Covid in the world: the United Kingdom deplores more than 150,000 deaths since the start of the epidemic

More than 2 million daily cases of Covid-19 were recorded on average around the world during the week of January 1 to 7, a figure that has doubled in ten days, according to an AFP count. The vast majority of new cases are currently detected in Europe and the United States and Canada, but these numbers vary greatly depending on the testing policies of each country. On the other hand, the wave of contaminations is not accompanied by an increase in deaths. Over the past seven days, an average of 6,237 deaths have been recorded each day around the world, the lowest since the end of October 2020.

Strong pressure on the UK healthcare system

The United Kingdom recorded 313 new deaths from Covid-19 on Saturday, January 8, bringing the total number of people who have died in the country since the start of the pandemic to 150,057. according to official figures. The number of contaminations remains high, with 146,390 cases recorded in twenty-four hours, but it has been falling since Tuesday’s record.

British health services are weakened by the absenteeism of many caregivers affected by Covid. HENRY NICHOLLS / REUTERS

Even if the number of people in the hospital is for the moment lower than in previous waves (18,454 people on Saturday), the pressure on the health system remains very strong. On Friday, the British government announced that several hundred soldiers would be deployed as reinforcements to British hospitals and ambulance services to replace the many members of care staff absent due to Covid or because they are contact cases. The English health service recorded 39,000 absences on January 2. Around 1,800 soldiers are already mobilized across the United Kingdom, in particular to support the vaccination effort and ambulance services.

Apart from teleworking or wearing a mask, already in place, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has chosen not to impose new restrictions in order to limit the spread of the virus, focusing on screening and the vaccination campaign. This has already made it possible to administer two doses to 82% of those over 12 years old, and the booster campaign, carried out with vigor, has benefited 35 million people (approximately 60% of those over 12).

More than 300,000 dead in Mexico

The symbolic figure of 300,000 deaths from Covid-19 was crossed on Friday in Mexico, the fifth most affected country in absolute terms in the world, according to the report of the Ministry of Health. The United States is the most bereaved country with more than 830,000 dead, followed by Brazil, India and Russia, whose figures are probably underestimated. This is also the case in Mexico, since the national population register puts forward a figure of more than 450,000 deaths associated with Covid.

In addition, around sixty flights were canceled in Mexico on Thursday and Friday because 87 pilots caught the Covid-19, according to sources in the aviation sector.

Iranian writer dies of covid in prison

Iranian poet, filmmaker and dissident Baktash Abtin died in prison after contracting Covid-19, several human rights organizations announced on Saturday, accusing Tehran of being responsible for the death. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) confirmed his death on Twitter, claiming that he “had been unjustly sentenced to six years in prison and was detained in hospital, sick with Covid-19 and deprived of necessary care”. The NGO accompanied its message with a photo of the writer in a prisoner’s uniform, chained by the leg to a hospital bed.

Baktash Abtin, 47, was sentenced in 2019 for “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the system”. Along with his co-defendants Keyvan Bajan and Reza Khandan Mahabadi, Mr. Abtin received in September 2021 the PEN / Barbey Freedom to write prize, awarded by the writers’ rights group PEN America.

In recent months, the deaths of prisoners in custody have sparked growing concern in Iran, with human rights defenders fearing the Covid-19 pandemic could rage in the country’s prisons.

The World with AFP

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