Several countries broke contamination records on Tuesday because of the Omicron variant
Record contamination in Germany…
Germany recorded more than 100,000 new cases of Covid-19 contamination in 24 hours on Wednesday, a record since the start of the pandemic which dates back to the beginning of 2020, according to data published by health authorities. Europe’s leading economy recorded 112,323 additional cases as well as 239 deaths during the past day, said the Robert Koch health watch institute. This is the first crossing of the threshold of 100,000 cases per day since the daily census. The one-week incidence rate also reached 584.4 infections per 100,000 people, according to the institute. This record number of cases comes as the Omicron variant has become the majority in Germany, where it is responsible for more than 70% of new infections. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said at the same time that he expected the current wave of contamination does not reach its peak until “mid-February” in Germany, which began to be affected by the new variant after other European countries such as the United Kingdom. Or even France, where nearly 465,000 new cases were identified on Tuesday. Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to introduce compulsory vaccination against Covid-19 in Germany – where 60 million out of 83 million inhabitants are fully vaccinated – but the adoption of the measure has been delayed, in a climate overheated by restrictions existing.
… And in Brazil
Brazil recorded a new record for Covid-19 contamination in 24 hours, with 137,103 cases, according to the latest report provided on Tuesday by the Ministry of Health. This country of 213 million inhabitants, the second most bereaved on the planet by the pandemic behind the United States, has suffered a total of some 23.2 million cases and 621,517 deaths since the start of 2020. In Brazil, the Vaccination of children aged 5-11 started this week. NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP The number of cases exploded in January, due to the holiday season and the arrival of the Omicron variant, which is spreading like wildfire. The previous record in this huge country dated from June 23, when 115,228 new contaminations had been recorded in 24 hours. The average over the last seven days was 83,204 contaminations on Tuesday evening. By way of comparison, the moving average of daily cases was only 8,000 at the end of last year.
New restrictions in Japan
Japan is preparing this Wednesday to reinstate restrictions in a large part of the country, including Tokyo, in the face of the record number of coronavirus infections facing the archipelago, hit by the Omicron variant. The government must approve the implementation of these measures in 13 of the 47 departments of the country, as recommended by a committee of experts on Wednesday morning, the minister responsible for the fight against Covid-19, Daishiro Yamagiwa, told the press. Each department will be free to choose the restrictions they wish to introduce, which according to local media will include reducing opening hours for bars and restaurants and limiting the sale of alcohol. The Omicron variant has been causing a sharp increase in infections in the country for several weeks, which exceeded 30,000 cases nationally on Tuesday according to media calculations, a record since the start of the pandemic.
1,300 trucks blocked in South America by tests
More than 1,300 heavy goods vehicles from Argentina were blocked on Tuesday at the main border crossing with Chile, in the Andes, due to systematic Covid screening tests carried out on truckers, we learned from carriers. . More than a thousand trucks are blocked at the border between Chile and Argentina. STR / AFP The blockage at the Paso Cristo Redentor post, more than 3,100 m above sea level began two days ago, when the Chilean authorities reinforced their health control, with antigenic tests that have become systematic, said the Argentine federation road freight.
$300 million to fight the pandemic
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the British charitable foundation Wellcome announced on Tuesday that they will each invest an additional $150 million in the fight against Covid and the prevention of future pandemics. These funds will go to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which notably co-pilots the mechanism for distributing vaccines to the poorest countries Covax.
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