The number of new infections recorded with the Coronavirus in the world decreased for the third week in a row, and Europe is seeking to speed up vaccination with expressing interest in the Russian vaccine, while French experts called for a general closure.

A Reuters census showed that more than 105 million people were infected with the virus worldwide, while the total number of deaths reached more than two million and 285 thousand deaths.

Today, Friday, 493,000 injuries were recorded globally, so the number of injuries has fallen below the 500,000 mark per day for the first time since October, and the number of injuries continues to decline (by 13% this week) from the standard 725,000 rate, which Record the middle of last month.

It is noteworthy that the number of recorded injuries reflects only a part of the actual number of injuries, and careful comparisons between countries should be made.

Because each has a different screening strategy.

The number of new infections decreased this week in Africa by 27%, by 17% in the United States and Canada, 12% in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and 2% in Asia, and the infection almost stopped in Australia, while it increased in the Middle East by 4%.

The United States recorded the largest number of new infections this week, with 133,500 injuries per day, followed by Brazil with about 48,000 injuries, then Spain with more than 29,000, the United Kingdom with about 21,000, and France with more than 20,000 injuries per day.

The United States also recorded the largest number of deaths this week, with a rate of 3,279 deaths per day, then Mexico with an average of 1,111 deaths, and Brazil, with a rate of 1,035 deaths.

Army doctors participate in vaccinations in Scotland (Getty Images)

Speed ​​up vaccination


At the level of vaccination, the director of the European branch of the World Health Organization, Hans Kluge, considered that the vaccination process should be accelerated in Europe with the support of all laboratories, expressing his "concern" about the impact of mutations on the effectiveness of vaccines.

Experts believe that any future mutated copies could end up bypassing the immune defenses developed by current vaccines, which is an important reason to speed up vaccination campaigns.

For his part, the European Union's foreign minister, Josep Borrell, saw the Russian vaccine "Sputnik-V" as "good news for humanity", and expressed his hope that "the European Medicines Agency will be able to license it."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also announced that his country intends to cooperate in this field with the West, noting that he is conducting "contacts" with Washington "to see if it is possible to work together", and that several countries in the European Union have expressed "their interest in producing the vaccine." On its territory. "

The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded to criticism of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, for stressing that the Chinese vaccines are "effective and safe."

Yesterday, the French President considered during an interview with the American research group "Atlantic Council" that Beijing had used "vaccine diplomacy" in several developing countries.

But without providing transparent information about the effectiveness of these products.

On the other hand, the director of the Robert Koch Institute in Germany warned that the health situation is still "far from being under control", thus dashing hopes for a rapid lifting of restrictions.

In France, Karen Lacombe, head of the infectious diseases department at Saint-Antoine Hospital in Paris, said, "The numbers are still large in France. At some point they will be very large, and to reduce them, the imposition of new restrictions will be inevitable."

The president of the French Hospital Federation, Frederic Valletto, also supported the call for a new general isolation across the country.

This comes after the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, said yesterday that the situation is still difficult, but it is not necessary to impose a third closure at the present time.

The Arab region, for


its part, the UAE announced today that it had recorded 14 deaths and more than 3 thousand injuries, while Saudi Arabia recorded 4 deaths, 327 injuries, as well as 257 cases recovered.

In Qatar, the Ministry of Health announced one death, 398 cases of corona, in addition to the recovery of 153 patients from it.

In turn, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the registration of 5 deaths, 722 injuries, and 813 recoveries.

Iraq is still at the top of the affected Arab countries, with a toll of more than 13,000 deaths, and more than 625,000 injuries, then Morocco with 8,351 deaths and more than 473,000 injuries.

World Health Organization experts investigate the Chinese city of Wuhan about the Corona virus (Reuters)

The origin of the epidemic


On the other hand, the team led by the World Health Organization has ended its field visits to the city of Wuhan (central China), and is preparing to present its results.

Dominic Dwyer, one of the team members, said that he would not be surprised at how difficult it is to reach the origin of the virus, indicating that it takes years of research to find out how animals, including bats, transmit the virus, as well as antibodies in the bodies of sick patients without symptoms.

"Everyone knows how it spread from Huanan Market in Wuhan," Dwyer added. "But the key is what happened at this time and before it."