New strain increases COVID-19 cases, tightens world restrictions

International writing – Coronavirus infections continue to grow and this Sunday they exceeded 88 million in the world, a trend that has been further increased by the ease of transmission of the new British strain of COVID-19, especially in Europe, which has led many countries to increase restrictions to curb the pandemic.

A day after the deaths hit a worldwide daily record of 15,500, with a total so far of 1.9 million, COVID-19 remained unstoppable with 802,000 new infections on the last day, one of the highest rates in the pandemic to date According to the World Health Organization (WHO), therefore, preventive measures are still being taken pending progress on vaccination.

Although according to the WHO, and contrary to the marked increase in America, Africa and Asia, the curve is more stable in Europe, the truth is that in the Old Continent there are new positives, especially because of the variant of the virus in the Kingdom . United, a country with more than 3 million cases and a growth in record numbers.

A situation that already prompted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to issue a strict quarantine again on January 4, something that could be extended to much of Europe, which had 273,000 infections and 6,000 deaths between Friday and Saturday.

Despite the fact that France (2.84 million infections), Italy (2.27 million) and Spain (2 million) have not returned to the November highs, the curve of daily positives has risen again, adding to some care units intensive courses that are becoming increasingly saturated, making it difficult to return to activities such as personal classes after the Christmas holidays.

For example, the UK has closed schools, except for vulnerable students or children of key workers; Italian regions are contributing to the postponement of the return to high school face-to-face classes, which the central government had set for January 7 and ran until next Monday, and the Netherlands plans to delay the return until after January 18. for face-to-face lessons.

America, against the first, second and third waves

In America, although many of the countries are still in the first wave of the pandemic, some have already reached the third wave, such as Cuba, which set a daily record of infections at 388 for the third consecutive day this Sunday. so As of today, a negative PCR test is required from all travelers arriving in the country.

In addition, three people died on Saturday, a daily data that had not been presented since September, reflecting a resurgence due to, according to authorities, indiscipline and failure to comply with health measures. de-escalation in several provinces, including Havana, and the return of restrictions on public activities and new restrictions on public transport.

Chile, in turn, passed the 4,000 daily case mark for the third day in a row, showing the advance of the second wave of the pandemic that started a month ago.

“No region has decreased the number of new cases in the past 7 and 14 days, and Magallanes (in the far south) still has the highest incidence per 100,000 inhabitants in the country,” said the Ministry of Health.

Seven weeks ago, the number of infections started to increase in Chile, especially in the capital, prompting a weekend quarantine in most of Santiago, home to more than 7 million people.

In Peru, the situation is also complex, with the confirmation this week of the first case of the British tribe and the return to numbers of more than 2,000 cases a day on both Friday and Saturday, so President Francisco Sagasti does not rule out a return. to strict quarantine, though he assured this Sunday that “it is an extreme option after all.”

Strong air limits in Vietnam

In Asia, Vietnam will severely limit arrival flights until after the Tet holiday (the Vietnamese Lunar New Year that will be celebrated on February 12 this year) when new variants of COVID-19 are detected in other countries.

The country’s prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, issued a directive this weekend that only “really necessary” flights that have been specifically approved by five ministries and the president himself may land.

Thanks to early and strict detention measures and the closure of its borders, Vietnam, with a population of 95 million, is one of the countries in the world least affected by the pandemic, with only 1,513 cases and 35 deaths.

And in the Middle East, Israel surpassed 1,000 hospitalized patients in serious condition on Sunday, a record since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The number of 1,029 critically ill patients goes beyond the 800 critically ill patients that authorities have marked as a red line for the sustainability of the health system, something that is happening as the country continues with the world’s fastest vaccination campaign: approximately 1.8 million people (about one fifth of the population) have already received the first dose of the vaccine.

The government has failed to stop the growing third wave of infections and on Friday tightened its restrictive measures of incarceration, in effect for two weeks and which will last at least until January 21, including restrictions that the population cannot go further than a mile from their home and close all non-essential shops and educational centers.