The new strain increases cases of COVID-19, and the world is restricting restrictions

International writing – Coronavirus infections continue to rise and this Sunday exceeded 88 million worldwide, a trend that has increased even more due to the ease of transmission of the new British strain of COVID-19, especially in Europe, which has led many countries to increase restrictions to reduce the pandemic.

One day after deaths reached an overall daily record of 15,500, with a total of 1.9 million to date, COVID-19 continued unabated with 802,000 new infections in the last day, one of the highest figures in the world. pandemic so far According to the World Health Organization (WHO), therefore, pending progress in vaccination, preventive measures are still being implemented.

Although, according to the WHO, and unlike the clear growth in America, Africa and Asia, in Europe the curve is more stable, the truth is that in the Old Continent the new positives are concerned, especially due to the virus variant in the Kingdom. United, a country that has exceeded 3 million cases and is showing a record increase in numbers.

A situation that has already led Prime Minister Boris Johnson to re-enact a strict quarantine on January 4, which can be extended to much of Europe, which between Friday and Saturday had 273,000 infections and 6,000 deaths.

Despite the fact that France (2.84 million infections), Italy (2.27 million) and Spain (2 million) did not return to their November highs, the daily positive curve has risen again, adding to some intensive care units increasingly saturated courses, making it difficult to return to activities such as face-to-face classes after the Christmas break.

Thus, the United Kingdom closed schools, except for vulnerable pupils or children of essential workers; The Italian regions have added to the postponement of the return to face-to-face classes in secondary school, which the central government has set for January 7 and then operated until Monday, and the Netherlands intends to postpone the return to face-to-face classes after January 18. .

America, against the first, second and third wave

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

In addition, three people died on Saturday, daily data that had not been reported since September, reflecting an increase due, according to authorities, to indiscipline and non-compliance with health measures, which is why the delay in several provinces, including Havana, and the return of restrictions on public activities and new public transport restrictions.

Chile, in turn, has surpassed the 4,000 daily case barrier for the third day in a row, showing the advance of the second wave of pandemics that began a month ago.

“No region has decreased its new cases in the last 7 and 14 days, and Magallanes (in the extreme south) continues to have the highest incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants in the country,” according to the Ministry of Health.

Seven weeks ago, the number of infections in Chile began to rise, especially in the capital, forcing a weekend quarantine in most of Santiago, where more than 7 million people live.

In Peru, the situation is also complex, confirming this week the first case of British strain and the return to figures of over 2,000 cases a day, both on Friday and Saturday, so President Francisco Sagasti does not rule out the return to a strict quarantine, although this Sunday he assured that “it is an extreme option, however”.

Strong air limits in Vietnam

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

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

Thanks to its early and strict isolation measures and border closures, Vietnam, with 95 million inhabitants, was 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 seriously ill hospitalized patients on Sunday, a record since the beginning of the pandemic.

The number of 1,029 critically ill patients exceeds the 800 patients with serious illnesses that the authorities have marked as a red line for the sustainability of the health system, which appears as the country continues with the fastest vaccination campaign in the world. : about 1.8 million people (about a fifth of the population) have already received the first dose of vaccine.

The government failed to stop the third wave of growing infections and tightened restrictive closure measures, in place for two weeks on Friday, which will last at least until January 21 next year, with limitations that include the population cannot go beyond one kilometer from their homes and closing all non-essential shops and educational centers.