Global pandemic update

France Press agency , Posted on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at 7:11 pm

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

– Case explosion in Belgium –

With an average of 8,000 new infections per day, Belgium is returning to a virus prevalence rate unreached for a year.

Hospitalization follows the same trend: There are 2,000 Covid patients in Belgian hospitals, a level not seen in the country since May.

On Wednesday, health ministers (federal and federal entities) recommended a booster dose of the vaccine for everyone, not just those over 65 and their caregivers. The terms of this “generalized vaccine + booster + plan” must be defined by the end of November.

– USA: vaccinate 900,000 children between the ages of 5 and 11 –

About 900,000 American children aged 5 to 11 have received their first dose of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine since the campaign for that age group was launched a week ago in the United States.

This is a “good start,” the White House’s coordinator for epidemiology, Jeff Zents, said. The United States has 28 million children between the ages of 5 and 11.

– Germany: Pfizer for people under 30 years old –

The German Vaccines Committee (STIKO) on Wednesday recommended that those under 30 be vaccinated with the only vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech, which risks developing myocarditis for this population due to Moderna. This recommendation also applies to pregnant women.

– European contract for Valneva –

The French-Austrian laboratory Valneva and the European Commission announced that they have reached an agreement on up to 60 million doses of a vaccine against Covid-19 by 2023.

– Shanghai Marathon postponed –

Organizers of the Shanghai Marathon, scheduled for November 28, announced that it has been postponed, as happened in Beijing and Wuhan last month, due to a limited recovery in the COVID-19 epidemic in China.

The number of infections in the country remains low – an average of 74 cases over the past seven days according to official figures – but Chinese authorities are following a zero-contamination policy within three months of the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics (Feb 4-20).

– March without a distance: arrests in China –

Chinese police have ordered the pre-trial detention of three people, who were presented as organizers of giant screen broadcasts of the global video game League of Legends final, official newspapers said.

The esports competition, which was held on Saturday in Reykjavik (Iceland), was broadcast in a crowded area of ​​Wuhan (center), and attracted at least 2,000 people according to Chinese media. This huge gathering was organized without permission and without space.

– Lions tested positive in Singapore –

Four lions from a Singapore wildlife park have tested positive for the coronavirus after being infected by staff and with symptoms such as coughing and sneezing, authorities said.

The Southeast Asian city-state is facing its worst pollution wave since the start of the epidemic with about 2,000 to 3,000 new cases per day.

– More than five million dead –

The pandemic has killed more than 5,062,911 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to an AFP report released Wednesday midday.

The United States is the country with the highest number of deaths (757,409), ahead of Brazil (609756), India (461,849), Mexico (290,110) and Russia (250,454).

The World Health Organization estimates, taking into account the increase in deaths directly and indirectly related to Covid-19, that the epidemic toll could be two to three times higher than that officially established.