The remarks that led to a fresh suspension of sittings in the assembly, where the government is struggling to adopt a text establishing a vaccine pass to fight against Covid-19.

– Hong Kong closed to 8 countries –

Hong Kong on Wednesday banned all arrivals of air travelers from eight countries, including France, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Other measures announced include a ban on large-scale public events and the closure of 15 types of businesses, including bars, nightclubs, gyms and beauty salons.

– State of emergency in several French overseas territories –

The French government has declared a state of health emergency in Guadeloupe, Guyana, Mayotte, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, overseas territories where “under the influence of the Omicron version, the prevalence of Covid-19 is experiencing a significant increase, “According to a decree presented to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.

The text states that “Given the hospital capacity of these regions and the vaccination coverage of their populations, the current pandemic wave of COVID-19 constitutes a health catastrophe that threatens the health of the population (.. .)”.

– Zhengzhou: 13 million residents screened –

In China, the city of Zhengzhou (centre) on Wednesday began screening some of its 13 million residents after some cases of Covid and the limited metropolis of Xi’an, for its part, announced “containment” of a recent focus of infections.

While the number of new patients in the country since March 2020 (between 100 and 200) was not seen in recent weeks, the health ministry on Wednesday announced only 91 new cases.

– Djokovic: A disgrace that makes people drowsy –

The medical exemption granted to Novak Djokovic to participate in the Australian Open tennis tournament (January 17-30) provoked outrageous reactions in the country, where the prime minister threatened to return the Serb “by plane first” if it The discount was not justified.

Quiet on the status of his vaccinations, the world No 1 had, for months, cast doubt on his participation in the year’s first Grand Slam, as players were forced to be vaccinated against Covid-19 upon entering Australia Was. ,

– Record of contamination in Israel –

Israel announced on Wednesday that it had recorded nearly 12,000 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, a new record for contamination since the start of the pandemic.

– Third wave in Peru –

Peru is facing a third wave of COVID-19 after the government announced an increase in contamination linked to year-end celebrations.

“During the month of December, coronavirus cases in Lima doubled and increased by more than 50% nationally,” the health minister indicated, in a move the council of ministers should propose on Wednesday to adopt the new restrictions.

– Louvre Museum: attendance down significantly –

Despite a clear recovery at the end of the year, the Louvre Museum has seen its attendance again affected in 2021, with a decline of 70% compared to 2019, according to data announced on Wednesday.

Closed from 1 January to 19 May 2021 due to the health crisis, the world’s largest museum welcomed 2.8 million visitors, 100,000 more than in 2020.

– Over 5.45 million deaths

The pandemic has killed at least 5,456,207 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to an assessment established by AFP at 11:00 GMT on Wednesday from official sources.

In absolute terms, the United States is the most bereaved country with 830,284 dead, followed by Brazil (619,384), India (482,551) and Russia (313,015).

The World Health Organization estimates, taking into account the additional mortality rates directly and indirectly linked to COVID-19, that the number of pandemics could be two to three times higher than officially recorded.

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