(Paris) New measures, new reports and highlights: an update on the latest developments in the COVID-19 pandemic around the world.
Posted at 7:41 a.m.
3 million daily cases worldwide
More than 3 million daily cases were recorded on average worldwide between January 13 and 19, a figure that has increased more than fivefold since the discovery of the Omicron variant at the end of November, according to an AFP count.
The regions currently experiencing the greatest increases in contamination are Asia (385,572 daily cases over the past seven days on average, +68% compared to the previous week), the Middle East (89,900 daily cases, +57 %) and the Latin America/Caribbean zone (397,098 daily cases, +40%).
Austria, 1er EU countries to adopt compulsory vaccination
The Austrian Parliament is due to adopt the law on compulsory vaccination for all adults on Thursday, becoming the first country in the European Union to take such a measure to fight the pandemic.
The project, announced in November to boost a faltering vaccination campaign at a time when the number of infections was soaring, is supported by a large section of the political class. However, many Austrians are up in arms against the law.
Thailand: travelers exempted from quarantine
Thailand will again exempt vaccinated travelers from quarantine from 1er February, a hope for the tourism industry bloodless for months, announced Thursday the authorities.
From the beginning of February, vaccinated visitors will now have to provide a negative COVID-19 test taken in the country of origin, take a second on arrival, and a final one on the fifth day.
Second wave in New Caledonia
New Caledonia, spared until recently by the COVID-19 epidemic, has entered a “second wave” with the Omicron variant, health authorities in the French Pacific archipelago announced on Thursday, where new measures will come into force on Monday. .
Elsewhere in the French West Indies, the white plan was reactivated in Guadeloupe against a backdrop of violent protest against the anti-COVID-19 vaccine which turned into a social crisis. The organizations mobilized against the vaccination obligation called, for this Thursday, the whole of the island to a “dead day”.
Serious economic and monetary crisis in Sri Lanka
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka raised its interest rates by 50 basis points on Thursday in an attempt to control galloping inflation, at a time when the country, in the midst of an economic and monetary crisis, is close to defaulting on payment.
The COVID-19 pandemic as well as the Islamist attacks of Easter 2019 had disastrous consequences on the economy of the island, deprived of its tourist windfall, the main provider of foreign currency.
Eurostar: sharp drop in passenger numbers
Eurostar high-speed trains, which use the Channel Tunnel between France and England, carried 1.6 million passengers last year, a figure down 85.2% compared to 2019 before the end of the month. start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 5.5 million dead
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed at least 5,563,359 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report compiled by AFP from official sources at 6 a.m. Thursday.
In absolute terms, the countries with the most deaths are the United States (857,778), Brazil (621,855), India (487,693) and Russia (324,060).
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to COVID-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that officially recorded.