(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) A total of more than one million confirmed cases in Singapore and Austria re-enforced epidemic prevention measures

　　China News Service, Beijing, March 20. Comprehensive news: According to statistics from Johns Hopkins University, as of 13:13 on the 20th Beijing time, there were 469,714,863 confirmed cases and 6,074,560 deaths worldwide.

　Americas: The cumulative number of confirmed cases in the United States exceeds 79.72 million

　　According to data from Johns Hopkins University, as of 17:21 EST on the 19th (5:21 on the 20th Beijing time), the cumulative number of new coronavirus infections in the United States reached 79,722,700, and the cumulative number of deaths related to the new coronavirus The number of people reached 971,046.

Compared with 24 hours ago, there were 12,358 new diagnoses and 279 new deaths.

　　According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 18th, cases of new coronary pneumonia related to the BA.2 evolutionary branch of the Omicron variant are increasing in the United States, and the prevalence of this sub-variant strain has doubled in the United States in the past week. .

　　According to relevant statistics, among the patients currently diagnosed with new coronary pneumonia in New York and New Jersey, the number of cases infected with the BA.

Nationwide, infections with this subvariant strain account for 25 percent of all cases.

However, Dr. Ashish Jha, the incoming White House coordinator for the new crown epidemic, said that given that most people have received the new crown vaccine and booster shots, the BA.2 evolutionary branch of the Omicron variant is not expected to cause new crown cases in the country surge again.

Data map: On March 17, local time, the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York was held in rainy weather. The parade members wore ponchos through St. Patrick's Church.

On the same day, New York resumed the St. Patrick's Day parade, which held a moment of silence for the dead of the new crown, which was suspended for two years due to the new crown epidemic.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan

　　Europe: Austria to re-implement rules on wearing FFP2 masks

　　Austrian media reported that due to the severe epidemic situation, Austrian Health Minister Johannes Rauch said that the requirement to wear FFP2 masks will be re-implemented in all indoor areas from March 23.

　　Austria has one of the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rates in Western Europe, as less than 70% of the population is vaccinated against Covid-19.

Johannes Rauch pointed out that only a vaccine can prevent a complete collapse of the health sector, and asked the public to continue to get vaccinated.

He also announced a new vaccination campaign in the country.

He further believes that Austria's relaxation of the control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic on March 5 was "premature and far-reaching."

　　According to data released by the French public health department on the 19th, as of the afternoon of the same day, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in France reached 24,055,907, an increase of 98,104 in the past 24 hours; a total of 140,903 deaths were reported, an increase of 62 in the past 24 hours. example.

　Asia: The cumulative number of confirmed cases in Singapore exceeds one million

　　According to official data from Singapore, there were 10,244 new confirmed cases nationwide on the 19th, bringing the total to 1,007,158; 3 new deaths were added, bringing the total to 1,194.

However, the increase in community cases in Singapore has remained flat, with weekly case growth of 0.7, the 18th consecutive day below 1.

　　According to Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore had its first confirmed case on January 23, 2020, and its 500,000th confirmed case on February 16, 2022.

Only about a month later, the number of confirmed cases exceeded 1 million.

It can be seen that the transmission power of the Omicron strain is very amazing.

　　In an interview, a Singaporean infectious disease doctor pointed out that even if people have been infected with the new crown, they may continue to be infected, especially when new strains emerge.

Therefore, there is no herd immunity in the traditional sense of the new crown.

But as more people get vaccinated and recover from the disease, hospitalization rates will decrease accordingly.

　　South Korea's Central Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters announced on the 19th that there were more than 381,454 new confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia nationwide on the 18th, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases exceeded 9 million, reaching 9.03 million.

This is also the case that since March 14, the number of newly confirmed cases in a single day in South Korea has dropped below 400,000 again.

The number of new cases in South Korea in a single day reached 620,000 on the 16th, and the number of deaths in a single day exceeded 400, all hitting new highs.

According to Yonhap News Agency, although the number of new cases in a single day has shown a downward trend in the past two days, the peak of the current round of the epidemic in South Korea has not yet come.

　　While the Omicron virus strain is spreading rapidly, South Korea is still gradually relaxing epidemic prevention measures. The latest measure is to relax the maximum number of people in private gatherings from 6 to 8 people from the 21st, while continuing to maintain public gatherings such as cafes and restaurants. It is stipulated that the venue will be open until 23:00 at the latest every day.

　　According to the data released by the Indian Ministry of Health on the morning of the 20th, in the past 24 hours, there were 1,761 new confirmed cases in the country, with a total of 43,007,841 cases; 127 new deaths, a total of 516,497 cases.

India's test positivity rate is 0.41%.

New Delhi TV reported that this is the lowest number of new confirmed cases in a single day in India in 688 days.

　　Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population released data on the 20th that 93% of the country's population over the age of 18 has received at least one dose of the new crown vaccine.

Nepal added 17 new cases of coronavirus infection on the 19th.

In mid-to-late January this year, the number of newly confirmed cases in a single day in the country once exceeded 10,000.

Africa: There are more than 11.295 million confirmed cases in the region

　　According to data from the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of the 19th local time, there have been 11,295,377 confirmed cases and 250,564 deaths in the region.

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