In France, the epidemic situation seems to be improving slightly, but remains "fragile".
While the government is considering first reductions in measures from mid-May, a health defense council is due to be held at the Elysee Palace on Wednesday.
Follow the evolution of the situation live.
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Finally a glimmer of hope?
After long weeks of increase, the coronavirus epidemic seems to be on a downward slope in France.
For five days, "we have started to decrease the epidemic", said Olivier Véran in an interview with the regional daily
Le Télégramme
.
But this decline in contamination is still far too fragile to quickly relax the restrictive measures, while the return of students to classes is approaching and the first reductions are still announced for mid-May.
A new health defense council is due to meet on Wednesday.
Follow the evolution of the situation live.
The main information to remember:
Contamination is starting to drop, the situation remains "fragile"
A health defense council is to be held on Wednesday
5,984 patients are currently in intensive care
Macron welcomes the pace of vaccination which "accelerates"
End of the 10 km on May 2 and opening of the terraces in mid-May, according to a source close to the executive
The executive plans to lift on May 2 the ban on moving more than 10 km from his home, possibly easing the curfew and reopening from mid-May terraces, non-food shops and places. of culture, with reduced gauges, explained to AFP a source close to the executive.
As he had indicated at the end of March, Emmanuel Macron will himself speak again to announce the modalities of the reopening, probably by the first week of May, according to this source.
Fragile decline in contamination, a health defense council scheduled for Wednesday
In his interview, the Minister of Health relies on a decrease in contamination: "we had risen to 40,000, we are today around 33,000 cases each day on average".
After nearly 6,700 new cases on Monday, a traditionally low day, 43,000 new contaminations were listed on Tuesday, according to Public Health France.
But "the descent is not yet fast enough", warns Olivier Véran, speaking of a "fragile" situation.
Because the tension on the health system is not weakening.
However, the school holidays are coming to an end soon and elementary school students must return to class on April 26, middle and high school students on May 3.
Regarding the reopening of schools, the Snes-FSU union commissioned a survey from the OpinionWay institute.
According to this study, 79% of respondents say they are in favor of vaccinating teachers.
Read our article on this survey
.
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"We will then be able to consider a certain number of reductions in the measures from mid-May", Olivier Véran told Le Télégramme, saying he was "open to the idea of a territory-by-territory approach in the lifting of the measures of braking".
Emmanuel Macron has set for mid-May the reopening of the first terraces of bars and restaurants and cultural places, promising a strict sanitary protocol, but without setting any sanitary condition, nor a maximum number of contaminations.
"This will be the subject of announcements in due course", according to the Minister of Health.
Wednesday morning, the head of state is to convene a new health defense council.
On the government side, we are looking for solutions to try to keep the presidential promise as best as possible.
Even if it means opting for a gradual lifting, territory by territory?
More information in this article
.
Still more than 5,900 patients in intensive care
The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalized in "critical care" increased very slightly on Tuesday, to 5,984 against 5,970 on Monday, according to figures published by Public Health France.
In 24 hours, 601 patients were admitted to these services against 502 patients the day before.
The total number of hospitalized patients is for its part down slightly, with 31,086 patients on Tuesday, against 31,214 the day before.
A total of 2,404 people have been hospitalized in the past 24 hours, according to the health agency.
A total of 43,098 new contaminations have been confirmed, with a test positivity rate of 9.9% over the last seven days.
Some 375 new deaths have been recorded, for a total of 101,597 since the start of the epidemic (including 75,413 in hospital).
Macron welcomes the pace of vaccination
For his part, Emmanuel Macron welcomed Tuesday, during a weekly meeting "vaccines" at the Elysee Palace that vaccination "is accelerating", with nearly 18 million doses injected. "Last week, we had 2.5 million injected doses, the highest figure over a week," he said. The executive has set a goal of reaching 20 million vaccinated with at least one dose by mid-May, a goal that seems achievable at the current rate.
The Head of State, however, mentioned several difficulties, including the reluctance of the French on the AstraZeneca vaccine, the mobilization of health personnel that must be intensified and the organization of the vaccination of priority professions.
"We have difficulties to convince on the AstraZeneca, we must think in terms of communication and ability to convince," he continued.
You have to "know how to maintain this rhythm and how to improve the levers", he continued.
400,000 workers over 55 will have dedicated slots from Saturday
About 400,000 workers over the age of 55, from twenty "second-line" trades, will benefit from vaccination slots reserved for two weeks from April 24, the Ministry of Labor announced on Tuesday after a meeting with social partners.
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The list disseminated Tuesday evening by the ministry includes bus, ferry and river shuttle drivers, delivery men, truck drivers, taxi and VTC drivers, public transport inspectors, cleaning agents, waste collection and waste sorting centers, guard and security officers, cashiers, self-service employees and food vendors, funeral directors, slaughterhouse employees.
The list of centers will be available on the websites of the regional health agencies.
These people will have to provide themselves with a declaration on their honor stating that they exercise one of the selected professions, a salary slip or a professional card.
The vaccination will be done at AstraZeneca as for other 55-59 years old.
Europe: green light for Johnson & Johnson vaccine
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Tuesday gave the green light to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, whose use is suspended in the United States and Europe due to the rare occurrence of serious blood clots.
The European regulator decided that this serum could be used, because of a favorable benefit / risk ratio.
In the process, Italy announced Tuesday that it approved this vaccine and that it recommends it to people over 60 years old.
In India, record of more than 2,000 dead in 24 hours
India recorded more than 2,000 deaths and nearly 300,000 new cases in 24 hours on Wednesday, one of the highest daily tolls in the world since the start of the pandemic, according to official data.
Figures from the Ministry of Health indicate that 295,000 new cases have been identified in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 15.6 million infections in India.
A total of 2,023 deaths have been recorded, bringing the total toll of the pandemic to 182,553 dead in the country.
More than three million dead in the world
The pandemic caused by the coronavirus has killed at least 3,031,441 people around the world since December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources, Tuesday at 10 a.m. GMT.
The United States is the country with the highest death toll, 568,416, followed by Brazil (378,003), Mexico (212,466), India (182,553) and the United Kingdom (127,274).