[EN DIRECT 3 MARS] All the developments of the pandemic

Whether in Quebec or elsewhere on the planet, the COVID-19 pandemic has been disrupting our lives for nearly a year.

Here you will find all the news throughout the day related to this crisis affecting the population, governments and the economy.

The balance sheets

PLANETARY

Case: 115,033,409

Dead: 2,556,515

CANADA

Case: 879 831, whose 289 670 in Quebec

Death: 22 084, whose 10,426 in Quebec

HERE ARE ALL THE NEWS FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3

5:19 pm | One after the other, US states are lifting the restrictions put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, building on the ongoing mass vaccination campaign and the decline in contamination curves in recent weeks.

5:00 p.m. | François Legault announces easing of health measures, while several regions will move to the orange level after the break week.

4:00 p.m. | An adopted Quebecer who had to travel to France to say goodbye to his dying mother and who had been told it was an “essential trip” still had to stay at a hotel in his return under conditions that he does not wish on anyone.

3:23 pm | The government is right to be concerned about the spread of COVID-19 variants in the province, believes Dr. Gaston De Serres.

14:47 | As the COVID-19 situation in Montreal stabilizes, the school age group, 5 to 17, is seeing the greatest number of new cases.

2:21 pm | Health Canada relaxes storage rules for Pfizer vaccine

This messenger RNA vaccine, the first to be licensed by the ministry, had until now been stored at extremely cold temperatures, between -80 and -60 degrees Celsius. It was a significant logistical challenge.

From now on, doses can be stored at temperatures between -25 and -15 degrees Celsius for a period of up to two weeks.

13h58 | COVID-19: Quebec would go into an orange zone, with the exception of Greater Montreal

“We are currently in a period of calm seas, on a plateau, not too many waves, it does not go down. But, below, there are sharks, and these sharks are the variants, ”Dr Arruda had imaged Tuesday, insisting that he had to be“ very, very, very careful ”.

13:48 | Montreal: New cases of COVID-19 are numerous in young people aged 5 to 17

Dr. Drouin remains concerned about the presence of cases linked to the variants. In seven days, the number of cases related to these increased by 5%, from 10% to 15%.

12:46 | The injection of a single dose of AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine against COVID-19 reduces by more than three-quarters the risk of hospitalization of people at risk over 80 years, shows Wednesday a British study based on actual hospitalization data.

TO BE CONTINUED | Government announcement at 5 p.m.: towards a return to the orange zone for several regions?

12:15 pm | Coronavirus: Greece extends its confinement until March 16.

Greece announced on Wednesday that the containment due to the coronavirus would be extended again until March 16 and would be accompanied by even more restrictive measures, as the country goes through the “hardest period of the pandemic”.

Greece, confined since November 7, 2020, experienced its highest daily rate of infections on Wednesday, with more than 2,700 new cases, Greek Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias told reporters.

“We are going through the hardest part of this pandemic,” he warned, saying that Athens’ public hospitals had been under “unbearable pressure” for weeks.

“At the rate at which new hospitalizations are going, the health system is exceeding its limits in terms of infrastructure and personnel”, he said, insisting on “the significant increase” in contagions with the English variant of the coronavirus.

11:49 am | Ottawa wants to speed up vaccine production in the country.

TO READ | It was while singing that the queen of American country music Dolly Parton received a dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, revisiting an adapted version of her hit “Jolene”.

11:08 am | About 2,400 doses of fake vaccines have been seized in South Africa, while a network of counterfeit vaccines has been dismantled in China, Interpol announced Wednesday, warning that it was only “the emergent face of the iceberg ”.

11:02 am | Quebec reports 729 new cases and deplores 19 additional deaths; hospitalizations are down.

9:24 am | In Chile, the rapid vaccination campaign against COVID-19

In two months, thanks to a particularly effective campaign, Chile has administered at least one dose of the COVID vaccine to more than 3.5 million people for 19 million inhabitants, placing it in the world’s leading peloton. .

It is also among the top ten countries in the world according to the number of doses administered per 100 inhabitants, with 18.3 doses per 100 people, according to an AFP ranking.

8:59 am | Deaths linked to COVID-19 decrease life expectancy in Quebec

In 2020, life expectancy at birth in Quebec was 80.6 years for men and 84 years for women. According to the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ), which is publishing a bulletin on this subject today, this represents a drop of five months for men and eight months for women compared to the life expectancy of 2019.

