Italians line up in front of a pharmacy in Milan (Italy) on January 4, 2021 (AFP / Miguel MEDINA) to test Covit-19.

France on Wednesday broke a new record for daily Covit-19 pollution, with its omigron variant sweeping the planet, pushing many countries to increase health controls.

The epidemic has killed at least 5,456,207 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report founded by AFP on Wednesday. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the actual number may be two to three times higher.

In its entirety, the United States is the saddest country with 830,284 deaths, followed by Brazil (619,384), India (482,551) and Russia (313,015).

The current epidemic was relaunched at the end of 2021 with the advent of the Omigron variant, which is contagious even though its severity is lower than before.

January 5, 2022 (AFP / STR) Entrance to a residential complex in Xi’an, China

It causes malfunctions in many sectors, including health, and causes daily pollution records in Israel on Wednesday (approximately 12,000 new cases) or in many countries, such as -pass (24,590). , Which imposed drastic measures to control the epidemic, closing non-essential businesses until Jan. 14.

On January 5, 2022, caretakers transfer the Covit-19 patient stretcher from the ambulance to the medical plane in Bastia, Corsica (France) (AFP / Pascal POCHARD-CASABIANCA)

The French Public Health Agency on Wednesday identified 332,252 new patients and 246 deaths, one of the worst in Europe. In the last seven days, there have been an average of 200,000 cases daily.

There was a state of health emergency in many French overseas territories (Guadeloupe, Guyana, Mayotte, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthelemy).

French President Emmanuel Macron on December 9, 2021 (POOL / Ludovic MARIN)

At the risk of further escalation, President Emmanuel Macron said he had decided to “biz off” the 10% of unvaccinated French population.

Global assessment of the novel corona virus infection until January 5 at 11:00 GMT (AFP /)

“You can no longer go to the restaurant, eat cannon, drink coffee, go to the movies, go to the movies,” without the vaccine, “I really want to annoy them. So we’ll continue to tease him. We have to do it to the end,” Macron told Le Parisien daily. Said.

Neighboring Italy (Wednesday 189,000 cases) has decided to introduce a compulsory vaccine for people over the age of 50 or almost half of the population, “to slow the curve of pollution and encourage Italians who have not yet been vaccinated to do so,” according to Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

– Dizzying Images –

A woman waits for a Govt-19 test at a hospital in Asuncion, Paraguay on January 4, 2022 (AFP / Norberto DUARTE)

In Italy and elsewhere, the figures are sometimes dizzying. The United States has identified nearly 890,000 new cases in 24 hours – they crossed one million on Monday – thus postponing the Grammy Awards ceremony indefinitely, while the Sundance Film Festival has decided to remain completely virtual this year.

In the United Kingdom (more than 194,000 cases on Wednesday), the British government announced the easing of restrictions on travelers to the UK, a decision that was immediately welcomed by the Department of Transportation.

“Now the Omigran variant is so dominant that these measures have only a limited impact on the development of cases, while at the same time causing significant costs to the tourism sector,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

According to the National Statistics Office (ONS), one in 20 people in the UK was affected last week, and one in 10 in London.

In Spain, the courts have extended the curfew order to 14 days in most parts of Catalonia (northeast).

In the Czech Republic, from January 17, anyone returning to work will have to undergo two antigenic tests a week, whether they have been vaccinated or not.

In Romania, after the number of patients tripled daily in a few days, the mask on the outside became mandatory.

It has prompted Hong Kong to ban all air travelers from eight countries: France, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Pakistan, Australia and the Philippines.

The country officially announced the number of deaths associated with the corona virus as of 11:00 GMT (AFP /) on January 4.

The Big Asian Financial Center has also banned large-scale public events and ordered the closure of 15 types of non-essential businesses (bars, nightclubs, gyms, beauty salons …).

In China, the city of Zhengzhou (center) began testing its 13 million people on Wednesday, after which Govt announced that Xian’s limited city was “controlling” its share of the latest epidemic.

– Djokovic case –

Novak Djokovic (AFP / Paul CROCK) during the Australian Open final in Melbourne on February 21, 2021

Meanwhile, Serbian player Novak Djokovic has been given a medical exemption from participating in the Australian Tennis Open, although his failure to report on vaccination status has sparked outrage.

The Australian Border Police said in a statement on Thursday morning that the player’s visa had been revoked because he had failed to meet strict conditions for entry into the country.

“There will be no special rule for Novak Djokovic, not least,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the previous day.

Woman Covit-19 tested in New York on January 4, 2022 (AFP / ANGELA WEISS)

In Brazil, officials in Rio de Janeiro (southeast) faced the Omigron wave, which ended Tuesday with rising pollution (over the past seven days, up from half in the previous week). Stop the traditionally huge street parades of the next festival at the end of February.

Where- bur / ial / pz / mba / fjb