The pandemic due to the new coronavirus has killed at least 1 million people worldwide since the World Health Organization (WHO) office in China acknowledged the outbreak of the disease in late December 2019, according to a report on Friday, Jan. 8, by Agence France-Presse (AFP) from official sources.
With more than 365,000 fatalities, the United States continues to be the nation with the greatest impact, both in terms of cases and fatalities. Following Brazil, which has experienced almost 200,000 fatalities, are India (150,000), Mexico (131,000), and the United Kingdom (78,000). With 172 fatalities for every 100,000 people, Belgium ranks first among the nations that have been severely struck.
The statistics are based on daily reports from the health authorities in each nation and do not include changes made by statistical bodies after the fact, as is the situation in Russia, Spain, and the UK.
Increase in contamination in Asian nations
China, on the other hand, reported 63 new infections to Covid-19 on Thursday in the past twenty-four hours as the government worked to curb a coronavirus outbreak that had arisen in the Beijing region. a number at its highest level since July. The majority of the new cases that were reported on Thursday were in Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Beijing’s neighboring Hebei province. The municipality’s large territory, home to 11 million people, has been made school-free. Roads and train terminals are shut down to stop the infection from spreading outside of the city.
Constraints and limitations everywhere in the world
Several nations have implemented restrictive measures all across the world. Spain, whose regions are tightening local sanitary regulations, has once again ruled out widespread confinement if the upcoming weeks are going to be “difficult.” The nation is bracing itself for a toll of more than two million confirmed cases after the end-of-year celebrations, as is the situation worldwide, as infections soar. More than 51,000 deaths have been recorded there.
According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the UK is in a “race against time” to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of people every day against the Covid-19 virus, which is threatening to bankrupt the healthcare system. British hospitals are nearing capacity because to the Covid-19 patient inflow as England enters its third lockdown, forcing them to look for open beds in nursing homes.
Friday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major event” in the British capital where the novel coronavirus is “out of control,” requiring a coordinated response from public agencies. 7,034 Covid-19 patients have been admitted to hospitals in the nation’s capital, which is 35% more than at the height of the previous wave in April.
To prevent the importation of new coronavirus strains, all visitors to England and Scotland, including those who already reside there, will need to test negative for the new coronavirus within 72 hours of departure starting next week. People arriving from “high-risk” nations would still need to isolate themselves for 10 days even if the test is negative, the government announced in a statement.
The Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, announced on Thursday that the traffic restrictions and curfew that are already in place in the areas most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic will be extended this weekend and expanded to almost the entire country. Costa noted that his country had recorded a significant increase of 10,000 new contaminations in just 24 hours on Wednesday.
The partial containment measures in Hungary have been extended until February 1, according to Prime Minister Viktor Orban. A curfew at night, a restriction on meetings, the requirement to wear masks in public, and the closure of high schools and universities are some of the measures.
After an uptick in incidents, Israel’s parliament opted to tighten restrictions and extend the lockdown until January 21. As a result, schools that had been open will now close, and the number of people who are permitted to go to work will be further decreased.
Lebanon, meantime, has made the decision to implement a lockdown until the end of January after disclosing on Wednesday that there had been an all-time high of more than 4,100 new Covid-19 infections. Since the virus first appeared, the nation has had several lockdowns, with the most recent one occurring in November. However, the limitations were largely removed in December when pubs and nightclubs reopened, which contributed to a substantial rise in infections over the holiday season.
