New restrictions in several countries due to the advance of the coronavirus

New restrictions were declared on Saturday in countries in Europe, Asia and Oceania, in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, whose successive waves have already caused more than 84.3 million cases and more than 1.82 million deaths worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

On the European continent, the region most affected by the epidemic with more than 577,400 deaths and 26.7 million infected, France has started the new year with limits due to worrying epidemiological figures, with nearly 20,000 daily cases recorded in recent days.

The current curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 p.m., in force in the country since mid-December, was extended this Saturday in 15 of the 96 departments of French territory, where it will take effect from 6 p.m.

The decision reaches the east of the country, “the most affected” by the pandemic, according to the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, in an interview with France 2.

“We added two hours of curfew, surely we will have an impact in the right direction in 15 days-three weeks, but probably very modest”, believes, for his part, Frédéric Adnet, head of emergencies at the hospital. Avicennes in Bobigny, on the outskirts of Paris.

Meanwhile, theaters, cinemas and concert halls will also not be able to reopen on January 7, as originally planned.

In Greece, where there have been 4,881 deaths from the coronavirus, the government has announced that it will extend until January 10 “for preventive reasons” the strict containment adopted two months ago, which means the end of the flexibility applied in December for holidays at the end of December. year.

In the UK, the government has decided to close all primary schools in London for two weeks, after complying with requests from 10 areas of the capital where closures were not planned, UK daily The Guardian reported.

Meanwhile, in Denmark, authorities have registered 86 cases of the new strain of the virus first detected in the UK, making it the country that has reported the most cases to date of this variant, which it is considered to be the most contagious. .

Its spread “may lead to a steeper epidemic curve … which will mean that we will have to step up our prevention measures,” warned Tyra Grove Krause, head of the Danish infectious disease agency.

Asia

In Asia, too, the rapid expansion of Covid-19 is starting to sound the alarm bells in various countries.

In Thailand, which seemed to have passed the worst of the pandemic, the capital Bangkok was now partially confined with the closure of bars, nightclubs and places where alcohol is sold to curb the rise in infections.

In the rest of the country, which has seen a resurgence since last month, the new restrictions will be in effect from Jan.4 to Feb.1.

In South Korea, the government extended health restrictions in Seoul until January 17 to curb the spread of the virus, while also deciding to extend the ban on private meetings of more than four people to the rest of the country. implemented so far only. in the capital.

The Asian country, which has never activated strict restrictions or closed borders, has reported a record number of infections of around 1,000 per day in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, in Japan, which is plunged into the third wave of the epidemic and has exceeded 242,700 cases, the government today rejected a request by authorities in Tokyo to declare a state of emergency in the capital due of the outbreak of infections and decided to postpone the decision pending more information on the evolution of the pandemic in the city.

In Australia, the authorities in Sydney, the most populous city in the country, will force this evening to wear a mask in certain closed places, after the detection of seven cases of local transmission of coronavirus after the appearance of several outbreaks in the city ​​and its surroundings.

America

Meanwhile, in Latin America, Venezuela will resume its partial containment plan until January 10 on Monday, after easing controls in December.

In total, the country officially accumulates 113,558 infections and 1,028 deaths, while in the Latin American region, infections have risen to over 15.6 million and deaths to over 509,300 since the start of the pandemic.

Although vaccination campaigns have already started in parts of the world, experts believe the worst of this pandemic is yet to come in the world, and they predict a sharp increase in infections and deaths after the Christmas gatherings.

In addition, criticism has increased in recent days for the slow distribution of vaccines, especially in Europe and the United States.

The European Union (EU) today recognized a “global insufficiency” in the production capacity of vaccines against Covid-19 and said it was “ready to help” in an attempt to increase it, according to the European commissioner in health, Stella Kyriakides.

In the United States, nearly 2.8 million people have already received their first doses, a far cry from the 20 million vaccinations promised by outgoing President Donald Trump before the end of 2020.

A day after the country surpassed 20 million infections and approached 350,000 deaths from Covid-19, the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) statistical model predicted that another 115,000 Americans could pass away. for the disease in the next four weeks, CNN reported today.