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From this Sunday, travelers arriving in French territory by air or sea from any other nation of the European Union will have to present the negative result of a PCR test carried out 72 hours before arrival. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom detected 77 cases of the South African variant and New Zealand reported its first local infection since November.
With 98.8 million confirmed infections since the beginning of the emergency, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the authorities of the 191 countries and territories affected by the spread of Covid-19 continue to try to contain the outbreaks.
Until this Sunday, 2.1 million people have died from the virus that in the United States adds 24.9 million infected, placing this nation as the most impacted by the pandemic.
Here are the most relevant news about the health crisis this January 24:
- France increases border controls to try to contain outbreaks
As announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from this Sunday the new measure ordered by the French Government came into force, which requires the presentation of a PCR test with a negative result to all travelers arriving in the nation from any another country in the European Union.
After keeping five days of quarantine after arriving in the French territory by air or sea, travelers must take a new test and present it to the relevant authorities, who will supervise the implementation of the strategy with which they seek to reduce the chains of contagion by Covid -19.
“As of January 24, any traveler over 11 years old who travels to France from the European area will have the obligation to present the result of a negative PCR test, carried out in the 72 hours prior to their departure,” said the aforementioned ministry.
This new order is part of those dictated by the Administration of President Emmanuel Macron, who has insisted on asking citizens to make only trips considered essential.
On the previous day, Saturday, the curfew also came into effect, which will be maintained throughout the country from six in the afternoon to six in the morning.
To date, France accumulates 3,093,723 confirmed infections and 73,018 deaths due to the disease.
- UK detects 77 cases of South African virus variant
Matt Hancock, the Health Minister, reported this Sunday that 77 cases of the South African variant of the virus were detected in British territory and that all patients remain under clinical observation.
These cases correspond, according to the senior official, to people who entered the United Kingdom from South Africa and not to a process of local transmission of the variant.
“Right now these cases are all travel related. That is why we have strong border measures against movement from South Africa,” Hancock said.
A few weeks ago, the British Government vetoed the arrival of travelers from South Africa, after the detection of the aforementioned variant, as well as flights from Latin America, for the variant identified in Brazil, of which nine cases have been identified.
Meanwhile, the process of vaccinating citizens with antidotes created by Pfizer and AstraZeneca is progressing. However, in the last hours Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy medical director, warned that it is possible that those immunized can transmit the virus, so he insisted on respect for confinement.
“So even after you have received both doses of the vaccine, you can still transmit Covid-19 to another person and the chain of transmission will continue,” Van-Tam said.
- New Zealand reports first local contagion since November
The Government of New Zealand, one of the nations highlighted for handling the pandemic, reported the detection of a case of local contagion, the first to be registered since November 2020.
“We still do not know the origin or variant of the infection. It is important not to speculate until we have the information,” said Chris Hipkins, the minister for the response to Covid-19.
The official said that it is a 56-year-old woman, who tested positive after returning to the country from Europe and spending 14 days in quarantine in a hotel in Auckland.
The chain of contacts of the infected patient has already been established by the authorities, which specified that the woman had been in the Netherlands and in Spain before returning to New Zealand on December 30.
Despite the fact that the citizen had been negative in the tests that were carried out on January 2 and 10, at the end of the quarantine period she presented a positive result for the virus.
The last contagion to be detected in New Zealand occurred on November 18, in the country that has 2,280 infected since the beginning of the emergency.
What has been announced by the authorities to date is that its more than five million inhabitants will be vaccinated in the coming months with antidotes from AstraZeneca and Pfizer.
With EFE and Reuters
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