[EN DIRECT 22 JANVIER] All developments in the COVID-19 pandemic

Here you will find all the news related to this crisis which has hit the population, governments and the economy for several months.

PLANETARY

• Case: 97 676 361
• Death: 2,094,844

CANADA

• Case: 731,450, including 250,491 in Quebec
• Death: 18,622, including 9,361 in Quebec

All the news for Friday, January 22, 2021

13:39 | New health restrictions in Madrid.

The region of Madrid, one of the most affected in Spain by the pandemic, announced on Friday new health restrictions in the face of the acceleration of contaminations and decided in particular to bring forward the time of the curfew and the schedule of closure of bars and restaurants.

In view of the “upward trend” in infections, “the new scenario forces a change in the rules of the game,” regional health manager Enrique Ruiz Escudero told a press conference, putting the increase contaminations on behalf of the new British variant.

The incidence reached the extremely high level of 875 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last two weeks, he continued, stressing the strong presence of the British variant, “around 9%” of new cases identified in the region.

A rate which “doubles its incidence every week” and which, added to the meetings of the end of the year holidays, explains according to him the explosion of cases.

In an attempt to curb contagions, the region, which was so far one of the least restrictive in the country, has decided to bring the start of the curfew forward one hour to 10 p.m., the maximum currently allowed in the country. country.

As of Monday, and for at least two weeks, commercial establishments, bars and restaurants will have to close at 9 p.m.

In addition, tables in bars and restaurants cannot accommodate more than 4 people.

1:15 p.m. | Pfizer-BioNTech and WHO agreement to bring 40 million doses of vaccines to the Covax system.

The World Health Organization and Pfizer-BioNTech announced on Friday an agreement that will provide 40 million doses of the pharmaceutical giant’s anti-Covid-19 vaccine to underprivileged countries, through the Covax system.

The doses of the vaccine (95% effective) will be provided “at cost” and should be delivered during the first quarter, Pfizer boss Albert Bourla said during a press briefing with the WHO.

The Covax system, set up to try to allow a fair distribution of anti-Covid vaccines, has also exercised an option with the Indian vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) for 100 million doses of the vaccine developed AstraZeneca / Oxford. The majority of these doses should be delivered during the first trimester. But first the WHO must give emergency approval for this vaccine, around mid-February.

So far, only Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine has received emergency approval.

As long as the arrival of effective vaccines against COVID-19, which has already killed more than 2 million people since it was reported in December 2019, in China, “is a light at the end of the tunnel”, “it is not the vaccines on their own that will help us put an end to this pandemic is vaccination ”, underlined the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

12h52 | Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first indicated on Friday that his government is considering imposing mandatory hotel quarantine for returning travelers.

12:19 pm | The more contagious British variant of the novel coronavirus also appears to be linked to higher mortality, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday.

11:03 am | Hospitalizations are still falling in Quebec, as the province reports 1,631 additional cases and deplores 88 new deaths.

10:38 am | Even if the situation seems to be improving in Montreal, especially as regards the number of reported cases, the tension is still present in the hospitals of the metropolis where 696 patients are still hospitalized, of which 112 are in intensive care.

10:32 am | Lebanon decided on Thursday to extend strict confinement for two weeks, initially decreed until January 25, to halt an exponential increase in cases of the new coronavirus and relieve saturated hospitals, in a country in the midst of an economic crisis.

9:30 am | In full lockdown in the UK, police have broken up a wedding with some 400 guests at a London school as the government wants to crack down on offenders.

8:33 am | Some 29 statements of offense for non-compliance with the curfew have been issued by the Chateauguay police on its territory since the introduction of the measure by Quebec.

TO READ | The delays in the distribution of Pfizer’s vaccine do not worry the doctors, who fear more a relaxation of sanitary measures with the start of the vaccination and the situation which improves.

7:56 am | Saguenay police officers had to hand over fifteen fines on Thursday evening to violators of health measures who continue to violate the rules.

