Epidemic update in the world

France Press agency , Posted on Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 03:20

New Measures, New Reports, and Highlights: An update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.

– Tensions escalate in Ottawa –

Police, who are still working to expel a hardline group of protesters from the Canadian capital, said Saturday that “significant progress” was made on Saturday in evacuating central Ottawa, paralyzed for weeks by anti-health measures.

The authorities sprayed pepper spray on protesters, destroying the windows of vehicles where some had taken refuge. In the afternoon, the authorities resumed the main axle in front of the Canadian Parliament, where hundreds of trucks had been parked for 23 days.

Police said at least 170 people were arrested on Friday and Saturday, about 50 vehicles were towed, weapons were confiscated, and tents, huts, food stalls and other buildings erected by protesters were also destroyed.

– New anti-passage demonstrations in Paris –

Opponents of the vaccine permit and the French government’s health policy once again marched through the streets of Paris and several other cities on Saturday, convinced that the announced cuts to Covid-19-related restrictions are nothing but an “electoral” promise.

– France: decrease in new hospital admissions –

While infections have been declining since the end of January in France, hospital pressure also continues to fall, according to figures published on Saturday by French Public Health. French hospitals currently have 28,632 patients with Covid, compared to 31,522 the previous week.

This downward trend is also seen in critical care services, which receive the most dangerous cases, especially in intensive care, where the number of patients is 2,918, compared to 3,324 patients a week ago.

As for infections, the seven-day daily rate was 86,509, compared to 145,619 in the previous week.

– More than 5.87 million dead –

The pandemic has officially killed more than 5.87 million people worldwide since the end of December 2019, among more than 420 million confirmed infections, according to an AFP report released on Saturday at 7:00 pm GMT.

The United States is the country with the highest number of deaths (934,951), ahead of Brazil (643,880) and India (511,230).

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.