7:27 am: Record of contaminations in the United Kingdom
The UK is in a “deeply worrying situation” with more than 58,000 new infections recorded on Friday, unprecedented since January, Housing Minister Michael Gove said after a crisis meeting. The number of Omicron variant cases “is doubling every two or three days in England, and possibly even faster in Scotland”. Against this background, the UK government announced that there would be no Downing Street Christmas parties this year
7:15 am: More than 100 dead in 24 hours in Peru, a first in four months
Peru, the country with the highest Covid-19 death rate in the world, recorded 123 deaths on Friday, for the first time in four months (August 18) and 1,356 cases, in the past 24 hours. Peru on Friday began requiring certificates of the anticovid vaccine in stores, banks and airports due to the increase in cases and deaths. The government has also banned social gatherings and events, including those held at homes and family visits, at Christmas and New Years. Peruvian officials are confident that the certificate requirement will encourage the unvaccinated population to receive the vaccine.
6:55 a.m .: Demonstrations against health restrictions in Vienna and Luxembourg
Protests against health restrictions continue in Europe. This Saturday, a rally is planned in Vienna against anti-Covid restrictions and the implementation of compulsory vaccination. Austria was affected by the epidemic very early on and made drastic decisions to deal with it, such as confining unvaccinated people. They were immediately the subject of popular protest. Closer to home, in Luxembourg, a demonstration is also planned against health measures.
6:54 am: Green light in Switzerland for the vaccination of children from 5 years old with Pfizer
The Swiss medicines agency Swissmedic on Friday approved the immunization against the coronavirus of children from 5 years old with the messenger RNA vaccine from Pfizer-Biontech, Cominarty. “The results of clinical trials show that vaccination is both safe and effective” in 5-11 year olds, who until now could not be vaccinated, according to Swissmedic. Cominarty is given in two doses of 10 micrograms three weeks apart.
6:52 am: “We did everything to leave you open”, launches Castex at the Strasbourg market
Prime Minister Jean Castex visited the Strasbourg Christmas market on Friday, as reported by Les Latest Nouvelles d’Alsace. “We did everything to leave you open,” said the Prime Minister to mulled wine merchants.
Meeting the various security forces present on the Christmas market, on the eve of the third anniversary of the Strasbourg attack on December 11, 2018, the Prime Minister judged the device “very good”. “The idea is to maintain it while ensuring health and safety at all,” he told vendors, happy to reopen after the cancellation of the Christmas market last year.
6:49 am: The High Authority for Health says no to Molnupiravir
It’s a surprise: the High Authority for Health refused to authorize Molnupiravir, Merck’s antiviral treatment. Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health, had great hopes for this drug. 50,000 doses had even been ordered. Click here to find out more.
She claims to be vaccinated, and dies in hospital
A fifty-something, with a false vaccination certificate, died of Covid-19 in a hospital in the Ile-de-France region, we learned on Friday. The head of the resuscitation service of the establishment calls out not to hide his vaccination status, because this distorts the care. Our full article here.
6:47 am: The number of hospitalized patients is still increasing
Currently, 13,629 patients (+266 in 24 hours) are hospitalized in France for Covid-19, of which 2,498 are treated in critical care services (+37), which welcome the most severely affected patients.
Friday, 55,339 new cases of contamination were recorded, down slightly from Thursday (over 56,000) and Wednesday (over 61,000).
To avoid congestion in critical care services, seven regions have reactivated the white plan, which notably allows operations to be deprogrammed and staff to be reassigned to critical care services.
What to remember from Friday, December 10
- Molnupiravir, Merck’s antiviral pill, has not been authorized by the French National Authority for Health.
- As the Christmas holidays approach, SNCF will be stepping up checks on health passes.
- “What we hope is that the situation will improve by Christmas,” said government spokesman Gabriel Attal while the vaccination booster campaign “accelerates”.
- Olivier Véran announced the goal of reaching 20 million booster doses by Christmas.
- The Minister Delegate to the Minister of Solidarity and Health, in charge of Autonomy, Brigitte Bourguignon specified that “80% of nursing home residents have received their booster dose”.
- As part of the new anti-Covid measures, it is forbidden from this Friday to dance in bars and restaurants in France. And nightclubs must close their doors. These measures are in effect until January 6 inclusive.
6:45 a.m .: Hello everyone and welcome to this live stream dedicated to the news of the Covid-19 pandemic in France and around the world.