Two years ago, to the day, President Emmanuel Macron announced to the French the establishment of a first confinement to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic. Today, most of the restrictions have been lifted with the end of the vaccination pass and the end of the obligation to wear the mask separately in transport. However, the epidemic figures have been on the rise since the beginning of March. More than 108,832 cases have been recorded in 24 hours according to the latest data from Public Health France published on Wednesday.
- In France, the government defends the lifting of restrictions despite the epidemic rebound
Were most of the restrictions linked to Covid-19 lifted too quickly? For Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, questioned on France Info, Wednesday March 16, 2022, no. The government took “the right decision” to lift the restrictions linked to Covid-19 in France, despite a rebound in contamination, he declared in particular, assuring that there was “no risk of saturation of hospitals”.
As a reminder, the long fifth wave of the epidemic, which has been declining for a few weeks, has been on the rise for several days, with a rebound in contamination. Health authorities have identified more than 108,000 cases in 24 hours (compared to 80,000 two weeks ago), according to the latest data from Public Health France.
“We knew there was a risk of rebound, we see it, and he is not only French,” he continued. “What is important to understand, what the Scientific Council and the models of the Institut Pasteur are telling us, is that indeed, it will go up for 10-15 days, probably until the end of March. We risk to reach 120,000-150,000 contaminations per day, and then we expect a decrease,” added the minister. “The most fundamental thing is that the hospital load (…) will be contained,” he said. There is “no risk of saturation of hospitals”, according to him.
Asked about a “trivialization of the epidemic”, Olivier Véran defended himself by recalling the authorization given to patients aged 80 and over to receive a booster dose, the maintenance of the health pass in health establishments and establishments. medico-social services, the maintenance of the vaccination obligation for caregivers and the continued obligation to wear a mask in public transport.
About the long Covids, the minister estimated at “60,000 to 70,000 French people who retain the symptoms which can be disabling”.
- Vaccination is slipping in Martinique despite the arrival of the Novavax vaccine
The Nuvaxovid messenger RNA-free vaccine was administered to only around 40 people in Martinique during its first week of distribution, according to the Regional Health Agency (ARS), despite the rebound of the Covid-19 epidemic since the start. of the month.
Nuvaxovid from the Novavax laboratory has been administered since March 8, by appointment only, in five vaccination centers in Martinique.
- Patents on anti-Covid vaccines: the WTO welcomes a first compromise
A compromise for a waiver of intellectual property rights on anti-Covid vaccines has been found between four major manufacturing players, the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday, calling for other member countries to be convinced.
In a press releasenoting that the details of the compromise are not yet all settled, the head of the World Trade Organization Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala underlined on Wednesday the “decisive progress made” by the European Union, the United States, the India and South Africa “regarding a waiver of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights for the production of Covid-19 vaccines”.
Discussions at the WTO on intellectual property and access to vaccines in poor countries were launched by India and South Africa in 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. With no real progress occurring, these same two countries, joined by the United States and the EU, launched a small group in December to negotiate a compromise.
- Israel says it has discovered an “unknown” variant combining BA.1 and BA.2
The Israeli Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that it had detected two cases of contamination with an unidentified variant of the coronavirus, without apparent seriousness and which combines the BA.1 and BA.2 sub-variants. “This variant is not yet known in the world and the two cases were discovered thanks to PCR tests carried out at Ben Gurion airport upon entering Israel,” he said in a statement. “The infected people showed mild symptoms of fever, headaches and muscle aches and did not require any special medical care,” he continues.
For the head of the Israeli government’s anti-covid strategy, Salman Zarka, “the phenomenon of combined variants is well known” and “at this stage, we are not worried (that the new variant may lead to) severe cases. “, he told Israel Army Radio.
- China moves to free up beds amid Omicron outbreak
China has been active since Wednesday to free up hospital beds, to prevent hospitals from being potentially overwhelmed by an outbreak of Omicron cases, which has already led to the confinement of tens of millions of inhabitants. In a country where the authorities have adopted the zero Covid strategy, all patients who tested positive have so far been sent to hospitals. A total of 6,000 prefabricated hospital rooms have already been installed in the cities of Changchun and Jilin, a city of the same name in the province, to cope with the dreaded influx of patients.
The Ministry of Health has reported 3,290 new cases of Covid-19, including 11 serious, spread over around 20 provinces. This is a significant drop from Tuesday. Several confinements have already been decreed, in particular in the province of Jilin (northeast), where a large part of the cases have been identified, and in the technological metropolis of Shenzhen (south), populated by 17.5 million inhabitants. If these figures are very low compared to many foreign countries, they are high for China, where the authorities are adopting a zero Covid strategy, which aims to limit the occurrence of new cases as much as possible.
- French Foreign Minister and Kamala Harris’ husband tested positive
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday March 15 and immediately isolated himself, he announced on Twitter, while he was visiting Rennes, the alongside Prime Minister Jean Castex.
On the other side of the Atlantic, it is the Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris, who tested positive for Covid-19 the same day. His wife is negative for the moment, the White House has also announced.