You will find here all the news throughout the day related to this crisis which has hit the population, governments and the economy for several months.
LAST REVIEW
PLANETARY
Case: 57 932 313
Death: 1,377,978
CANADA
Case: 323,523, 130,888 in Quebec
Death : 11,387 deaths, 6,806 in Quebec
ALL NEWS FOR NOVEMBER 21, 2020
3:57 pm | In a letter this week to Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu, flight attendants across the country requested priority placement for the administration of COVID-19 vaccines.
3:52 pm | The United States, where the coronavirus pandemic has resumed with a vengeance, on Saturday crossed the 12 million mark of COVID-19 cases, according to continuously updated figures from Johns Hopkins University.
2:45 p.m. | Decline in death toll and intensive care admissions.
Nearly 300 COVID-19 patients have died in the last 24 hours in France, 110 fewer than the day before, and the number of patients in intensive care continues to decline for the 5th consecutive day, according to official statistics published on Saturday .
Data from the French public health agency (SpF) show 276 deaths in the space of 24 hours in hospitals, against 386 the day before, bringing the number of deaths linked to the coronavirus to 48,518 since the start of the epidemic in France.
While the peak of the second wave has undoubtedly been crossed, according to the health agency which called on the French to remain vigilant on Friday, the noose is slowly loosening on the hospital.
The intensive care unit was occupied by 4,493 Covid patients on Saturday, including 220 new admissions.
A figure which continues to fall for the 5th consecutive day. The day before, these services had 4,566 Covid patients, including 264 new admissions.
In total, 31,365 people carrying the virus were hospitalized on Saturday (regardless of the severity of their condition), against 31,875 the day before.
In the same vein, the positivity rate of the tests (proportion of the number of positive people compared to the total number of people tested) continues to fall: 14.8% on Saturday against 15% the day before.
2:14 pm | Portugal is closing its schools.
The Portuguese government has decided to “tighten” the restrictions to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, in particular by closing schools on Monday November 30 and December 7, on the eve of public holidays, Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced on Saturday.
Faced with a number of new contaminations “extremely worrying”, the socialist executive made the bet to divide the country into four zones, according to their risk of propagation of the epidemic, to which will correspond from Tuesday various levels of restrictions, a he said during a press conference in Lisbon.
11:01 am | The most recent data show 1,189 new cases and 32 new deaths in Quebec.
9:30 am | The pandemic situation is extremely worrying in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean to the point where a distress call was made by healthcare personnel, exhausted by the current situation.
9:00 am | Iran is shutting down non-essential businesses in many cities.
Iran announced on Saturday the closure of non-essential businesses in the majority of cities in the country and for a period of up to two weeks, imposing new restrictive measures in order to curb the epidemic of the new coronavirus in the country.
“With these new restrictions, we only wanted to tell the people that the problem of the coronavirus is very serious” in the Islamic Republic, said President Hassan Rouhani during a meeting of the Committee to fight the virus, broadcast on television.
In areas with the highest epidemiological risk, only businesses considered essential remain open, including health centers, the food sector, the press, public transport, pharmacies, banks and gas stations.
According to the Committee, more than 53 million people (in a country of more than 80 million inhabitants) are affected by these “draconian restrictions” applied in more than half of Iranian cities, including Tehran and the other 30 provincial capitals.
According to official data, more than 400 people have died from the virus every day in Iran since early November, prompting Mr. Rouhani to speak of a “third wave” of the epidemic.
The Ministry of Health recorded 431 deaths on Saturday in the last 24 hours, bringing the toll of the pandemic to 44,327 deaths in Iran (for 841,308 confirmed cases), by far the most affected country in the Near and Middle East.
8:37 am | COVID-19: Polish government advises against Christmas travel, maintains restrictions.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki formally advised Poles against traveling during Christmas on Saturday and announced that most anti-coronavirus restrictions would be maintained.
“Please don’t plan any travel,” he told a press conference, noting that the government was considering imposing travel restrictions.
He said theaters, bars and restaurants would remain closed until at least December 27, and that teaching would continue to be done remotely. But shopping centers will reopen completely from November 27.
“The situation remains very serious,” he said, highlighting the high mortality due to COVID-19 even if the number of new cases has stabilized.
The health ministry recorded 574 deaths on Saturday in 24 hours, bringing the total to 13,288 since the start of the pandemic. The number of daily cases of contamination stands at 24,213.
Over the past week, Poland comes in third place for the number of deaths in the European Union after Italy and France, according to a count made by AFP.
TO READ | COVID-19 changed their lives.
4:02 am | Russia on Saturday recorded new records in terms of infections and daily deaths from the new coronavirus, two days after surpassing the two million sick mark.
3h20 | The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly cleared up the polluted skies of large confined metropolises, but experts are especially worried about a possibly toxic relationship between air pollution and the respiratory virus.
1h00 | A nurse in her early 20s had to put her studies on hiatus in addition to being off work for six months because of a COVID-19 infection that struck her down.
