The Covid-19 pandemic was declared two years ago to the day, March 11, 2020, by the World Health Organization (WHO). Since its appearance at the end of December 2019, it has officially caused at least 6 million deaths and more than 449 million confirmed contaminations.
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The WHO estimates that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that which has been officially established. In a study published this Friday, March 11, the journal The Lancet affirms that the Covid-19 would have caused more than 18 million deaths in the world between the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2021. A look back at the main dates of the past two years.
♦ November 17, 2019. The city of Wuhan, in central China, reports a case of a patient with a new coronavirus close to SARS. This is actually the first confirmed case of Covid-19. The city will be totally confined three months later.
♦ January 9, 2020. After being alerted by cases of this atypical pneumonia which is developing in China, the WHO announces that this disease is due to a new coronavirus provisionally named 2019-nCov. The genome is unveiled the next day.
♦ 11 mars 2020. WHO declares a global pandemic, the first caused by a coronavirus. At that time, 75,871 cases were recorded worldwide and Covid-19 had already claimed 4,635 lives.
♦ 17 mars 2020. The first confinement, announced the day before by Emmanuel Macron, comes into force in France. It will last almost two months. Individual travel must be drastically limited or face a fine, the borders are closing. The balance sheet of the epidemic in the country then amounts to 148 dead and 6,633 confirmed cases. Figures to put into perspective, given the low availability of tests at the time.
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♦ 18 avril 2020. The whole world is gradually being confined. At least 4.5 billion people in 110 countries are called or forced by the authorities to stay at home.
♦ September 27, 2020. The number of deaths worldwide exceeds one million.
♦ November 9, 2020. The American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, associated with the German laboratory BioNTech reveals positive results for its vaccine. A week later, the American biotech Moderna followed suit.
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♦ December 27, 2020. The vaccination campaign begins in France after having started in several countries of the world and of the European Union. A little more than fifteen days later, there are more than 36 million doses administered in more than 50 countries.
♦ August 9, 2021. The vaccination campaign is accelerating in France, where the health pass becomes compulsory to enter bars, cafes, restaurants, but also in places of health, or even long-distance public transport. In January 2022, it will be replaced by the vaccination pass.