Europe adopts new restrictions to contain the advance of the Delta variant | The worry grows

The expansion of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, detected for the first time in India and already present in several countries of the European Union (EU), has forced the bloc to strengthen or restore measures to stop its spread, while the vaccination campaign continues to obtain collective immunity.

Decisions on what restrictions to take to contain the pandemic are scattered across the EU. Malta, for example, broke away from Community measures and its authorities have announced – in the hope of stemming an increase in new cases – that only those who are vaccinated will be able to enter its small territory, since they consider that a negative PCR test is not enough.

The French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, regretted this Sunday Malta’s decision to close its borders to unvaccinated travelers. “I am not condemning it, but the decision Malta has taken is against European standards and I think we have to stick to our framework and apply it fully. This framework is that of the European health pass “, he declared on the Europe 1 channel.

During, Spain and the Netherlands toughen restrictions to fight against covid-19 and France getting ready to take New measures. In addition, there is growing concern that the disease, due to the progression of the highly contagious Delta variant, may spread even further during the euro final, who will face Italy and England this Sunday in front of 65,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium.

According to specialists, the main danger is not in the stadium but in the social gatherings in closed spaces which will be organized to see the final, notably in the UK, where almost all restrictions have been lifted and 30,000 new cases have been recorded daily over the past week. “I urge people not to gather in large numbers,” Deputy Commissioner Laurence Taylor of the Metropolitan Police asked in a statement.

Risk of new variants

Since the start of the pandemic, according to official sources, the coronavirus has already claimed the lives of at least four million people worldwide (although the WHO estimates that this figure could be two or three times higher). The United States is the worst affected country, with more than 607,000 deaths and more than 33.8 million recorded cases. It is followed by Brazil (nearly 533,000 dead), India (407,000), Mexico (234,000) and Peru (194,000).

The Delta variant, considered the most contagious of those in circulation, is causing epidemics in Asia and Africa and increasing the number of cases in Europe and the United States.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday she was “very concerned” about the risk that new variants of the coronavirus could represent for the global economic recovery. “We are very concerned about the Delta variant and other variants that could emerge and threaten reactivation,” Yellen said at a press conference after the G20 Finance summit in Venice.

“We have a connected global economy, what happens in one part of the world affects every other country,” Yellen said. “The variants represent a threat to everyone” he insisted, and urged “work together to speed up the vaccination process and achieve the goal of vaccinating 70% of the world’s population next year. “

While 70% of the population is vaccinated in some developed countries, the figure is less than 1% for low-income countries, according to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

While the EU announced on Saturday that it had reached its goal of having enough doses to vaccinate 70% of its adult population in July, in countries like Bangladesh, on the other hand, only 5.8 million of the 169 million people have been vaccinated which make up its population. .