In the face of a continuing pandemic, more than 50 million doses of the vaccine have been administered worldwide.
In France, the government is maintaining health restrictions and is considering a third confinement.
A final report shows more than 26,500 cases in 24 hours, hospital pressure remains high.
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While more than two million people around the world have died from contracting the virus, the 50 million vaccine dose mark has been crossed.
In France, according to the report from Public Health France published on Wednesday, nearly 27,000 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in 24 hours and the number of patients hospitalized in intensive care is at a level not reached since December 15, with 2,842 patients .
If the government is working on the hypothesis of new containment, there will however be no change in national measures this week, announced its spokesperson Gabriel Attal.
The main information to remember
Nearly 27,000 cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours, hospital pressure remains high
No change in national measures this week, assures the government spokesperson
The hypothesis of a third confinement is considered
The National Assembly has given the green light to the extension of the state of health emergency until June 1
More than 50 million people have received a dose of the anti-Covid vaccine
Nearly 27,000 cases of Covid in 24 hours
The number of coronavirus cases has approached the three million mark since the start of the epidemic, at 2,965,117, or nearly 27,000 additional in one day, according to figures from Public Health France revealed on Wednesday.
The upward trend in hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients also continued on Wednesday, with the number of patients in intensive care at the highest level since mid-December.
The health authority counts 2,842 patients in "shifts", therefore suffering from severe forms of the disease, a figure never reached since December 15, and which has continued to increase for ten days.
The total number of hospital patients climbed to 25,650, the highest since December 8.
292 patients entered intensive care in 24 hours, and 1,911 in hospital.
Public Health France has recorded 71,652 deaths since the start of the epidemic, including 316 recorded in the last 24 hours.
Status quo in France, but a third confinement envisaged
There will be "no change in national restrictions this week," government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday after the Council of Ministers, without commenting on possible reductions.
A week after the announcement of the generalization of the curfew at 6 p.m. in metropolitan France, "we are giving this device a chance, it is possible that this measure will make it possible to slow down the circulation of the virus even more in our country", a- he argues.
According to several government sources, the question is no longer whether a third lockdown will take place, but rather when.
A tool he considers the most effective to regain control of the epidemic.
The government could make its announcement as early as next week and introduce it at the end of the month.
All the details here.
According to psychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik, this third confinement, like the first, could leave traces.
"A confinement is a physical protection against the virus, but a very important psychological attack, it is even a neurological attack because it is a sensory isolation", explains on Europe 1 the specialist in resilience.
It will be hard especially for teenagers.
"They will pay dearly for it because adolescence is a sensitive period in their development. They will be blocked for a year or two," warns Boris Cyrulnik.
Ski resorts will not reopen on February 1
It is a blow for a sector which is moving "towards a white season".
The ski lifts of the ski resorts "will not reopen on February 1" announced the Secretary of State for Tourism on Wednesday, a few hours after a Defense Council devoted to a health situation which is not improving.
Indeed "a reopening in mid or late February seems highly improbable", Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne told the press, after having gathered during a videoconference the actors of the mountain, who hoped for this reopening "to ensure the survival of the mountain ecosystem "and" limit the social impact "on a sector which represents between 250,000 and 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.
On Europe 1, Jean-Luc Bloch deplored Monday the "economic sacrifice" of this sector.
Students mobilized
In this context of an endless crisis, hundreds of students, deprived of lecture halls for more than two months, took to the streets on Wednesday across France to denounce the devastating effects of the health crisis on their families. daily existence and the precariousness of their living conditions.
Emmanuel Macron, who is going to the University of Paris-Saclay this Thursday, could announce new support measures, according to a government source.
Jean Castex for his part acknowledged in the Senate that the government had "the duty to support these sometimes difficult situations" and that it had "done it in terms of money, employment, psychological support".
The Assembly gives the green light for an extension of the state of health emergency
By 113 votes to 43, the National Assembly on Wednesday gave the green light to the extension of the state of health emergency until June 1 in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic, despite the opposition of the left as well as right.
The prorogation bill will be on the menu of the Senate at first reading next Wednesday, with a view to final adoption before February 16, the current date of end of application of this exceptional regime.
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More than 50 million doses of the vaccine administered worldwide
At least 51.28 million doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide, according to a count made by AFP from official sources on Wednesday.
Israel is the most advanced country as more than a quarter of its population has already received at least one dose, or 2.3 million people.
In terms of volume, the United States are in the lead (15.7 million doses administered), ahead of China (over 15 million) and the United Kingdom (4.7 million).
British variant spreading, Pfizer vaccine effective?
The British variant of Covid-19 continues to spread across the world and was present last week in 60 countries and territories, 10 more than on January 12, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.
The South African variant, which, like the British, is much more contagious than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, spreads more slowly and is present in 23 countries and territories, or 3 more than January 12, specifies the WHO in its weekly epidemiological review.
The vaccine from BioNTech / Pfizer seems in any case effective against the English variant of the virus, according to the results of two preliminary studies posted online Wednesday.
"Our results suggest that the majority of vaccine responses should be effective against the B.1.1.7 variant", believe, in one of the two studies not yet evaluated by other scientists, an international team of researchers from British and Dutch universities .
The 27 countries of the European Union are due to meet this Thursday for a videoconference summit dedicated to the fight against the pandemic.
The response to the new variant will occupy a good place with the acceleration of vaccination or the establishment of a common certificate.
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1,820 more deaths in the UK, a new record
The United Kingdom recorded 1,820 more deaths from the new coronavirus on Wednesday, a new daily record since the start of the pandemic.
These figures from the Department of Health bring to 93,290 dead (within 28 days of a positive test) the total toll of the pandemic in the United Kingdom, the heaviest in Europe.
The situation is "very, very bad right now, with enormous pressure, and in some cases it feels like a war zone for what people have to deal with" in hospitals, government science adviser Patrick said. Vallance, on the Sky News channel.
Currently, 37,946 patients with Covid-19 are hospitalized (including 3,916 on a ventilator), much more than during the first wave in the spring.
More than two million dead
The pandemic has killed more than 2.05 million people worldwide and more than 96.1 million cases of infection have been diagnosed, according to a report established by AFP.
The United States is the most affected country with at least 405,400 deaths, followed by Brazil (212,831 dead), India (152,718 dead), Mexico (142,832), and the United Kingdom (93,290).