- WHO asks for money from rich countries -

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged rich countries to urgently provide the $ 16 billion that is still missing to finance its plan to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The WHO lamented on Tuesday that there have been half a million deaths from Covid-19 since the discovery of the Omicron variant and although vaccines exist, calling this toll "more than tragic".

Canada: Trudeau calls on truckers to lift their siege

Some provinces, however, have announced new relief: Saskatchewan and Alberta (center), will give up the vaccine passport, believing that “the benefits no longer outweigh the costs”.

And for the first time since the implementation of new restrictions related to Omicron, Quebec has announced a detailed schedule of the reliefs to come.

South Korea: new strategy against Omicron

South Korea announced on Wednesday it was abandoning its "trace, test and treat" health policy, as a surge in Omicron cases threatens to overwhelm the country's health system, with more than a million infections over the weekend.

A new set of measures are gradually taking effect from this month, and will refocus resources on those most vulnerable, health officials said.

Authorities will prioritize testing for people aged 60 or over.

Hong Kong: rush on provisions

Hong Kong residents scrambled for groceries on Wednesday, the day after severe restrictions were announced following a spike in cases.

The day before, Chief Executive Carrie Lam reiterated that the zero-Covid strategy remains the best, due to low vaccination rates among the oldest people, while announcing unprecedented restriction measures.

At the market in Hong Kong on February 9, 2022 Peter PARKS AFP

Gatherings of more than two people are prohibited and for the first time, more than two families will not be able to meet at home.

She also ordered the closure of religious buildings and hair salons.

Positives

Denmark's Queen Margrethe II has tested positive with mild symptoms, the royal palace announced on Wednesday.

Slovenian conservative Prime Minister Janez Jansa also announced on Wednesday that he had tested positive.

Indonesia tests its own vaccine

Indonesia, which is facing a wave of infections, began testing its own Covid vaccine on humans on Wednesday after obtaining the green light from the national health agency, the health minister announced. .

Potential treatment in France

The French subcontractor Cenexi has announced that it has reached an agreement with the American biotech Humanigen to produce in France Lenzilumab, a potential treatment under study against Covid-19, in the process of being registered with the European and French health authorities.

- More than 5.7 million dead -

The pandemic has officially killed more than 5,761,646 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP on Wednesday at 11:00 GMT, while the threshold of 400 million recorded cases should be crossed soon.

The world facing the coronavirus Simon MALFATTO AFP

The United States is the country with the most deaths (909,020), ahead of Brazil (633,810), India (505,279) and Russia (337,390).

The WHO estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the overall assessment of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that established from official national figures.

burs-ang/mw/ial/

© 2022 AFP