(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) The number of confirmed cases worldwide dropped by 19% every week, and many countries promoted the cancellation of epidemic prevention measures

　　China News Agency, Beijing, February 17. Comprehensive news: The latest data from the official website of the World Health Organization shows that as of 17:44 on the 16th Central European Time, there have been 41,452,5183 confirmed cases of new crowns and 5,832,333 deaths worldwide.

According to the latest statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 8:21 on the 17th, Beijing time, there were 417,366,141 confirmed cases and 5,848,933 deaths worldwide.

　　According to the weekly report on the new crown epidemic released by the WHO on the 15th, in the week ended on the 13th of this month, the number of confirmed cases worldwide increased by more than 16 million per week, a decrease of 19% from the previous week, but the number of weekly deaths increased by 4%, reaching nearly 75,000.

　　Among the six regions of the world classified by WHO, except for the Western Pacific region, where the weekly increase in confirmed cases increased by 19%, all other regions experienced larger declines.

Europe and the Americas are still the two most severely affected regions in the world, with weekly confirmed cases accounting for 60% and 20% of the world's total, and weekly deaths accounting for 33% and 45% of the world's.

Data map: In Toronto, Canada, people wait in line to get vaccinated at a community center serving as a new crown vaccination point.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Yu Ruidong

Americas: More than 10 million new confirmed cases in the United States in 28 days

　　According to data released by Johns Hopkins University at 8:21 Beijing time on the 17th, a total of 78,166,336 cases have been diagnosed in the United States, and a total of 928,444 deaths.

In addition, more than 10 million new cases were diagnosed in the United States in 28 days, reaching 10,331,268 cases.

　　On the 15th local time, the Canadian government announced that it will adjust a series of border epidemic prevention requirements from the end of February this year, thus starting the steps to ease travel restrictions in stages.

　　From February 28, passengers who have been fully vaccinated against the new crown will receive a new crown test when they enter Canada. The new crown test will be changed to random selection, and those who are selected will not need to be isolated and wait for the results.

However, foreigners who have not been vaccinated are still not allowed to enter Canada in principle.

Other unvaccinated travelers are still required to quarantine for 14 days and be tested for COVID-19 on day 8 after entering the country.

　　Canadian provinces have recently announced measures to gradually relax public epidemic prevention restrictions, such as relaxing or canceling passenger capacity restrictions in indoor public places such as restaurants and cinemas, and canceling vaccination certificates (ie "vaccine passports").

Europe: Germany announces three-step "unblocking" plan

　　According to data released by the Robert Koch Institute of Germany's disease control agency on the 16th, 219,972 new cases were diagnosed in the country in a single day, with a total of 12,800,315 confirmed cases; 247 new deaths and a total of 120,467 deaths.

　　After the German federal government and the states held a new crown epidemic prevention policy meeting on the 16th, they reached a resolution to gradually relax the country's current epidemic prevention measures in three steps.

If the epidemic situation allows, it is expected that most of the currently implemented epidemic prevention measures will be relaxed by March 20.

　　According to official French data, 98,735 new cases were confirmed in France in a single day on the 16th, with a total of 21,976,290 confirmed cases; 276 new deaths were added, and a total of 135,855 deaths.

The data also shows that the average daily number of newly confirmed cases in France has dropped from nearly 300,000 at the beginning of this month to about 100,000 at present.

　　French officials have relaxed some epidemic prevention measures from the same day, nightclubs have reopened and can be entered with a valid vaccine pass, and bars and restaurants have resumed some services.

The French Ministry of Health said on the same day that if the conditions for sanitation and epidemic prevention can be met, epidemic prevention measures may be further relaxed in mid-March this year.

　　Del Frassi, chairman of France's official scientific committee to deal with the epidemic, said on the 16th that it is possible for France to cancel the vaccine pass measures at the end of March, but he also warned against premature optimism, because there may still be other new coronavirus variants. and its severity cannot be predicted.

Asia: Thailand's daily increase in confirmed cases hits a five-month high

　　Thailand officially announced on the 16th that 16,462 new cases were diagnosed in the country in a single day, setting a single-day record for more than five months, with a total of 2,639,062 confirmed cases; 27 new deaths and a total of 22,516 deaths.

Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, reported 2,891 new cases on the same day, still ranking first in the country.

Since the beginning of this year, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in Bangkok has approached 63,000.

　　Bangkok Mayor Asayun said on the 16th that the city government has asked districts across the city to add community isolation centers to deal with a possible surge in infections.

Bangkok now has 27 operating community quarantine centres with a total of 3,481 beds.

Asayun said 13 more community quarantine centres will be added as soon as possible, which will provide more than 4,900 beds by then.

　　South Korea's Central Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters reported on the 16th that 90,443 new cases were diagnosed in the country in a single day, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases had reached 1,552,851.

　　According to South Korea's "Central Daily News" report, in early December last year, South Korea had the first confirmed case of the new coronavirus variant Omicron strain. About seven weeks later, the Omicron strain became the dominant strain in South Korea.

According to the report, it takes about 4 to 6 weeks for the Omicron strain to spread from the mainstream virus to the peak of confirmed cases in many countries, so South Korea will reach the peak of confirmed cases as soon as next week.

Jeong Eun-kyung, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, previously predicted that the number of daily confirmed cases in South Korea may reach 130,000 to 170,000 by the end of February this year.

　　South Korean Prime Minister Kim Fuqian said on the 16th that the South Korean government will comprehensively consider the livelihood issues arising from the strengthening of epidemic prevention measures and the spread of the Omicron strain that has not yet reached the top, and will announce the epidemic prevention plan on the 18th of this month.

　　According to Japanese media reports, the Japanese government plans to relax the epidemic prevention restrictions at border ports from March this year. If the conditions are met, the quarantine time can be shortened to 3 days or even exempt from quarantine.

The Japanese government also plans to relax the maximum number of visitors in a single day to 5,000 from the current 3,500.

Africa: More than 11 million confirmed cases in Africa

　　According to data released by the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 16th local time, a total of 11,064,898 confirmed cases and 245,237 deaths have been reported in Africa.

(Finish)