Pandemic Update

France Press agency , Posted on Sunday December 12, 2021 at 19:34

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

– Vaccines may be less effective against Omicron (WHO) –

The World Health Organization said on Sunday that the Omicron variant appears to spread faster than the Delta variant, causing less severe symptoms and making vaccines less effective, stressing that data is still very incomplete.

Omicron is now present in 63 countries, according to the organization.

– UK alert level raised –

On Sunday, UK health officials announced they had raised the alert level for Covid due to the “rapid increase” in cases of the Omicron variant.

The level has been reduced from three to four, which is the second highest and indicates that “transmission is high and pressure on health services is widespread and significant or increasing”.

The British government has already announced additional measures to combat the spread of the variant, including extending the campaign to boost the vaccine to more than 30 years from Monday.

From Tuesday, fully vaccinated contacts of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 will be required to take antigen tests daily for seven days, while those who have not been vaccinated must remain isolated for ten days.

– Boris Johnson in turmoil –

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been accused of cultivating a ‘culture of ignoring the rules’ in government after a photo was published on Sunday showing him taking an exam in December 2020, at a time when Britons were asked to limit their social interactions.

– Thousands of protesters in Austria –

Thousands of demonstrators descended on several cities in Austria on Sunday to protest against the compulsory vaccination project and anti-Covid restrictions, while the lockdown was lifted today for those who have been vaccinated but remains in place for those who did not receive a shot.

Mobilization was strongest in Graz (south), where the police counted about 17,000 people. In the west of the country, their number was 9,000 in Bregenz, 6,000 in Innsbruck and 4,500 in Salzburg.

The day before, 44,000 people protested in Vienna, mainly at the call of the far right. Police reported 771 tickets, most of them for breaching the obligation to wear masks.

– France: vaccination of children is a “necessity” (CASTEX) –

French Prime Minister Jean Castix, in an interview with France Bleu Alsace, estimated that vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 against Covid-19 was a “necessity”.

The Prime Minister said on local radio that “vaccinating children is a necessity” between 5 and 11 years, believing that the youngest of them are “carriers” of the virus. “I am a living example,” he continued. “It was my 11-year-old daughter who gave me the virus a few weeks ago.”

– More than 5.3 million dead –

The pandemic has killed at least 5300,591 million people worldwide since the end of 2019, according to an assessment prepared by AFP from official sources, on Sunday at 11:00 GMT.

The United States is the deadliest country with 797,179 deaths, ahead of Brazil (616,744), India (475434), Mexico (296,620) and Russia (289,483).

The World Health Organization (WHO), taking into account the increase in deaths directly and indirectly related to Covid-19, estimates that the number of victims of the epidemic in the world could be two to three times higher.