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Tuesday, February 11, 2025
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France PM: Lockdown saved 62,000 lives

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Daily US Times: Prime Minister of France Édouard Philippe says the country’s lockdown measures in place have saved 62,000 lives over the space of a month, but its time to ease the lockdown.

He is currently outlining the government’s plan to gradually ease the restrictions from 11 May. The plan will later be voted on by lawmakers.

France has recorded nearly 23,300 coronavirus related deaths, along with 165,842 confirmed cases.

It was time to explain to the country how the lockdown would gradually be eased, he said while speaking in parliament.

Mr Philippe said citizens will have to learn to live with the virus and to protect themselves.

Meanwhile, global virus cases pass 3 million, with more than 200,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University

Portugal following France

Portugal joined the list of countries that are their way to back their countries into normal. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has announced that the country’s state of emergency will end on Sunday 2 May.

He cautioned this was not the end of the national outbreak, he said on Tuesday and stressed that reopening of the economy would be a slow and gradual process.

The President said at a news conference: “What matters in this new phase is that the Portuguese know that containment remains important so we must take small steps and constantly evaluate (the situation).”

Portugal has recorded 948 coronavirus deaths with 24,322 cases.

A state of emergency has been in place since 18 March, with people told to stay home and travel restricted.

New record for Russian infections

The total of new coronavirus infections in Russia has officially overtaken the totals for Iran and China.

Russian government reported a record daily rise in new cases on Tuesday – 6,411 – bringing the total to 93,558 and deaths rose to 867. Moscow has the most cases, compared with other Russian regions.

Deaths are still far below those for the worst-hit countries, such as Italy and the United States, but Russia’s numbers are rising daily.

Some medics do not believe the official data and are naming fellow medics they say have died from Covid-19. Dr Vladimir Budiansky has posted 72 names so far on Facebook.

Open Media, an opposition website, reports that dozens of nurses have quit a Moscow hospital – Kommunarka – where allegedly they were underpaid and lacking necessary protective kit. The management disputes their claims.

You may read: How India will play a major role in a Covid-19 vaccine

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