The pandemic, "far from over" according to the WHO

The Covid-19 pandemic "is far from over", the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday, warning against the idea that the Omicron variant is benign.

Brazil: absolute record of daily contaminations

Brazil recorded a new record for Covid-19 contamination in 24 hours, with 137,103 cases, according to the latest report provided on Tuesday by the Ministry of Health.

This country of 213 million inhabitants deplores a total of some 23.2 million cases and 621,517 deaths.

No complications with mRNA vaccines

Studies of pregnant women have found that the two most widely used Covid vaccines, made with messenger RNA technology (Pfizer, Moderna), pose no risk to mothers or babies, the agency said on Tuesday. European Medicines (EMA).

In France, another study pointed out that these vaccines did not increase the risk of serious cardiovascular problems (infarction, stroke or pulmonary embolism) in people under 75 years old.

France: the Minister of Education in turmoil

The French Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, already strongly contested by the teachers who reproach him for the management of Covid-19 at school, found himself further weakened on Tuesday with the revelation by the press of the fact that he was in Ibiza on the eve of the start of the school holidays.

Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer leaving the Elysee Palace on January 12, 2022 in Paris Bertrand GUAY AFP / Archives

It was from there that he unveiled the new health protocol for schools the day before the start of the school year.

The daily number of new cases of Covid-19 contamination has exceeded 300,000 on average over the past seven days in France, authorities announced on Tuesday.

1,3000 trucks blocked in South America by Covid tests

More than 1,300 heavy goods vehicles from Argentina were blocked on Tuesday at the main border crossing with Chile, in the Andes, due to systematic Covid screening tests carried out on truckers, we learned from transporters.

The blockade at the Paso Cristo Redentor post, at an altitude of more than 3,100 m, began two days ago, when the Chilean authorities reinforced their health controls, with antigenic tests that have become systematic, said the Argentine road freight federation. (FADEEAC).

Trucks stranded in Las Cuevas (Argentina), near the Paso Cristo Redentor post, on the border with Chile, January 17, 2022 STR TELAM / AFP

$300 million to fight the pandemic

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the British charitable foundation Wellcome announced on Tuesday that they would each invest an additional $150 million in the fight against Covid and the prevention of future pandemics.

These funds will go to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which notably co-pilots the mechanism for distributing vaccines to the poorest countries Covax.

United States: a mask refusal at the Supreme Court

A justice of the Supreme Court of the United States was strongly criticized Tuesday for his apparent refusal to wear the mask during the hearings, an attitude reflecting the degraded climate within the venerable institution.

More than 5.5 million dead

The Covid-19 pandemic has killed at least 5,543,637 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources, Tuesday at midday.

In absolute terms, the countries with the most deaths are the United States (853,720), Brazil (621,517), India (486,761) and Russia (322,678).

The 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 officially recorded.

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© 2022 AFP