France is facing a fifth wave of the Covid-19 epidemic, pushing the government to take new measures. Follow here all the news related to the health situation in France or in the world.
6:02 p.m.
Several demonstrations against the vaccine pass project took place on Saturday across France, mainly in calm, a few days after Emmanuel Macron’s controversial statements on the unvaccinated, whom he wants to “piss off”.
Paris has seen several demonstrations, the most important of which brought together a few thousand people at the call of the Patriots of the pro-Frexit presidential candidate Florian Philippot, according to an AFP journalist. They paraded, in the rain, from the Place du Palais Royal to Place Vauban behind the Invalides.
In Lyon, a small crowd of demonstrators of all ages and little masked gathered in a good-natured atmosphere on Place Bellecour, in the city center. Among them some “yellow vests”, tricolor flags and a red from the CGT. Slogans denouncing “social apartheid” and boos against President Emmanuel Macron and his Prime Minister punctuated the demonstration.
In Bordeaux, between 500 and 1,000 people, according to the police, and 9,000 according to the organizers, demonstrated despite the rain.
17:37
The United Kingdom recorded 313 new deaths from Covid-19 on Saturday, bringing the total number of people who have died in the country since the start of the pandemic to 150,057. According to figures published by the government, 146,390 cases of contamination have been recorded in 24 hours, a figure that has fallen since Tuesday’s record, while pressure is building on hospitals in the midst of the wave of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
4:18 p.m.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, who had Covid-19 in March 2021, tested positive again on Saturday, the royal palace said. “The Crown Princess, who is fully vaccinated, has cold symptoms but is otherwise doing well,” the court wrote in a statement, adding that she was isolated at home and her family.
This is the second time in less than a year that Princess Victoria, 45, has tested positive for Covid-19. In March 2021, her husband, Prince Daniel, had also tested positive, which was not announced on Saturday.
2:22 p.m.
Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin, critic of the Tehran regime, died in prison after contracting Covid-19, several human rights organizations announced on Saturday. “Baktash Abtin is dead,” lamented the Iranian Writers’ Association (IWA) on its Telegram channel, after Baktash Abtin had been plunged into a coma earlier this week.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) confirmed his death on Twitter, denouncing the responsibility of the Iranian authorities, who had condemned Mr. Abtin in 2019 for “propaganda against the regime” and “publication of an illegal newspaper on Facebook”, according to RSF.
2:18 p.m.
“Four to five managerial players” from Burkina Faso and the coach have tested positive for Covid and should miss the opening match of the African Cup on Sunday in Yaoundé, explained the assistant coach, who disputes the procedure.
“We have four to five cases of Covid, especially senior players, we are not going to name names,” said Firmin Sanou, adding that he was replacing his head coach, Kamou, for the pre-match press conference. Malo, because it was also positive.
Among the delegation of Burkinabè journalists, circulated the names of Saidou Simporé, Dango Ouattara, Oula Abass Traoré, Edmond Tapsoba and Gustavo Sangaré as players tested positive on Friday
11:12
More than 2 million daily cases of Covid-19 were recorded on average worldwide over the week of January 1 to 7, a figure which has doubled in ten days, according to an AFP count.
An average of 2,106,118 daily cases have been recorded over the past seven days. The threshold of one million daily cases had been exceeded during the week from December 23 to 29, 2021.
The number of new daily cases has increased by 270% since the discovery in late November 2021 of the Omicron variant in Botswana and South Africa.
9:54 a.m.
In a video on Twitter, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced that 230,000 French people had received a first dose of vaccine this week.
“Faced with the epidemic wave that is sweeping the whole country (…) our best weapon is vaccination,” he said. And to continue: “This week more than 3.7 million of you have received an injection, 230,000 of you have received a first injectoin, a record since the beginning of September, among which more than 20,000 children under 12 years old. Do not hesitate to get vaccinated ”
Since Monday, 230,000 French people have received a first injection. A record since September.
Protect yourself, protect us, over 3 million slots are waiting for you. pic.twitter.com/jFUDSWfKCR
– Olivier Véran (@olivierveran) January 7, 2022
07:51
More than 300 million cases of Covid-19 have been officially recorded worldwide since the start of the pandemic, according to an AFP count from official reports on Friday at 3:45 p.m. GMT.
A total of 300,042,439 cases of infection have been diagnosed since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease in late December 2019.
The pandemic has killed more than 5.47 million people worldwide, according to the AFP report. In absolute terms, the United States is the most bereaved country with 836,241 dead, followed by Brazil (619,822), India (483,178) and Russia (314,604).
07:30
Faced with the rise in infections with the Omicron variant, Germany will further restrict access to restaurants and cafes but reduce the quarantine periods to avoid a possible paralysis of the country, announced Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
