In the News: Omicron would be more contagious but less dangerous than the Delta variant
Audio 05:37
Two new studies show that the Omicron variant would lead to hospitalizations less often than the previous variants.
© AP / Michael Sohn
By: Véronique Rigolet Follow
4 min
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It is the “
best Christmas present
”, welcomes the
Sun
, the British tabloid, which like almost all the international press makes its front page on these two studies carried out in England and Scotland, therefore at the epicenter of the health crisis in Europe, "
while the UK has exceeded yesterday for the first time the 100
000 contamination
." "
These studies show that people infected with Omicron are 15-20
% less likely to be hospitalized,
" says The
Times
. "
Omicron causes mild disease more often compared to previous variants, which gives hope that the current wave is not as catastrophic aswe feared him
“, Also rejoices for its part the
New York Times
, before bringing a big downside.
“
Even if this news is encouraging,
” insists the American daily, experts warn that hospitals could well be overwhelmed again by Omicron cases, “
less dangerous of course, but much more contagious than the Delta variant
”. A concern shared by the
Guardian
which reports "
that experts still predict
3,000 daily hospitalizations in England during the peak which should be reached next month
". British health services "
are still at risk of being overwhelmed,
" argues the British daily, which sharply criticizes Boris Johnson's decision not to put in place new restrictions now. "
The British government is once again making a high-risk bet
", comments the
Guardian
columnist
,"
as in March 2020 when it delayed the introduction of measures while our neighbors were confined
", a lost bet, notes the columnist, and which resulted in "
months of unnecessary restrictions and deaths
."
China is once again confining entire cities
While Europe is struggling to find a common strategy against Omicron, China is still at the forefront, without qualms in its “
Zero Covid
”
strategy
.
Strategy as summarized by the correspondent of the
Washington Post
:
"
A person catches the Covid and its 200,000
neighbors are quarantined
", this is what happened this week to the city of Dongxing, now "
fully locked
", in the south of the country. The same "
draconian measures
" imposed on the 13 million inhabitants of Xi'an, the large city in central China famous for its army of terracotta warriors, where "
only
"
143 cases
of infections have been detected.
Enough to strictly lock the entire population, "
this extreme reaction
", comments the
Post
, "
underlines the hypervigilance of China as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics in 6 weeks
". And even the Chinese press, once is not custom, echoes the distress of the inhabitants thus brutally confined, where "
only one person per household is authorized to go out every 2 days to shop
", underlines the
Global Times
, the Chinese nationalist daily which also reports "
the concern and the feeling of helplessness
" of the students who will not be able to take their end-of-year exams.
The "
anti-Covid pill
" Pfizer new weapon against Omicron
Remember this name: Paxlovid, Pfizer's "
anti-Covid pill
" which has just been authorized in the United States and which the entire international press welcomes, which welcomes "
an important step in the fight against the pandemic
" , which "
could allow millions of patients to access treatment at home,
" said the
Guardian
. It is a new weapon to "
slow down Omicron
", also rejoices
El País
, who reports that this pill "
reduces
hospitalizations and deaths of seriously ill patients
by 90 %
". And it is a very easy treatment to administer, adds
Le Soir
, which describes “
two pills to be taken twice a day with a full glass of water, within 5 days of the onset of symptoms
”.
The European Medicines Agency has also "
authorized Paxlovid urgently
", underlines the daily in Brussels.
A mysterious "
time capsule
" unearthed in the United States
A "
time capsule
" dating from the civil war, like a treasure from the past for future generations. This capsule was placed more than 130 years ago under the statue of Southern General Robert Lee, a statue which has just been unbolted in Virginia, explains the
New York Times
. More than "
5 hours will have been necessary to take out with precaution the objects contained in this small lead box
", to finally find "
a book soaked in water, a calendar of 1875, a photo of a stonemason and very strangely a British coin
”. "
A surprising assortment
" which intrigues researchers, who are now trying "
to solve this riddle sent from the past,
”the
Washington Post
tells us
.
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