of February 14-20. “The epidemiological situation continued to improve‘, also writes The Organization, specifying thatAll viral indicators and hospitals decreasedBetween February 21 and 27, 392,427 new cases were detected, compared to 560,510 in the previous week.

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The end of the mask and vaccination passes on March 14 in France

French Prime Minister Jean Castix announced The end of wearing the mask Everywhere it was mandatory except for transportation and suspension of vaccination permits, effective March 14. However, the health permit will still apply in medical institutions, such as hospitals and nursing homes, in addition to the vaccination obligation that applies to caregivers, he said.

“The situation is improving thanks to our collective efforts, thanks to the measures we have taken (..), the conditions are ripe for a new phase of easing measures‘ justified the prime minister.

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Ireland: President positive for Covid-19

Irish President Michael D Higgins, 80 Tested positive to Covid-19 and experiencing symptoms”lightA spokesperson said on Friday. The head of state and his wife Sabina are both positive.”He will self-isolate for the next seven days“This is the spokesperson.”The president, while self-isolating, continues to work remotely’, he added. The president mainly exercises ceremonial functions in Ireland.

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Hong Kong: Judicial services suspended in full wave of Covid

The work of the judicial services has been suspended for a month from Hong KongOn Friday, the authorities announced that more than 50,000 new cases of Covid-19 had been recorded for the third consecutive day. The epidemic has reached its worst levels in recent days as it overrun hospitals and undermined strategy.zero covidto the government.

Most of the hearings scheduled for the period between March 7 and April 11 will be postponed, due to theBalancing public health considerations with the proper administration of justiceThe communication from the judicial departments said. Ongoing hearings and urgent requests are not affected by the suspension. Tests have confirmed that about 1,000 prisoners have been infected, according to authorities, and local media have reported that judges have also been infected.

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Brazil recovered from Covid and returned to growth in 2021

The Brazil It emerged from recession in the last quarter of 2021 and Latin America’s largest economy returned to growth last year, with a 4.6 percent rebound in gross domestic product that offset a downturn in 2020 linked to the coronavirus crisis. This data, announced by the statistics institute IBGE on Friday, is in line with analyst expectations, after a decline of 3.9% in 2020.

“The numbers are positive, unsurprisingly, but not a solid recovery, as things were expected to return to normal‘, told AFP Silvia Matos, an economist at Getulio Vargas. For 2022, experts consulted in the central bank’s latest Weekly Focus survey forecast weak growth of only 0.3%.

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Nearly 6 million dead worldwide

The pandemic has officially killed at least 5,962,297 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, among more than 436 million confirmed infections, according to an AFP report released Wednesday afternoon.

The United States is the country with the highest number of deaths (956,440), ahead of Brazil (650,578), India (514,246) and Russia (353,230). The World Health Organization (WHO), taking into account the increase in deaths directly and indirectly related to Covid-19, estimates that the epidemic toll could be two to three times higher than that officially established.