LIVE – Covid: the number of deaths at the highest for 11 months in the United States

The main information to remember:

> Record of deaths in the United States

> Nearly 400 dead in 24 hours in France

> Towards the end of the “acute phase” of the pandemic, according to the WHO

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>>> Follow live the news of this Tuesday, January 25:

> Prolonged confinements in the Pacific islands in the face of the multiplication of cases

Samoa and Solomon Islands extended their lockdowns on Tuesday in the face of a continuing to worsen Covid-19 pandemic in isolated Pacific island nations, which had hitherto been spared the virus.

Until last week, the Solomon Islands, which has a population of 700,000, had recorded no deaths and only 31 cases since the start of the pandemic. But nearly 300 new cases have since been confirmed, and the actual numbers could be much higher amid limited testing capacity.

Other Pacific nations are experiencing similar accelerations. The archipelago of Kiribati, where no case had been recorded since the start of the pandemic, declared a confinement after dozens of passengers on a flight from the Fiji Islands, the first to land on this archipelago from the reopening of the borders, had tested positive for Covid-19.

> Record of deaths in the United States

The United States has reported the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in 11 months. The seven-day average death toll reached 1,975 on Friday, the highest since Feb. 25, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nevertheless, contaminations and hospitalizations could soon peak, if they have not already done so in certain parts of the United States. The five most affected states, in terms of contamination per capita during the past week, were Wisconsin, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Utah and Alaska, according to CDC data.

> France records nearly 400 deaths in 24 hours

Hospitals recorded 393 deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours, a marked jump for the latest wave of contamination, according to figures from health authorities released on Monday.

This is the highest number of daily deaths recorded in the latest wave of contamination, which has affected France since November. The previous highest figure was 298 deaths over 24 hours a week ago.

Regarding critical care, which receives patients with the most serious forms of the disease, the figures confirm a decline. These services are currently treating 3,776 people (3,760 on Sunday). Over seven days, the number of admissions is down with 1,784 patients admitted to critical care over one week, against 1,824 on Sunday.

The laboratories recorded 108,481 cases of contamination in 24 hours, which gives a daily average over seven days of just over 360,000 cases, stable.

> Cases of covid on an Australian ship heading for Tonga

Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton has said 23 members of HMAS Adelaide, an Australian navy ship en route to bring relief to the Pacific island of Tonga, have tested positive for coronavirus. The ship set sail from Brisbane on Friday with a crew of 600 plus humanitarian and medical supplies to help the island, which has been hit by a volcanic eruption.

> Among children, almost “irreversible” losses in terms of education

School closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic have caused almost “irreversible” losses in education among children around the world, UNICEF said on Monday.

More than 616 million students remain affected by total or partial school closures, the UN agency said.

> More than 40 monks dead from Covid in Mount Athos for two years

More than forty monks on Mount Athos have died since the start of the pandemic two years ago, the administration of this Orthodox monastic community, located in northern Greece, told AFP on Monday. High place of Orthodoxy forbidden to women, Mount Athos is located 460 km from Athens.

> Taubira promotes compulsory vaccination rather than the pass

Presidential candidate Christiane Taubira, who was pinned down in the fall after controversial comments on vaccination, said she was in favor of the principle of compulsory vaccination rather than the vaccination pass put in place by the executive from of this Monday.

> Hungarian gymnast Szilveszter Csollany, double Olympic medalist, dies of Covid

Hungarian gymnast Szilveszter Csollany, two-time Olympic champion, died on Monday at the age of 51 from Covid-19, sports authorities announced. The former athlete had contracted the coronavirus in early December and had been hospitalized in Budapest in serious condition, on respiratory assistance. European champion in 1998, he won a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, before winning gold in Sydney in 2000, each time on the rings.