The world closes in and WHO says vaccine will not be enough to beat pandemic | the Chronicle

Countries in Oceania, Asia and Europe today announced or are considering new restrictions to try to contain the current wave of coronavirus, amid renewed hopes of an effective early vaccine, but also warnings from WHO that this alone will not be enough to defeat the virus. .

In all, Since the first case detected last December in China, the world has now accumulated 54.6 million Covid-19 infections and 1.32 million deaths, according to the permanent tally from Johns Hopkins University (JHU)

The virus does not stop in the United States. The country most affected by the pandemic, and which is currently going through a third wave of infections, yesterday registered 133,045 new patients – for 13 days above 100,000 – and 616 deaths, and imposed new restrictive measures.

In Chicago, residents have been urged to stay at home from today, New Mexico prepares for a full lockdown, Washington has banned indoor gatherings and restricted business capacity, Michigan announced education virtual and banned leisure activities, California has enforced business closures at 12 noon. counties and, last week, New York City applied new restrictions on bars and restaurants.

In exchange, The second country with the most cases, India, has reduced the infection rate in recent weeks, although it already exceeds 8.84 million and accumulates 130,070 deaths, while Brazil, the third, adds more over 5.86 million and 165,798, respectively.

Despite the grim global scenario, which added more than 443,000 cases on the last day, news today that the vaccine candidate from US company Moderna had 94.5% efficacy in preliminary studies in Phase 3 clinical trials. , adds to the efficiency results of Pfizer and Sputnik V, it suggests a new horizon.

But in the face of widespread optimism, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned that one vaccine will not be enough to beat the pandemic since “This will complement the other tools we have, not replace them” e “initially the quantities will be limited” and only for people belonging to groups at risk.

Meanwhile, Europe, which is going through the second wave of infections; Oceania, which appears to be controlling the spread of the virus; and Asia, where some countries have peaked in recent times, has had to apply more strategies.

For example in Australia, the state of South Australia, today reinstated several social distancing measures and canceled international flights to its capital, after detecting 17 cases of local transmission in seven months, CNN reported.

Likewise, New Zealand today imposed the chin strap on all flights and public transport in Auckland, where authorities are seeking to neutralize an outbreak, after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardem warned that personal and economic freedoms “are increasingly threatened because that increases Covid-19 in the world around us.”

In Germany, the head of government Angela Merkel I affirm that “More efforts are needed to contain contagion” and planned to offer federal state governors a new restriction on social contact, enforce the use of masks in schools and reduce class sizes to curb the second wave of coronavirus, according to a draft agreement, replied by the AFP news agency.

The Swedish government, hailed by some and criticized by others for handling the coronavirus without quarantines or mandatory measures, today announced that from November 24 and for a month, it will limit social meetings and events to eight people, in its first binding restriction.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, quoted today by the DPA news agency, recognized the measure as “intrusive but very necessary” and predicted that the rebound in cases could “worsen” in the coming days.

The situation seems to be improving in Italy. Health Minister Roberto Speranza told La Stampa today that restrictive measures – including the curfew – in place since the start of the month “are starting to show results” and that expects “within seven days” the peak of daily coronavirus infections of the second wave of the pandemic is reached.

The French Minister of Health spoke in the same spirit, Olivier Véran, who reported today that the country is “gradually regain control”, after flattening the contagion curve thanks to partial quarantine that will apply until Dec. 1, although he warned that the spread of the disease can quickly wake up if people ignore restrictions.

Buryatia, a region of Siberia, today became the first in Russia to adopt a new quarantine, after the country hit a new record, with more than 22,700 cases and 303 deaths in the past 24 hours, reported the Russian center responsible for fighting the virus, replied by the Sputnik news agency.

In South Korea, health officials announced today that they are assessing the strengthening of social distancing rules, which were relaxed last September, after the number of coronavirus cases today remained above 200 for the third consecutive day.South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.