- More than 40 monks dead from Covid in Mount Athos for two years

More than forty monks on Mount Athos have died since the start of the pandemic two years ago, the administration of this Orthodox monastic community, located in northern Greece, told AFP on Monday.

High place of Orthodoxy forbidden to women, Mount Athos located 460km from Athens, brings together about twenty monasteries where Greek monks live but also monks from other Orthodox countries of Eastern Europe, Russians, Serbs, Romanians or Bulgarians.

- End of the "acute phase of the pandemic" in 2022 (WHO)

It is possible to end the acute phase of the pandemic this year, says WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, even though Covid-19 causes one death worldwide every 12 seconds.

However, "it is dangerous to assume that (the highly contagious variant) Omicron will be the last variant or to speak of endgame", as conditions are "ideal" currently in the world for other variants to emerge, including more transmissible and more virulent variants.

A patient with Covid-19 arrives at Pokrovskaya Hospital in Saint Petersburg on January 24, 2022 Olga MALTSEVA AFP

– Boris Johnson participated in a party for his birthday in full confinement

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson celebrated his birthday in the company of relatives in full confinement despite the rules in force, the ITV television channel said on Monday, overwhelming the Conservative leader already criticized for parties in Downing Street.

According to ITV, Boris Johnson participated in this party organized by his wife Carrie on June 19, 2020 in the afternoon, during the first confinement, when such gatherings were then prohibited.

- Olympic Games: 72 cases of Covid among the participants

Some 72 participants have tested positive for coronavirus since arriving in China, according to organizers of the Olympic Games which begin in ten days.

Demonstration in front of the Parliament in Kiev to denounce the obligation to be vaccinated against Covid-19, January 24, 2022 Sergei SUPINSKY AFP

- France: mandatory vaccination pass

The obligation of the vaccination pass came into force on Monday in France for people over 16 wishing to go to a restaurant or take the train.

France is currently the country in Europe, excluding micro-states, with the highest incidence (3,733 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days, according to an AFP count.

- Death of Hungarian gymnast Szilveszter Csollany, double Olympic medalist

Hungarian gymnast Szilveszter Csollany, two-time Olympic champion, died Monday at the age of 51 from Covid-19, sports authorities announced.

The former athlete had contracted the coronavirus in early December and had been hospitalized in Budapest in serious condition, on respiratory assistance.

European champion in 1998, he won a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, before winning gold in Sydney in 2000, each time on the rings.

Police officers wearing Covid-19 masks patrol Red Square in Moscow on January 24, 2022 Alexander NEMENOV AFP

- Among children, almost "irreversible" losses in education

School closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic have caused almost "irreversible" losses in education among children around the world, Unicef ​​lamented on Monday.

More than 616 million students remain affected by total or partial school closures, the UN agency said.

- Nearly 5.6 million dead

The Covid-19 pandemic has killed at least 5,593,747 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report established Monday by AFP from official sources.

A Palestinian student receives the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 in Gaza on January 24, 2022 Mahmud HAMS AFP

The countries that have recorded the most deaths since January 2020 are the United States with 868,318 deaths, Brazil (623,351), India (489,848), and Russia (326,112).

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© 2022 AFP