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The British strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is spreading relentlessly around the world and is a cause for concern. Melbourne is in quarantine during the Australian Open.
The tennis tournament will continue, but without spectators. In Europe, the Portuguese parliament voted to extend the state of emergency, allowing the government to maintain nationwide lockdown measures, at least until the end of the month.
The president of Portugal has warned that it is not ruled out to maintain the restrictions until Easter.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, președintele Portugaliei: “We have to get out of spring without waiting for another summer and a threatened fall, in terms of loss of life, health, economy and society. We need to make sure that Easter, in early April, is not the cause of other months with a situation similar to that of recent weeks. “
Fears of a pandemic resurgence persist in Portugal, although the pressure on hospitals has eased. The Health Ministry reported the fewest number of hospitalized patients – since January 20 and the fewest in intensive care patients – in the last two weeks.
Fernando Maltez, head of the infectious diseases department: “Different strains of the virus are spreading. More are expected to appear, but some of those that already exist are problematic, much more transmissible. We can be excited that we have a decrease in the number of hospitalizations, they are good indicators, but we cannot relax. The problem is not solved. “
Portugal still holds a tragic world record: it has the highest daily average of COVID-associated deaths for a week, at more than 2,000 percent.
The threat of new virus strains is also felt across the ocean.
Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director:“The continued proliferation of variants continues to be of great concern and is a threat that may reverse the recent positive trends we have witnessed.”
The British strain will spread and could become dominant around the world, according to a UK public health official. However, there are good signs regarding vaccination.
Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s Medical Director: “According to estimates based on mathematical models, the British version will be dominant in our country from the end of March. However, the vaccines we have now also seem quite good in this situation.”
In the United States, the average daily dose of COVID vaccines over the past week has been nearly 1.6 million doses.
By contrast, the Australian state of Victoria enters the lockdown, for the third time, in an attempt to suppress an outbreak of infection, also with the British version of SARS-CoV-2.
The restrictions will be in effect for five days, from midnight until next Wednesday. The government has announced that the Australian Open tennis tournament will continue in Melbourne, the state capital. Starting tomorrow, however, without spectators. Those who had tickets will get their money back.
