Restrictions lifted in Denmark, BA.2 more contagious... Update on the pandemic

It’s time to relax. After almost two years of anti-Covid restrictions, some countries are letting go, such as Denmark, which begins its second attempt on Tuesday to lift health measures in the hope of returning to life before the pandemic. More cautious, France is also moving in this direction from Wednesday with the end of gauges, wearing a mask outdoors, and compulsory telework.

However, the epidemic is not over and the unknowns linked to the last variant, Omicron, raise questions and concern. In particular concerning one of its sub-variants, the BA.2, which takes precedence in Denmark because possibly more contagious, according to a study published Monday and not yet verified by peers.

The more contagious Omicron “sub-variant”

Omicron’s “sub-variant”, BA.2, is more contagious than the original BA.1, according to a Danish study released on Monday. “The study shows that if someone in your household is infected with BA.2, there is a 39% overall risk that another member of the household will be infected within the first week. In contrast, if the person is infected with BA.1, the risk is 29%,” the Danish Infectious Diseases Control Authority (SSI) said in a statement.

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Dominant in Denmark where it dethroned Omicron, BA.2 is according to preliminary calculations one and a half times more contagious than BA.1, had noted the SSI on January 26. Unvaccinated people are also more likely to be infected with BA.2 compared to BA.1,” insisted Camilla Holten Møller, a doctor at SSI, quoted in the press release.

France will begin to lift the constraints

End of gauges, wearing a mask outdoors, compulsory teleworking. After other European countries, France begins Wednesday to lift the restrictions linked to Covid despite a number of contaminations still very high. On January 20, the government cleared the horizon of the French, blocked by nearly two years of pandemic, by detailing a schedule for alleviating the constraints weighing on daily life.

Thanks to the new vaccination pass, which replaced the old health pass at the end of January, “we will be able in February to lift most of the restrictions taken to curb the epidemic”, promised the Prime Minister, Jean Castex. Promise kept: the relief of constraints takes effect this Wednesday. From now on, wearing a mask will no longer be compulsory outdoors, the gauges in places receiving a seated public (stadiums, cultural establishments, etc.) will be abandoned and teleworking will no longer be compulsory, but only recommended.

Denmark tries again to return “to life before”

Despite the omnipresence of Covid-19, Denmark on Tuesday becomes the first country in the European Union to lift all its restrictions, considering itself able to do so thanks to its high vaccination coverage and the lesser severity of the variant. Omicron. After a first attempt of two months between September and November, masks, health passes and reduced openings of bars and restaurants will once again become ancient history in the Nordic kingdom.

Nightclubs reopen on Tuesday, gauges disappear too. Very few restrictions remain in place on entry into the country, only for unvaccinated travelers arriving from a country outside the Schengen area. An almost total relaxation which comes as new cases in Denmark are around 40,000 to 50,000 every day. That is a record level of almost 1% of the 5.8 million inhabitants of the Scandinavian country.

Justin Trudeau tested positive

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he had tested positive for Covid-19 without however having serious symptoms. “I feel good, and I will continue to work remotely this week, in accordance with public health instructions,” said the head of the Canadian government, who recently received his third dose of vaccine, on Twitter.

Justin Trudeau has once again called on Canadians to get vaccinated and receive their booster dose. “The virus affects us all. Two of my (three, editor’s note) children have now contracted it”, he said during a press briefing, at the end of the morning, specifying for his part that he felt “no symptoms “. The latter, 50, received a third dose of vaccine in early January.

The next Worlds in Japan postponed to July 2023

The next Long Course World Swimming Championships, organized in Fukuoka, have been postponed once again, from May 2022 to July 2023, due to “the pandemic situation and the measures currently in force in Japan”, announces the International Federation of swimming (Fina) in a press release on Tuesday.

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Initially, these Worlds were scheduled for the summer of 2021, but they had been postponed for the first time after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed by one year from 2020 to 2021. Consequently, the following World Championships, scheduled for originally in November 2023 in Doha in Qatar, “will take place in January 2024”, six months from the 2024 Olympics in Paris, adds the Fina. The last edition dates back to the summer of 2019, in Gwangju, South Korea.