There are 57 countries in the world where the presence of the Covid Omicron variant has been found, many of the cases are asymptomatic or show mild symptoms. The WHO reports this in a report in which it warns of the high possibility of infecting those who have recovered from the disease. The variant, the WHO continues, could increase hospitalizations and deaths. In the last 60 days, of the 900,000 cases of Covid reported, over 99% is caused by the Delta variant and only 713 (0.1%) are attributable to the Omicron variant.
Austria, end of lockdown for vaccinated and recovered
The lockdown in Austria for vaccinated and recovered will end on Saturday at midnight. The federal and regional governments have decided this, while the restrictions for the unvaccinated remain. The reopening will be accompanied by “a minimum standard of protective measures” to prevent a new increase in infections, such as the mandatory nature of Ffp2 masks inside, the new chancellor Karl Nehammer said. On Monday, shops and hairdressers will be able to reopen, while restaurants and mountain huts will remain closed in the evening.
Each region, however, is free to maintain stricter restrictions: so, for example, in Vienna restaurants and hotels will be closed for another week, in Tyrol and in the provinces of Vorarlberg and Burgenland everything will reopen, in Upper Austria the Total lockdown will last until December 17th.
At the national level, the lockdown for the unvaccinated will be maintained indefinitely. The Austrian government had announced confinement for 20 days from 22 November due to a very strong surge in coronavirus infections.
Pfizer is ready to update the dose against Omicron
Pfizer is ready for a vaccine update capable of neutralizing the Omicron variant now present in 57 countries around the world. CEO Albert Bourla announced today, specifying that it will take 100 days, so it will be discussed in March. Meanwhile, three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine would be able to handle Omicron. The two pharmaceutical companies announced this, citing initial laboratory studies. “Although two doses of the vaccine are able to offer protection against severe disease induced by the Omicron variant, it is clear from these early data that protection is improved with a third dose of our vaccine,” said Bourla. The companies point out that these results are still premliminal and that further laboratory data will continue to be collected to assess the vaccine‘s true efficacy.
Botswana: “No Omicron hospitalization”
One of the first countries to have registered the infections from Omicron, in southern Africa, declares that it has not registered any hospitalization of patients with the new variant. The country managed to fully vaccinate 71% of its 1.3 million eligible population, the health minister said. Edwin Dikoloti. “We currently have only one person in intensive care. Those who have not been vaccinated become seriously ill,” said the minister.
Nigeria, thrown away a million doses: they had expired
It is estimated that at least one million vaccines expired last month without being used. This was confirmed by two sources a Reuters. This would be one of the largest single dose losses which reconfirms the difficulty in vaccinating African nations. According to the World Health Organization, in Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa with over 200 million people, less than 4% of adults have been fully vaccinated. A recent increase in supply, however, has caused a new problem: many African countries are finding they lack the capacity to manage doses. The doses that expired last month are from AstraZeneca and were donated by the European Union through Covax. A third source aware of the delivery, told a Reuters, that some of the doses came within four to six weeks of expiration and could not be used in time despite the efforts of the health authorities.
Covid, fourth wave and Omicron variant are scary: between tampons for those who enter and restrictions for No Vax, here are the main measures in the world
by Massimo Basile, Rosalba Castelletti, Enrico Franceschini, Anais Ginori, Tonia Mastrobuoni, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, Gianluca Modolo, Alessandro Oppes, Carlo Pizzati, Raffaella Scuderi, Andrea Tarquini
Germany, record deaths but the incidence decreases
Record of deaths from Covid in Germany for 10 months. The country has recorded 527 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest number since 12 February, the international media note, however, underlining that the incidence rate of weekly cases is decelerating, from 432 to 427 infections per 100 thousand inhabitants.
UK, storm on government staff at party. Johnson apologizes
Boris Johnson said he was angry and apologized for the video showing Downing Street staff, in Christmas 2020, joking about a party organized despite the rules in force at the time to deal with the pandemic prohibited such gatherings. “I understand and share the anger in the country at seeing staff making fun of the lockdown measures, and I can understand how infuriating it can be to think that the people who set the rules did not follow them,” said the British premier. speaking to the Municipalities, saying he was “furious” at the images he saw. “I apologize unreservedly for the offense to the country and I apologize for the impression given,” Johnson said. However, the premier stressed that he had received “repeated reassurances” since the video emerged that “there was no party and no rules were violated”.
South Korea, for the first time, cases exceed 7,000
For the first time, the daily number of Covid-19 cases in South Korea has exceeded 7,000. This was announced today by the prime minister Kim Boo-kyum, according to which the health system’s ability to accommodate patients is “under pressure”. In total, according to data from the Agency for Disease Prevention and Control (Kdca), the cases in the last 24 hours were 7,175, an increase of 2,221 units compared to the previous day. This is the highest jump since the beginning of the pandemic in South Korea, where a total of 489,000 infections have been recorded since February 2020.
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