245 deaths in French hospitals, 5,402 patients in intensive care

While the pandemic has claimed more than 3 million victims, including 105,000 in France, the vaccine race continues and shows encouraging initial results. After Israel, whose positivity rate now stands at 0.2%, the United States wants to follow this trajectory, hoping to vaccinate 70% of adults by July 4. For its part, Europe is delighted with the acceleration of its vaccination campaign, making it possible to reach a quarter of Europeans first-vaccinated.

Read also :Vaccine against Covid-19: where is France compared to its neighbors?

• 5,402 patients in intensive care in France

The number of patients with Covid-19 in intensive care was down this Wednesday to 5,402, including 1,459 admitted in the last 24 hours, against 5,504 the day before. In total, French hospitals had 27,686 patients including 1459 admitted since the day before.

26,000 new cases of Covid-19 have been detected in the last 24 hours, according to figures published on Wednesday, against 24,371 the day before. The test positivity rate is 7.4%. 245 people have also died in French hospitals in 24 hours, bringing the toll to 79,364 hospital deaths since the start of the pandemic.

On the vaccination front, 6,763,053 people have received at least one injection (i.e. 25% of the total population) and 7,148,514 people have received two injections (i.e. 10.7% of the total population), since the start of the vaccination campaign in France. In the last 24 hours, 542,811 people have been vaccinated: among them, 318,400 received their first dose and 224,411 the second.

• French deputies give the first green light to the health pass

The deputies of the Laws Committee gave Tuesday evening, May 4, the first green light to the establishment of a “health pass”For access to gatherings of more than 1000 people, despite strong reluctance among some elected officials. Announced by Emmanuel Macron, on April 29, in an interview with the regional press, it received the approval of the Scientific Council and would complete the “Health pass” required at European level for travel abroad.

Read also :Covid-19: is the European Union preparing a vaccination passport or a health certificate?

• Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for teens as young as 12

The Canadian Department of Health announced on Wednesday that it was authorizing the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech anti-covid vaccine for children as young as 12, with Canada becoming the first country to approve it for this age group. Health Canada has concluded that the vaccine is “Safe and effective” to prevent Covid-19 in children aged 12 to 15 after performing a scientific review “Rigorous and independent of known evidence”, the ministry said in a statement. Ottawa initially authorized the vaccine for people aged 16 and over.

• United States wants to vaccinate adolescents

After a vigorous vaccination campaign allowing 45% of the population to receive a first dose, Joe Biden launched Tuesday, May 4 a “new phaseAgainst Covid-19 in the United States, which must integrate adolescents and target more reluctant Americans, with a new target of at least one injection for 70% of adults by the July 4th national holiday. The US president also announced a target of 160 million fully immunized Americans by the same date.

A request to extend the emergency authorization of Pfizer / BioNTech’s vaccine for 12-15 year olds was filed in early April in the United States, and the decision of the United States Medicines Agency (FDA) is expected within days to come.

SEE ALSO – United States: Joe Biden promises vaccination campaign among adolescents as soon as possible

Read also :United States: towards an authorization of vaccination for adolescents

• A quarter of Europeans first vaccinated

More than a quarter of the EU’s population has received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine, the European Commission praised, and more than 9% of its inhabitants are now fully vaccinated according to an AFP tally. “Vaccination is accelerating in Europe: we have just exceeded 150 million vaccinations […] We will have enough doses to vaccinate 70% of adults in the EU in July», Tweeted Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European executive.

In France, the vaccine campaign has taken a new boost since it opened last Saturday to people over 18 with co-morbidities. 16 million French people have received at least a first dose, or 24% of the population. According to the schedule presented by the government, 20 million doses should have been injected by May 15, 30 million by June 15. A tenable objective, according to the executive which, however, fights against the distrust of AstraZeneca shunned by the French.

Read also :Vaccination: the thousands of niches that cannot find a taker in France

• Cluster in a ship moored in Le Havre: confirmation of derivative of the Indian variant

The presence of a “Virus derived from the Indian variant” has been confirmed on two of the 16 cases of Covid-19 detected among the sailors of a ship moored in Le Havre, AFP learned on Wednesday from the Normandy Regional Health Agency (ARS). “The results of the sequencing carried out at the request of the ARS of Normandy (…) were transmitted yesterday (Tuesday, editor’s note) by the Institut Pasteur (National Reference Center for respiratory viruses)”, ARS clarified.

