Coronavirus: US passes 25 million cases; France scrambles to avoid fresh lockdown

Stubbornly high infection rates, hospitalisations and deaths from Covid-19 have fuelled fears France may need a third nationwide lockdown

Meanwhile, Britain’s health minister warned that vaccines may be less effective against new variants and Israel included teens in inoculation drive

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Nurses care for a Covid-19 patient inside a hospital’s resuscitation unit in Colmar, eastern France. Photo: SFP

Published: 8:06pm, 24 Jan 2021Updated: 11:48pm, 24 Jan 2021

More than 25 million Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the United States since the pandemic began, Johns Hopkins University said Sunday, just days after President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

The milestone was reached only five days after the US, the world’s wealthiest and hardest-hit nation, recorded 400,000 deaths from the disease.

France introduces new border controls

New border controls went into force in France on Sunday as part of a massive effort to contain the spread of Covid-19 and avoid another nationwide lockdown.

After a slow start to vaccinations, French health authorities reported that a million people had received coronavirus inoculations by Saturday.

But stubbornly high new rates for infections, hospitalisations and deaths from Covid-19 fuelled fears France may need another full lockdown, which would be the third, inflicting yet more devastation on businesses and daily lives.

Starting on Sunday, arrivals to France from European Union countries by air or sea must be able to produce a negative PCR test result obtained in the previous 72 hours. The requirement had already applied to non-EU arrivals since mid-January.

A medical worker takes a nasal swab from a person at a Covid-19 testing centre in Nantes, France, on Friday. Photo: Reuters