Coronavirus in the world: record of cases in India since the beginning of the year, the DRC postpones its vaccination campaign with AstraZeneca doses

The novel coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 2,640,635 people worldwide since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from from official sources Saturday at 11:00 GMT.

More than 119,019,100 cases of infection have been officially diagnosed since the start of the epidemic. The vast majority of patients recover, but a still poorly evaluated part retains symptoms for weeks or even months.

The figures are based on daily reports from the health authorities in each country and exclude ex post revisions by statistical agencies, such as Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom. On Friday, 9,995 new deaths and 553,157 new cases were recorded worldwide.

The countries that have recorded the most new deaths in their latest reports are Brazil with 2,216 new deaths, the United States (1,760) and Mexico (709).

The United States is the most affected country in terms of both deaths and cases, with 532,590 deaths for 29,347,339 cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University count.

After the United States, the countries most affected are Brazil with 275,105 deaths and 11,363,380 cases, Mexico with 193,851 deaths (2,157,771 cases), India with 158,446 deaths (11,333,728 cases), and the United Kingdom with 125,343 dead (4,248,286 cases).

Among the hardest hit countries, the Czech Republic is the one with the highest number of deaths in relation to its population, with 216 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Belgium (193), Slovenia (189), the Kingdom United (185) and Montenegro (178).

Europe totaled 893,040 deaths at 11:00 GMT on Saturday for 39,640,013 cases, Latin America and the Caribbean 714,493 deaths (22,619,403 cases), the United States and Canada 554,994 deaths (30,249,929 cases), the Asia 262,205 deaths (16,567,700 cases), the Middle East 107,664 deaths (5,888,281 cases), Africa 107,281 deaths (4,020,697 cases), and Oceania 958 deaths (33,079 cases).

Europe

More than 90,000 dead in France

The Covid-19 epidemic has killed more than 90,000 people in France since it began a year ago, according to figures released on Friday by the French public health agency.

According to these figures updated daily, 90,146 people have died from Covid-19 since the start of the epidemic in hospitals and retirement homes, including 64,835 in hospitals.

With 306 new admissions in 24 hours, there are now 4,033 Covid patients in intensive care or intensive care in France, while this bar of 4,000 had not been reached since the end of November.

The Council of State, the highest French administrative court, on Friday suspended the obligation for French people returning from abroad to assert “compelling” reasons, but maintained it for travel from or to the French West Indies.

Italy is reconfigured from Monday

Most of Italy, facing a third wave of the pandemic, will be confined again from Monday, the Italian Ministry of Health announced on Friday.

Greece: third wave

The Greek authorities have warned against “the serious epidemiological situation” of the pandemic which now has “third wave characteristics”, the number of infections having increased especially in Athens and in other major cities of the country.

Africa

Faced with an increase in Covid-19 cases, Ethiopia starts vaccinations

Ethiopia began its Covid-19 vaccination campaign on Saturday with the administration of AstraZeneca doses produced in India, against the backdrop of an “alarming” increase in cases in the country. The second most populous state in Africa (about 110 million inhabitants) received last week 2.2 million doses manufactured by the Indian Serum Institute, as part of the Covax initiative which aims to facilitate access from poor countries to vaccines. Ethiopia intends to vaccinate 20% of its population by the end of the year, starting with health workers

DRC announces postponement of vaccination campaign with AstraZeneca doses

The Congolese Minister of Health announced on Saturday the postponement of the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 which was to start on March 15 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after the reception of 1.7 million AstraZeneca doses.

“As a precautionary measure, it was decided to postpone the date for the launch of vaccination in the DRC,” said Minister Eteni Longondo in a press release.

The minister recalls that “some countries” have “temporarily suspended the use of a specific batch of AstraZeneca vaccine on the basis of reports notifying blood clotting disorders in people who have received the vaccine of this particular batch”.

Asia

Record cases in India since the start of the year

A record number of cases of coronavirus contamination since the start of the year has been recorded in India with 24,882 new cases in 24 hours, government data revealed on Saturday, amid concerns about the resurgence of the virus in the country. With 11.3 million people infected, India is the country with the highest number of coronavirus cases after the United States. A downward trend in contamination was observed at the end of 2020, but the figures have started to rise again in recent weeks.

Maharashtra state, located in the west of the country, has largely contributed to the upsurge in cases in the country, accounting for 15,817 of new infections, the health ministry said.

Nationally, new contaminations increased by nearly 7% compared to Friday, when the country recorded 23,285 cases. The total death toll now stands at 158,446, or 140 more.

The number of infections recorded on Saturday represents the largest daily increase since December 19, when 26,624 new cases were recorded, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Besides Maharashtra, which has imposed partial containment and restrictive measures to stem the pandemic, eight other states, including Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, have reported an upward trend in cases.

America

USA: more than 100 million injected doses

More than 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been injected in the United States, according to official figures from health authorities on Friday, or about 30% of the total number of injections performed worldwide.

Almost 20% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), the nation’s leading federal public health agency.

Three vaccines are urgently authorized in the United States: that of Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech.