A year after a weekend of confined holidays, many countries are preparing to spend, once again, Easter under the pressure of the virus and its procession of restrictions.
For the Easter weekend, which is usually the occasion for family reunions in the country, all of Italy will be classified in the “red” zone (high risk of contagion and maximum restrictions). And it is in front of a deserted square that Pope Francis presided on Friday evening, in Saint Peter’s Square, his second Stations of the Cross in a row without an audience because of the Covid-19, but with the participation of Italian children. .
In the rest of Europe, residents of Vienna, the Austrian capital, and its region are invited to stay at home, from Thursday until April 6. The rest of Europe is stepping up measures to try to limit the spread of the virus, in particular concerning travel: Germany will thus strengthen for “Next eight to fourteen days” controls around its land borders.
In the Middle East, Lebanon will be completely confined from Saturday to Tuesday morning, in order to avoid a new upsurge in Covid-19 cases during Catholic Easter. In contrast, in deconfined Jerusalem, Christians have the feeling of “Relive” for Easter: hundreds of faithful walked the cobblestones of the Old City on the occasion of Good Friday commemorating the crucifixion of Christ. “It’s so, so much better than last year”, breathes Angèle Pernecita, a home help who has lived in Israel for more than 10 years and has followed the Easter Masses 2020 on the Internet.
-
Alarming situation in Brazil
In Canada – which has had approximately 23,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic – the two most populous provinces, Ontario and Quebec, are toughening the measures taken to slow the spread of the virus from Saturday. The “Emergency brake” is on for at least four weeks in Ontario, where gatherings should be avoided over Easter weekend. Quebec is establishing confinement in several regions, in addition to maintaining a night curfew since early January. Further south, Peru also entered national containment for at least four days, as of Thursday.
The pandemic has killed a total of more than 2,829,000 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report drawn up by Agence France-Presse on Friday. The situation is particularly alarming in Latin America, which crossed the threshold of 25 million reported cases of Covid-19 on Friday, leading several countries to further tighten restrictions.
The epidemic appears particularly uncontrollable in Brazil: the giant of 212 million inhabitants recorded more than 66,000 deaths in March, twice as many as in July 2020, the worst month so far. The city of Rio de Janeiro announced on Friday an extension of certain restrictions against Covid-19. Only schools will resume face-to-face on Tuesday. Non-essential shops, bars, restaurants, cinemas and museums will only reopen in a week with reduced hours, while beaches will not be free to access until April 19. In Sao Paulo, one of the hardest-hit Brazilian states, cemeteries are now open at night, due to the record number of deaths.
-
One in five adults in the United States is fully vaccinated
In the United States, where more than 100 million people have received at least one injection of the Covid-19 vaccine during a drastic campaign, President Joe Biden greeted a breath “Hope”, while calling not to ” Lower the guards “ facing the Covid-19. The country is in a race against time to immunize its population as quickly as possible, as the number of daily cases begins to rise.
Of the 100 million people who have received at least one dose in the United States, nearly 58 million – about one in five adults – are fully vaccinated, that is, have received the necessary injection or two, according to vaccine used. The latter can once again travel safely, US health authorities said on Friday, but they will have to continue to take precautions when traveling, by wearing a mask and respecting physical distancing.
Thanks to the spring holidays, travel has already strongly resumed in the country. More than 1.5 million daily passengers have been re-checked at US airports several times in the past two weeks, a level that had not been reached for more than a year.
–
