Vietnam welcomes its first tourists

The first foreign tourists arrived in Vietnam on Saturday after twenty months of border closures due to a pandemic.

To enter the country, it is necessary to present a vaccination certificate and a negative test carried out before departure.

Vietnam, which is desperate to revive its economy ravaged by months of lockdowns, will reopen the tourist island of Phu Quoc to foreigners on November 20.

Germany: call for a "national effort"

Angela Merkel called Saturday for "a national effort" to stem the fourth epidemic wave in Germany, including calling on the last refractory to be vaccinated.

The outgoing Chancellor deemed "urgent" that the federal government and regions adopt "a unified approach", and in particular a "threshold value" from which additional measures must be taken.

Olympics-Beijing: a major installation limited to 20% of its capacity

One of the major facilities at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will see its spectator capacity limited to one-fifth of its total capacity due to fears of the spread of the new coronavirus, state media reported on Saturday.

The Beijing National Swimming Center, which is to host the curling events, will accommodate "no more than 1,000 people", or 20% of its capacity.

USA: suspension of compulsory vaccination for employees

A US federal court confirmed on Friday the suspension of the vaccine requirement for employees of large companies, a measure desired by the Biden administration.

The suspended text left it to the employer to take the measures it deemed appropriate, including disciplinary ones, against those who were resistant to the vaccine and to regular tests.

But in the country of individual freedoms, this American version of the health pass caused an uproar in the Republican opposition.

No impact of the pandemic on future aircraft orders, according to Airbus

The Covid-19 pandemic will have no long-term impact on the need for new aircraft, estimated at 39,000 aircraft over the next 20 years, according to Airbus, which is counting on the replacement of fleets by planes emitting less CO2 .

The need is estimated at 39,020 new passenger and cargo planes by 2040, bringing the global fleet to 46,720 aircraft, said European aircraft manufacturer Christian Scherer commercial director ahead of the opening of the Dubai air show on Sunday.

Over five million dead

The pandemic has killed more than 5.088 million people worldwide since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December 2019, according to a report calculated on Saturday around 4:00 p.m. GMT by AFP at from official sources.

The United States is the country with the most deaths (762,521), ahead of Brazil (610,491), India (463,245), Mexico (290,872) and Russia (254,167)

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that which is officially established.

burx-fm-ot / mw / clr

© 2021 AFP