Great Britain exceeds 60 thousand infections in one day: “Hard times until March”. Germany extends lockdown until January 31st

The UK, the day after the announcement of a third party lockdown severe in England due to the increase in cases also caused by the greater contagiousness of the English variant, records a new worrying record of daily infections: they are 60mila people who have fallen ill in the past 24 hours. The number of victims: 830 only on the last day. The British Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove warns that the country will have to face “very, very difficult weeks”: “I think it is fair to say that in March we should be able to revoke some” of the restrictions imposed with the lockdown, “but not necessarily all,” he explained. The minister specified that the country is facing “a race against time” regarding the new variant and the government’s intention to vaccination nearly 14 million people in the top four priority groups by mid-February it is “difficult” but achievable. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, however stated that they have risen to over 1.3 million doses of anti-Covid vaccine administered in recent weeks in the United Kingdom.

The epidemiological curve continues to worry in Germany, where there are 11,897 new cases of contagion and 944 deaths in the last 24 hours and where today, as expected, the Chancellor has reached an agreement with the 16 Lander per extend the lockdown, which should have ended Sunday, at the end of January: “For those who enter Germany from areas at risk from Covid, in addition to the quarantine for ten days, a mandatory entry test“, We read, among other things, in the final text of the meeting. Angela Merkel it insists on introducing even more stringent measures, including authorizing one-to-one meetings between people from two different families.

Meanwhile, the Chancellor has heard Valdimir Putin in a telephone interview reported by Kremlin discussing the possibility of jointly produce vaccines against the coronavirus. Europe, almost at the end of the holidays, copes with the introduction of new ones restrictions e lockdown, while all Countries they are struggling with the administration of the drug Pfizer-Biontech to prevent the Covid-19.

The France, tail in Europe in the administration of vaccines, promises to accelerate, while the Netherlands blames the delays. The Dutch premier Mark Rutte he admitted his government’s unpreparedness about coronavirus vaccinations. Despite the hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses that have arrived, Holland will start its plan tomorrow, the last country in the EU. “We received a vaccine that was different from what we expected and earlier than expected,” Rutte said in Parliament. The Dutch premier explained that he was taken by surprise by EMA’s approval of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine on 21 December. “We are not prepared to distribute a vaccine that must be stored at -70 degrees,” he admitted.

Meanwhile in Israel the government voted to launch a new total lockdown starting at midnight on Thursday 7 January for the following two weeks. The measure, explained the premier Benyamin Netanyahu, became necessary in the face of new peaks of infection which, in the last 24 hours, exceeded 8 thousand cases. Under the new provisions will be all non-essential workplaces closed and most of the schools. Places of worship are also closed, strong restrictions on travel abroad and movement.

Merkel-Putin phone call on vaccines – The two leader they discussed in a telephone interview the possibility of producing vaccines together. “The issues of cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic have been discussed with an emphasis on possible prospects for the joint production of vaccines “, reads a note from Kremlin, who adds: “An agreement has been reached to continue contacts on the issue between the ministries of health of the two countries and other specialized agencies”.

France promises to accelerate – After just 500 people in France were vaccinated in the first six days, the French Minister of Health, Olivier Veran defended the government’s strategy of administering i vaccines first to residents of nursing homes. However on Tuesday he promised to simplify the bureaucratic process consent to vaccination, partly blamed for the delay of immunizations in France. Veran said the government will expand the number of vaccination centers and categories of people who can receive it and allow people to book on an app or by phone. The growth of vaccinations in the next few days “it will be exponential, rest assured,” he said on the radio Rtl. But he insisted that the government would not give up on the guidelines safety in a country facing widespread vaccine skepticism. While I Neighboring countries they are imposing new rigidities lockdown among infections on the rise, They will see stated that the France he is considering his options and “cannot relax”, but has not announced any new measures. The Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer he told Europe-1 radio that he did not want to “deprive the children of school”. Veran reported that France has confirmed 10 or 15 cases of the most contagious new variant identified in Britain and that infections and overall hospital rates have reached a plateau.

Denmark tightens restrictions – After lockdown imposed in December and extended until January 17 – with the closure of non-essential bars, restaurants and shops – the Denmark today tightened containment measures to try to slow down the rapid diffusion of the new variant of the coronavirus identified in UK. The new restrictions include lowering the limit for meetings in public places from ten to five people and a two-meter distance requirement. The authority sanitary they expect the new variant of the virus to be the dominant one in Denmark by the middle of next month.

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