The regional administration of the World Health Organization announced that the number of coronavirus infections is rising again in Europe, after 6 weeks of retreat, while President Joe Biden called for caution, and protested against the lifting of health restrictions in some American states.
"We are observing a renewal of the epidemic boom in Central and Eastern Europe, where the rates were already high," the organization’s regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said at a press conference.
And last week, the number of Covid-19 cases in Europe increased by 9%, to just over a million, according to the European branch of the Health Organization, which includes more than 50 countries located in Europe and even Central Asia.
Klug emphasized that "this matter puts an end to a promising decline in the number of new infections that lasted 6 weeks, with more than half of the countries in our region registering an increasing number of new infections."
He considered that the Europeans should return to the basic principles of combating the virus and the mutated versions of it, by using the established procedures and accelerating the pace of vaccination.
According to official data collected by the French Press Agency, 2.6% of the population in the European Union received two doses of one of the COVID-19 vaccines, and 5.4% of them received at least one dose.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel accepted a gradual relaxation of lockdown measures imposed to combat COVID-19 in the face of public discontent.
And a recent opinion poll showed that the health measures in place since the end of last year are now supported by only a third of Germans, compared to two thirds in early January, while discontent is increasing within the government 7 months before the legislative elections.
Under the plan, as of March 8, it will be allowed for people of different homes to meet for private meetings, provided that the number of those present does not exceed 5 individuals.
And in the United States, where a massive immunization campaign is under way, Texas announced the day before yesterday, Tuesday, to abandon the measure of wearing masks, and to reopen companies from next week.
Mississippi took the same action on Wednesday, and Governor Tate Reeves wrote in a tweet on Twitter, "It's time."
US President Joe Biden said yesterday that the decision of the Texas and Mississippi authorities to abandon the measure of wearing masks reflects a "rudimentary thinking" and is a "fatal mistake," stressing that premature easing of restrictions jeopardizes the progress made by the United States in the battle against Covid-19.
He explained, "The last thing we need is the primitive logic that says that everything is fine now. Take off the masks, and forget all of that."
In terms of vaccination campaigns in the world, Sudan received yesterday, Wednesday, the first shipment of anti-virus vaccines through the COVAX initiative, and the vaccination of its medical staff will start early next week.
On the same day, Rwanda became the first African country to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech anti-virus vaccine as part of the Kovacs initiative for low-income countries.
The global vaccine race is proceeding with dispersed efforts, which led to a battle for influence between the great powers (Reuters)
Thousands of kilometers away, Chile - which has a population of 19 million - has given at least one dose of the Coronavirus vaccine to more than 3.5 million people, which puts it in the first place in the world in this regard.
The global vaccine race is proceeding with dispersed efforts, which led to a battle for influence between the great powers, with China and Russia providing their vaccines, while the United States most affected by the epidemic keeps the majority of the vaccines for its residents, while the Europeans seem to be left behind.
And Brazil - where the epidemic has killed 259,271 people in one year - yesterday announced the highest death toll from Covid-19 within 24 hours, amounting to 1910 deaths.
In Colombia - which is the third country in Latin America in terms of the number of deaths after Brazil and Mexico - the number of epidemic victims exceeded 60,000 yesterday.
Spain crossed the threshold of 70,000 deaths yesterday, Wednesday, after witnessing a month in which it recorded the largest number of deaths since the spread of the first wave in the country, however indications are that the health situation is improving, especially in homes for the elderly where the first vaccinations were given.
In France, the Minister of Industry announced yesterday the slowdown in the production of anti-corona virus vaccines due to a lack of equipment - especially vials - and manpower to ensure their manufacture, expressing his hope to accelerate partnerships between pharmaceutical groups.
As for Slovakia, it imposed a night curfew, starting from Wednesday evening, while this country has the highest Covid-19 death rate in the world.
The disastrous impact of the epidemic on other diseases around the world is still evident, especially in terms of lack of diagnosis and interruption of treatments.
According to a study published Thursday in the journal "The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health", the epidemic has had a negative impact on services related to treating childhood cancer around the world, especially in less wealthy countries.