the outbreak of contamination accelerates on Christmas Eve

The outbreak of new Covid-19 contaminations is accelerating across the world on Christmas Eve, especially in Europe where the new Omicron variant is sweeping and where the wearing of a mask outside becomes mandatory in Spain and Greece on Friday.

In his Christmas message, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged his compatriots to get vaccinated, as the number of new infections crossed 100,000 Thursday for the second consecutive day in the country.

This Christmas, “there is always something wonderful you can give to your family and to the whole country … is to get the vaccine, whether it is your first, your second or your booster”, says- there in this message which will be broadcast on Friday.

In Spain, wearing a mask outdoors becomes compulsory again from Friday. And the authorities of Catalonia (north-east) have been able since Thursday evening to introduce a curfew from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. in most of the region.

In Greece, wearing a mask indoors and outdoors also becomes compulsory from Friday until January 2. “There is a lot of movement during the holiday season, and large crowds gather outside,” said Minister of Health Thanos Plevris.

In Italy, the surgical mask will also become compulsory again outside, the government announced Thursday without specifying from what date.

Faced with the onslaught of the highly contagious Omicron variant, weariness is being felt across the world. As with this 35-year-old Parisian, Dominique, crossed near the Champs-Elysées: “There is moral fatigue. But what can we do about it? We are fed up. Last year, we thought we were seeing the end of it, but here we say to ourselves that many other variants can happen “.

– Exodus for the holidays –

In the United States, 265,770 new cases were identified Thursday and the Omicron variant is largely dominant among new infections. Despite this, millions of Americans have started traveling for the holiday season. President Joe Biden urged his compatriots on Tuesday not to “panic” and to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones as planned, thanks to vaccines and tests.

According to the American Automobile Association, more than 109 million people were scheduled to leave their regions by plane, train or car between December 23 and January 2, which is 34% more than last year.

These movements are accompanied by a vaccination rate that seems to be on the rise, especially for booster doses of which 1.3 million were inoculated over 24 hours according to the latest figures made public on Wednesday.

“The best gift you can give yourself is a booster dose” which protects “much better” against severe forms of the disease, tweeted Cyrus Shahpar, White House official for Covid-19 data.

– Vaccine compulsory in Ecuador –

Ecuador has made vaccination compulsory from the age of five, a world first.

Global stock markets, however, ended up on Thursday, reassured by initial studies from South Africa, Scotland and England which show that Omicron appears to cause fewer hospitalizations than Delta. Tokyo was up slightly on Friday.

“Omicron looks more like a short-term disruption to the economic outlook than a destructive wind,” said Edward Moya, analyst for Oanda.

The scientific community warns, however, against an optical effect. Because even if it is confirmed that Omicron is less dangerous, it is much more contagious, including in people who have been vaccinated or who have already had the Covid.

The consequences could therefore be serious at the collective level. The number of cases, which seems to double every two to three days, could automatically lead to an increase in the number of hospitalized patients – in particular the unvaccinated and the so-called fragile people (very old, or immunocompromised for example) – and once again overwhelm health systems. Even considered for the moment as less lethal, the Omicron variant could therefore theoretically lead to a large number of deaths.

The pandemic has killed at least 5.3 million people worldwide since the end of 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Thursday. WHO estimates that the real toll could be two to three times higher.

burx-roc / alc

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