While 20,000 new cases of Covid-19 were identified on Friday in France, the vaccination campaign is accelerating and Moderna's vaccine was authorized on Friday by the High Authority of Health.
At the same time, the government is preparing to extend the curfew.
In the United States, a new record of contaminations was recorded.
Signals are still red on the coronavirus front.
On Friday, 20,000 new cases were identified in France by the health authorities.
Public Health France is concerned about a possible rebound in the epidemic.
The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of people positive for Covid-19 out of all those tested, is still increasing (6% against 5.7% on Thursday).
To fight against contamination, the government wants to speed up the vaccination campaign and is preparing to extend the curfew.
Information to remember
20,000 new cases of Covid-19 recorded in France on Friday
The curfew could pass to 6 p.m. in ten departments
The Moderna vaccine was authorized on Friday by the High Authority of Health
Most patients would still have at least one symptom six months later, study finds
The United States records a new contamination record
As Chinese New Year approaches, China tightens restrictions
Curfew extended to ten departments?
Decisions must be taken by Sunday on the possible extension to ten new departments of the curfew from 6 p.m., already in force in fifteen others for a week, mainly in eastern France.
In Strasbourg, the Bas-Rhin prefecture took the lead by announcing Friday morning that the department would go into curfew at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Conversely, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, from the town hall of Marseille to the president of the PACA region, local elected officials vigorously opposed this prospect.
Moreover, without uttering the word "reconfinement", and while warning that schools should only close in the event of "extremely serious" situation, Prime Minister Jean Castex did not rule out Thursday going even further and to take "additional national measures".
About 20,000 contaminations per day
Since Tuesday, the number of positive cases has been around 20,000 per day and the French public health agency noted a "clear increase in the number of confirmed cases" during the week of December 28 (96,743 cases, + 17%).
It is "perhaps the beginning of the consequences of the gatherings of the end of the year", but it will be necessary to see if this trend is confirmed and if the number of hospitalized patients increases in turn, which is "probable", explained officials of the health agency.
For them, the next two weeks will be "decisive".
Moderna vaccine authorized in France
The vaccine developed by Moderna "can be used in people 18 years of age and over, including older people because of its efficacy and its overall satisfactory tolerance profile," the High Authority for Health (HAS) said on Friday.
This vaccine, which received marketing authorization from the European Union on Wednesday, thus becomes the second to be able to be used in France after that of Pfizer-BioNTech, which had the green light from HAS on December 24.
Like the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Moderna's vaccine relies on two doses.
The first deliveries of the Moderna vaccine "should be made in the coming days", at the latest "second half of January", assured Friday morning on BFMTV Professor Alain Fischer, the "Mr. vaccines" appointed by the government.
A European distribution of vaccines
After a timid start, the French government wants to boost the vaccination campaign.
For this, it will be based on the various vaccines authorized as and when the European Medicines Agency, distributed in the Union in proportion to the population of each country.
The basic rule is that the 27 must be accommodated in the same boat.
France representing 15% of the European population, it has a starting quota of 15% of each contract.
But with six vaccines and six contracts, France could in theory acquire 345 million doses, far too many for its 67 million inhabitants.
Each country therefore makes trade-offs, gives up a quota, acquires the one whose neighbor does not want.
Three vaccine production sites in France
"We have the Recipharm plant, located in France, which will produce the Moderna vaccine from the end of February – beginning of March. We will then have Delpharm, for the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and Fareva for the CureVac vaccine, if it obtains an authorization. marketing, which will follow ", explained the Minister in charge of Industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Friday morning on Europe 1. To increase production capacities, the Sanofi plant could also be called upon to produce AstraZeneca vaccine.
Some 2.6 million doses of vaccines will be delivered to France by the end of January, also assured the minister.
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Most patients still have at least one symptom six months after
More than three-quarters of people hospitalized for Covid-19 still suffered from at least one symptom six months after falling ill, according to a study published on Saturday that highlights the need for further research into the lingering effects of the coronavirus.
Fatigue or muscle weakness are the most common symptoms.
Sleep disorders, anxiety or depression have also been observed, according to the study, published in the journal The Lancet, including more than a thousand patients from the Chinese city of Wuhan.
New record of contaminations in the United States
The United States recorded a new record of contamination on Friday with nearly 290,000 cases of Covid-19 recorded in 24 hours, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University, which refer to it.
At the same time, the country, facing an outbreak of the epidemic, has deplored 3,676 deaths from the disease.
The country, where the restrictions depend on the local authorities, is ultimately counting on the vaccination campaign, which began in mid-December, to overcome the health crisis.
But so far, just under 6 million people have received a first injection of one of the two vaccines authorized in the country, for a population of some 330 million.
China tightens restrictions ahead of Chinese New Year
China on Saturday tightened restrictions in two cities south of Beijing, already placed in quarantine, in the hope of stemming the sharp increase in contamination, the most serious in six months.
As the Chinese New Year approaches, celebrated in February, the city of Shijiazhuang suspended metro traffic until further notice on Saturday morning in order to "help in the prevention and control of the epidemic," the officials said. authorities.
For their part, residents of Xingtai are prohibited from leaving their homes for a week.
A total of 18 million people in Hebei province, in the vast townships of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai, which have large rural areas, were already banned from leaving the area unless there was a compelling reason. of a handful of cases in recent days.
Schools are closed as well as means of communication (highways, airport, trains, long-distance coaches) in these two cities of Hebei, the province surrounding Beijing.