Read also :Cluster in a ship moored in Le Havre, suspected Indian variant

On April 18, an outbreak of Covid-19 contagion was declared among the 25 crew members of a ship in Le Havre. Positive cases had been identified while the ship was at sea. The entire crew had been placed in isolation as soon as the signs appeared before their arrival in Le Havre (positive cases and risky contacts) and all of the crew was tracked.

• Covid-19: Switzerland exceeds 10,000 dead

Switzerland, which has some 8.6 million inhabitants, on Wednesday exceeded 10,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the epidemic, according to the government, whose experts consider the current situation rather encouraging. The latest daily report from the Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP) reports 664,332 infections and 10,012 deaths in the Alpine country.

Read also :Switzerland: thousands of protesters against anti-Covid restrictions

The various indicators – number of cases, hospitalizations, occupancy of intensive care units, deaths – in Switzerland suggest that the epidemic is currently “Stable, see in slight decline”, the government’s Covid panel said in a report released Wednesday.

• India: $ 6.7 billion released for health

The Central Bank of India stepped up on Wednesday to help counter the second wave of Covid-19 ravaging the country by announcing $ 6.7 billion in cheap loans to the health sector. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said these loans would be available until March 31 next year and promised “unconventional” measures if the crisis were to worsen.

SEE ALSO – Central Bank of India releases $ 6.7 billion in vaccine and health sector loans

• Australia: justice will rule on ban on returns from India

An Australian court agreed on Wednesday to look into Canberra’s controversial decision to ban Australians from returning to the country from India, which is in the throes of a very serious outbreak.

Read also :Australia: justice to examine controversial ban on returns from India

The ban sparked an uproar in Australia, including among allies of the head of government who denounced a racist move, and the abandonment abroad of Australians in vulnerable situations. The appeal of a 73-year-old Australian who lives in Bangalore and wishes to return to Australia will in particular be examined urgently.

• Thirty members of Racing 92, including six players, received a dose of vaccine

Thirty members of Racing 92, including six players, received a first injection of the anti-Covid-19 vaccine with doses remaining at the end of the day in a vaccinodrome, the club told AFP on Wednesday. “In all vaccination centers, it happens that in the evening, there are doses available and if they are not used, they are out of date. So we asked the prefect (of Hauts-de-Seine) who gave us his agreement so that in the evening, only when doses are in the process of being expired, we can give priority to our players ”, explained Jacky Lorenzetti.

Read also :Rugby – Covid-19: six Racing 92 players received a dose of vaccine

A club spokesperson said that around 30 club members received a first dose of Pfizer’s vaccine, including six players. “We will stop the vaccination tonight because we have a match this weekend (Saturday against Clermont), as a precaution against possible side effects”, added the president of the Ile-de-France club.

• G7: more united distribution of vaccines

Called on by the WHO to show solidarity in the face of the pandemic, the rich countries of the G7 are discussing on Wednesday ways to ensure a more equitable distribution of anti-Covid vaccines.

Read also :Covid-19: Covax weighs 5% of global vaccination

While India, which is not part of the G7, has been invited by Britain to participate in these discussions, its Foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, announced on the spot that he had been exposed to potential cases of Covid -19 and therefore decided to assume its commitments “In virtual mode”.

• The Covid enters Larousse

“Asymptomatic”, “To confine”, “Telework”… and the «Covid-19»: the 2022 edition of the French dictionary Larousse is full of new words, or which have become familiar to us with the pandemic, the editor said on Wednesday. The question of the kind of the disease, which is on everyone’s mind, Covid-19, is left to everyone’s appreciation.

• Over 3.2 million dead

The pandemic has killed at least 3,230,058 people around the world since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Wednesday at 10:00 GMT.

The United States is the country with the most deaths (578,500), ahead of Brazil (411,588), India (226,188), Mexico (217,740) and the United Kingdom (127,543). Among the hardest hit countries, Hungary is the one with the highest death toll relative to its population, followed by the Czech Republic.

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