Sydney (AFP)
Australia on Wednesday launched the debate on the need for countries to make the future vaccine against the coronavirus mandatory, as contaminations start to rise again and restrictions multiply around the world.
"There are still exemptions from vaccination, for medical reasons, but this should be the only one," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. Getting vaccinated should "be compulsory".
His country has secured a "promising" vaccine thanks to an agreement with the Swedish-British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca.
Anticipating criticism of anti-vaccine movements, Morrison said the stakes were too high to allow the disease to continue to spread freely. "We are talking about a pandemic that has destroyed the world economy and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world," he said.
- "We cannot oblige"
In the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the American Institute of Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday that the United States would not make any future vaccine compulsory, which does not, however, exclude local obligations for children.
"We cannot force, or attempt to force people to be vaccinated, we never have," said Dr. Fauci, a member of the White House virus cell, in a video exchange. organized by George Washington University.
Faced with worrying figures and rising contaminations, restrictions are tightening across the planet: Lebanon is being reconfigured, South Korea is closing businesses deemed at risk on Wednesday and the island of Malta its nightclubs.
Finland, relatively untouched by the pandemic, on Wednesday imposed restrictions on travel from most countries of the European Union, boasting now of having the "strictest" border policy in the EU.
On the same day, Norway added Greece, Great Britain, Ireland, Austria and parts of Sweden and Denmark to the list of countries where "non-essential" travel is not recommended.
In Greece, the authorities are announced the wearing of the compulsory mask on the island of Mykonos and in Chalkidiki, in the north of the country, after a surge in the number of cases in recent days.
On tourist islands such as Mykonos, and the most affected regions, such as Attica, Athens region, Thessaloniki (north) and Crete (south), bars and restaurants have already been subject for several days to the obligation to close between midnight and 07:00 local time (04:00 GMT).
The director of the Tour de France cyclist, which is due to start on August 29, called on spectators to wear a mask during the race, a matter of "common sense" according to him.
"For the spectators, on the road, there is clearly no question to ask (...) Common sense indicates that it is necessary to wear the mask, even if the formal obligation to do so depends on the prefects. of the 32 departments crossed, "said Christian Prudhomme, the director of the event.
The restrictions also come into effect Wednesday in South Korea, which had so far succeeded in curbing the epidemic through an extensive strategy of testing and tracing contacts of those infected.
Twelve categories of businesses deemed to be high risk, including nightclubs, karaoke bars and buffet restaurants will be shut down in Seoul, Incheon and neighboring Gyeonggi province.
Public establishments, such as museums, in this vast area which gathers half the population, will have to close their doors.
In a rare case, a four-month-old infant who suffered from heart disease died in Portugal following complications from the new coronavirus. The baby had been infected within his family.
- "Test-trace-isolate"
To stem its upsurge in cases, Ireland has decided to tighten restrictions on gatherings, including in sports grounds, when Montenegro will postpone the start of the school year in schools by one month.
According to a report drawn up by AFP on Wednesday from official sources, the pandemic has killed at least 781,194 worldwide since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December.
More than 22,187,780 cases of infection have been diagnosed in 196 countries and territories since the start of the epidemic, of which at least 13,874,900 are now considered cured.
The most bereaved country, the United States has recorded 171,833 deaths in total, for more than 5.4 million cases, according to a count from Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday.
In Latin America, Argentina surpassed the 300,000 contamination mark on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Health.
To be effective against the pandemic, indicated a team from Imperial College London, the action of "test-trace-isolate" can reduce the rate of reproduction of the virus (called "R") by 26%.
But this result can be achieved "only" if the strategy is applied "effectively and quickly", namely by performing the tests as soon as symptoms appear, with results and the isolation of positive people within 24 hours.
burx-mm / fjb
© 2020 AFP