Covid: first lockdown for Hong Kong, mass test for 2 million people in China. Portugal interrupts flights with UK

While the China kicked off one mass screening with swabs for nearly 2 million of people, Hong Kong prepares to enter his primo lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic Covid. Looking to Europe, if in UK the number of deaths and infections slows down, for thenorthern Ireland the last week was the deadliest since the pandemic began, thanks to the spread of the English variant that worries everyone Europe. Its high contagiousness prompted the Portugal to interrupt flights with the Great Britain starting tomorrow, with the exception of those of a humanitarian nature for the repatriation of Portuguese and British citizens. A decision announced by the premier Antonio Costa after participating in the videoconference of EU leaders on the coordination of anti-Covid measures, during which the France has decided that the swab is mandatory for European citizens entering the national territory. L’Hungary, after being the promo country to approve it, instead signed an agreement to buy “Large quantities” of the Russian Covid vaccine Sputnik, which has not yet been evaluated by the European health authorities.

Hong Kong – The city, which until now had always managed to keep the spread of the virus under control with targeted closures and an effective tracking system, is now also overwhelmed by the second wave of the epidemic, with 9,797 new cases of Covid and 166 deaths registered, as data from Johns Hopkins University report. To break the news is the South China Morning Post, according to which the lockdown will start on Saturday 23 January and will be in force for at least two weeks: failure to comply with the rules will be punished with penalties.

China – The virus is also alarming China again, almost a year after entering the lockdown of Wuhan (January 23, 2021): A bulk swab cycle oorganized in Dongcheng and Xicheng districts. Numerous are circulating on Chinese social media videos with long queues made up of hundreds of people in line waiting for the test, for example in Wangfujing Street, in Dongcheng. Beijing has so far organized checks on the 1.71 million residents of the district of Daxing – who are in lockdown – and about 1.23 million of that of Shunyi, respectively south and northeast of the capital, both close to the airports. The capital, meanwhile, recorded three new cases of Covid-19 domestic transmission on Thursday, all in the residential compound of Ronghui, in Daxing. In addition, the Municipal Health Commission mentioned another asymptomatic and two imported infections.

France – The alert is maximum instead in France, where the president Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday evening, during the meeting with EU leaders, the obligation of a molecular swab for all European citizens entering the country. The test must be done 72 hours before departure or less, with the exception of so-called essential trips. In addition to the test, there is a seven-day quarantine and a second test to exit the quarantine.

northern Ireland – Moves from England tonorthern Ireland one of the main outbreaks of Covid contagions and deaths in the UK, fueled by the new, more virulent variant of the infection that manifested at full strength beyond Sleeve from December. The latest data released today by Belfast. Be London and surroundings, after more than two weeks of lockdown, there was a slow braking of the curve (despite the still very heavy situation in hospitals and in the health system, forced to set up some buses as additional super ambulances for a precautionary purpose), in northern Ireland the last week was the deadliest since the start of the pandemic, with a record of cases and a total of 156 more deaths, in the wake of similar records recorded in the neighboring Republic of Ireland. The Northern Irish local government has already decided to extend the lockdown and the same thing is expected now from Dublin.

–