7:16 am | Zinedine Zidane declared positive for COVID-19.

French Real Madrid coach Zinédine Zidane is positive for COVID-19, the Madrid club announced on Friday.

“Real Madrid announce that our coach Zinédine Zidane has tested positive for COVID-19,” the club said in a brief statement, without giving further details.

7:05 am | Hong Kong: thousands of residents confined in a neighborhood affected by the virus.

Thousands of residents of one of the poorest and densely populated areas of Hong Kong will be forced overnight from Friday to Saturday to stay at home as part of the first confinement ordered by the authorities since the start of the coronavirus pandemic .

This measure prohibits anyone living in buildings located in a demarcated geographical area, where an increasing number of cases have been recorded in recent days, from leaving their home unless they present a negative test, according to media reports.

This quarantine, which concerns some 150 buildings and up to 9,000 people, is to come into force at midnight on the night of Friday to Saturday and some 1,700 police officers will be deployed to ensure its respect, according to the South China Morning Post.

It should not be lifted until the entire population has been tested.

Health officials declined to comment on the information during a press briefing on Friday, but numerous media reported it throughout the day, citing government officials.

Hong Kong was one of the first places on the planet to be affected by the coronavirus after it emerged in neighboring mainland China.

7:00 am | The price of rapid tests halved for disadvantaged countries.

The most disadvantaged countries will be able to have easier access to rapid antigenic tests, a basic tool to try to contain the COVID-19 pandemic at half the current price, Unitaid announced on Friday.

The agreement between Unitaid and the Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics “will increase the capacity of companies that manufacture these rapid antigen detection tests and meet around half of the estimated needs for low and middle income countries and it allows the price to be halved, from 5 to 2.5 dollars each, ”said Hervé Verhoosel, a spokesperson for Unitaid, an international organization hosted by the WHO, during a press briefing by the UN in Geneva.

According to the spokesperson, some 264 million tests could thus be produced within 12 months of the agreement.

Tests for the detection of COVID-19 infections are a crucial tool for better treatment, but also for better combating the pandemic by detecting sources of infection as early as possible and thus being able to isolate them to prevent further spread of the virus. .

This is particularly true for low- and middle-income countries where healthcare workers are often deprived of access to tests due to the fragility of health systems and dependence on a supply from abroad, Mr. Verhoosel.

Where rich countries administer 252 tests per 100,000 inhabitants each day, this rate is 10 times lower in disadvantaged countries with only 24 tests per day per 100,000 inhabitants. A difference due in part to the lack of means to exploit more sophisticated molecular tests (PCR) and populations that live scattered.

9:59 am | Beijing launched a massive screening of its residents on Friday after a few cases of Covid, including some linked to the English variant, leading to the formation of impressive queues in the streets of the Chinese capital.

5:04 am | The Hungarian government announced Friday that it had reached an agreement to purchase “large quantities” of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, although it has not yet been authorized by European health authorities.

1h00 | More than 4,000 Quebecers with cancer would not have been diagnosed in the spring, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, reveals a new government study.

TO SEE AND READ | The DJs are boosted, the sound system spits out the decibels and the revelers are preparing for a sleepless night: the youth of Wuhan is savoring their new-found freedom, when the rest of the world is confined.

1h38 | The total number of deaths caused by the coronavirus in Germany crossed the threshold of 50,000 on Friday, announced the Robert Koch public health institute (RKI), at the time when the country extended until mid-February its anti -Covid.

1h02 | Stronger exit from the Covid-19 pandemic, and while the United States is still in full transition, Asia is expected to dominate the World Economic Forum, which this year abandons the snowfall of Davos in favor of a completely virtual format.

0h38 | The Japanese government on Friday approved two bills aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of restrictive measures to fight the coronavirus, which would, if adopted as is, allow the imposition of fines and even prison terms on the refractory.

0h00 | Hard hit by the health crisis, hotels have received more than $ 100 million in financial assistance from Quebec since the start of the pandemic.