Follow live regional, national and international information on the Covid-19 epidemic, this Saturday, January 15, 2021.
– 7:40 a.m.: The bill on the vaccination pass adopted at second reading by the National Assembly
The deputies adopted without surprise, the controversial bill transforming the health pass into a vaccine pass at second reading, Saturday, after a night of debates which will continue in a few hours in the Senate.
Started on December 29 in committee, the marathon of this twelfth health emergency text since March 2020 will end on Sunday afternoon, with a final vote by the National Assembly, after a chaotic journey marked by hiccups, controversies and twists and turns, reports BFM TV.
– 7:20 a.m.: 14,380 classes closed, the highest level since spring 2020
The number of classes closed due to the Covid-19 epidemic stood at 14,380 on Friday January 14, compared to 9,202 last week, is the highest level since the spring of 2020, announced the Ministry of National Education.
– 6:30 am: Novak Djokovic returns to detention in Australia
Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic was returned to administrative detention on Saturday January 15 in Melbourne after his visa was canceled for the second time by the Australian government, which maintains that the player not vaccinated against Covid-19 constitutes a public danger.
This new episode in a saga that began on January 5, when Djokovic was turned away upon his arrival in Melbourne, makes it increasingly unlikely that the 34-year-old Serb will participate in the Australian Open, which starts on Monday. Djokovic is seeking a 10th victory in this tournament, which would constitute a record 21st Grand Slam title.
This Saturday, the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal attacked his rival, believing that “the Australian Open is much more important than any player”, while saying that he does not “agree with many things he’s done in the last two weeks.”
A few hours earlier, the Minister of Immigration, Alex Hawke had estimated in a document presented to justice that the presence in Australia of Djokovic “could encourage anti-vaccination sentiment” and “trigger an upsurge in civil unrest”.
According to court documents, Novak Djokovic, who had been summoned in the morning by the immigration services, was on Saturday in a detention center in Melbourne awaiting a judicial decision on his case.
Referral hearings are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in federal court, and authorities said Friday night that they would not expel the tennis player from Australia until the judges have ruled.
The player is only authorized to leave the detention center to follow, online, the legal hearings concerning him from the offices of his lawyers, and under the surveillance of border police officers. This is the second time the Australian government has attempted to oust Djokovic from the country.
– 6 a.m.: Easing of health restrictions in the Netherlands
The government of the Netherlands announced on Friday January 14 an easing of the health restrictions put in place a month ago to fight the COVID-19 epidemic, despite a record number of contaminations due to the circulation of the variant Coronavirus omicron.
Non-essential businesses, hair salons, beauty salons, gyms and other services will be allowed to reopen from this Saturday, for the first time since mid-December, in a strictly limited setting, and until 5:00 p.m., Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced.
The head of the Dutch government added that the continuing uncertainties about the health situation led the authorities to maintain the closure of bars, restaurants and cultural venues until at least January 25. The Netherlands had entered a strict one-month confinement period in mid-December in order to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
– midnight: 1 in 5 French people tested positive for Covid
The peak of the current wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in France, fueled by the Omicron variant, has not yet been reached, the Director General of Public Health France estimated on Friday, adding that“one in five French people tested is positive”, or around 280,000 cases per day over a week.
France recorded this Friday nearly 330,000 new cases of contamination by the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 but a drop, for the second consecutive day, in the number of patients in intensive care.
According to data from Public Health France, 329,371 new cases of coronavirus were identified in the space of 24 hours, a number equivalent to that of last Friday (328,214), and 3,895 patients with COVID-19 were in care. critics, 44 less than the day before.
Interviewed on the set of BFM-TV, Geneviève Chêne said that “80% of the cases were probably linked to Omicron last week”. “All the indicators converge to indicate that this variant is less severe than Delta. It causes fewer hospitalizations in proportion. But since it is more contagious, we can still expect an increase in hospitalizations in the coming weeks. “, she warned.
The Institut Pasteur published on Wednesday January 12 new models predicting a peak circulation of the new Omicron variant in mid-January, followed by a peak in hospital admissions in the second half of the month.
According to SPF, 191 new deaths from COVID were recorded on Friday in France, for a total of 126,721 since the start of the pandemic in 2020.