Europe and the United States hit by the Omicron tidal wave

Nearly 890,000 cases in 24 hours in the United States, 270,000 in France, more than 200,000 in the United Kingdom: Covid-19 contaminations continued to increase on Tuesday across the world, threatening certain sectors with major dysfunctions.

Many personalities are among the new “positives”: from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden to Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, including Paris goalkeeper SG Gianluigi Donnarumma and defender Lucas Hernandez from Bayern Munich, where no less than eight players are affected …

Faced with a worrying fifth wave, the United States recorded nearly 890,000 cases in 24 hours, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday evening, down slightly from the record of one million cases recorded on Monday.

Argentina is also experiencing a spectacular increase in the number of people positive for Covid-19, with 81,000 new cases recorded on Tuesday, almost double the previous day, confirming that the current tidal wave is reaching Latin America.

In Brazil, the second country in the world most bereaved in the world by the pandemic after the United States, the authorities in Rio de Janeiro decided on Tuesday to suspend the traditionally massive street parades of the next carnival at the end of February.

– Macron: “Piss off” the antivax –

France has recorded more than 270,000 cases in 24 hours, a record level. The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran spoke of figures which make you “dizzy”.

The positivity rate, or the proportion of cases among those tested, now exceeds 15% in the country, close to its autumn 2020 records.

The United Kingdom meanwhile recorded a new record of more than 200,000 cases in 24 hours on Tuesday, but British Prime Minister Boris Johnson again refused to toughen health measures.

The current wave of the epidemic, relaunched at the end of 2021 by the arrival of the Omicron variant, considerably more contagious than the previous ones even if its severity seems limited, is leading to an increase in absences for illness. A phenomenon which causes dysfunctions in several sectors, in particular that of health.

At least six hospitals in the United Kingdom declared “critical incidents” on Tuesday, meaning that the situation could affect priority care.

The lack of staff was also affecting the start of the school year in England, where the government renewed its call for retired teachers to come in as reinforcements.

Faced with the Omicron tidal wave, most governments have imposed new restrictions, including encouraging teleworking, while putting pressure on the unvaccinated.

In France, the government wants to institute a vaccination pass. President Emmanuel Macron played the provocation by declaring: “The unvaccinated, I really want to piss them off”.

“I am not going to put them in prison, I am not going to forcibly vaccinate them. And so, we must tell them: from January 15, you will no longer be able to go to the restaurant, you will no longer be able to take a cannon, you You will no longer be able to go for a coffee, you will no longer be able to go to the theater, you will no longer be able to go to the movies… “, explained the Head of State, arousing strong reactions, three months before the presidential election.

Cyprus, for its part, could announce new measures on Wednesday, such as restrictions on nightclubs, places of entertainment and home visits, while the island has the highest rate of contamination in the world (2,505 cases for 100,000 inhabitants).

The Indian capital New Delhi has also imposed new measures, including confinement during weekends.

And in Australia, which has nearly 50,000 cases daily, it’s the scramble for drug tests despite their cost.

– Containment for 3 asymptomatic cases –

The Philippines will extend the restrictions to areas around the capital Manila, with some 25 million people affected: the unvaccinated will have to stay at home for the duration of the restrictions – until mid-January – and will not be able to only go out to buy basic necessities or exercise.

China has for its part confined more than a million additional inhabitants in a locality in the center of the country after the discovery of three asymptomatic cases, one month before the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Fashion is not spared. Italian designer Giorgio Armani has announced the cancellation of his shows scheduled for January during Milan Fashion Week (Italy) and Paris Haute Couture Week.

But Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 in world tennis, who has never communicated on his vaccination status, announced on Tuesday that he had obtained a “medical exemption” which will allow him to seek a record 21st Grand Slam title at the Open d Australia, which takes place January 17-30 in Melbourne.

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