8:40 am | Spain: COVID-19 cases in free fall in nursing homes

The number of COVID-19 cases fell 95% between January and February in Spanish retirement homes, after the injection of second doses of the vaccine began, according to a government report.

The retirement homes, where the first wave of the epidemic caused a massacre, thus identified 4,439 cases of COVID-19 between January 18 and 24, against 215 between February 15 and 21, indicates this unpublished report. from the Institute of Seniors and Social Services (Imserso), a government-dependent body, published Tuesday evening.

This drastic drop in the number of cases and deaths in nursing homes coincides with the start of the administration in mid-January of the second doses of vaccines. The vaccination campaign started at the end of December in Spain by residents of retirement homes and their nursing staff.

8:38 am | COVID-19: Brussels suggests maintaining the suspension of budgetary rules in 2022

Brussels suggested Wednesday to maintain in 2022 the suspension of the rules of strict budgetary discipline imposed on the member states of the euro area, in force since March 2020 due to the crisis linked to the coronavirus. This decision will be taken in the spring, according to European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis.

8:23 am | France: return to a more normal life hoped for “perhaps from mid-April”

The French government hopes “a return to a more normal life (…) perhaps as early as mid-April”, even if by then “weeks of heavy weather” will take place, its spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Gabriel Attal, specifying that Prime Minister Jean Castex will hold a press conference on Thursday.

“The return to a more normal life is in sight, the places which make our social life will reopen, it is a horizon at the end of the tunnel that we must have in sight”, thanks to the vaccination, he added, reaffirming that the government intended to maintain a “differentiated response” to a “heterogeneous” situation in the territories.

8:01 am | Pandemic: London will have injected a total of 407 billion pounds in aid by 2022

The capital of England will have injected a total of 407 billion pounds of aid to the population in times of pandemic by 2022.

7:49 am | Sudan receives its first batch of vaccines via Covax.

The batch includes 828,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine via the Covax device intended in particular for underprivileged countries.

He is due to arrive at Khartoum airport during the day, Dalia Idriss, coordinator of the vaccination campaign with the Ministry of Health, told AFP, adding that the authorities will begin vaccination of 414,000 employees in the health sector. health “next week”.

At a press conference in Khartoum, Health Minister Omar al-Naguib said the vaccine would be free and that frontline medical staff and the elderly would be the first to receive the vaccine.

Sudan has officially recorded more than 28,500 contaminations, including 1,900 deaths.

6:33 am | Slovakia imposes a nighttime curfew to fight COVID-19.

Slovakia will impose a nighttime curfew from Wednesday evening, the health ministry said, as the country battles the world’s highest COVID-19 death rate.

Slovaks will not be allowed to leave their homes between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., according to a government decree. The curfew will be mandatory until March 19 but may be extended. During the day, people were encouraged to stay in their homes, with a few exceptions.

4h00 | An explosive went off near a COVID-19 testing center in Bovenkarpsel in North Holland, Dutch police said, adding that no injuries were reported.

1h00 | Unable to manufacture its vaccines in Quebec before 2024, the pharmaceutical Medicago will have no other choice but to import them in bulk from the United States, hoping that the Biden administration will not put obstacles in its way.

TO READ | The Trudeau government has declined to say whether it has obtained guarantees from the Biden administration that the AstraZeneca vaccines due to reach us from the United States will not be blocked.

1h00 | A dentist in Montreal is asking the government to make the presentation of proof compulsory to benefit from a medical exemption so as not to wear a mask in closed places.

0h00 | An analysis of epidemiological data reveals that the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches are doing better than six months ago when the government changed them from green to yellow.

0h00 | COVID-19 seems to have almost entirely disappeared in Gaspésie and the Magdalen Islands, while there are no longer any active cases or hospitalizations linked to the coronavirus.

TO READ | Sugar shack owners are quick to talk about successes and say they could be saved by the My Shack at Home project launched last week.

Our columnists speak out

One year later, thank you François Legault! —> Elsie Lefebvre

Pandemic: some lessons for Quebec —> Josée Legault

Vaccinate us or deconfine! —> Claude Villeneuve

PCU rained a lot (too much) of money —> Mario Dumont

Here’s what you learned from the pandemic —> Richard Martineau