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Trump announces direct Iran talks, at meeting with Netanyahu
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Palestinians in West Bank strike to demand end to Gaza war
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Woods teams with Augusta National on course design, school project
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Kane in 'top three' for Ballon d'Or, says Klinsmann
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Bengaluru edge Mumbai to spoil Bumrah's return in IPL
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Medvedev battles past Khachanov at Monte Carlo
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Montpellier axe coach Gasset as Ligue 1 relegation looms
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US 'turns a blind eye', says American-Palestinian after son killed by Israel
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France, Egypt, Jordan say Palestinian Authority must head post-war Gaza
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Netanyahu meets Trump for tariff and Gaza talks
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Night at the museum: UK's National Gallery offering guest sleepover
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airBaltic CEO 'dismissed' from Latvian airline
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German police earn their stripes with zebra-loaded van stop
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'Bloodbath': Spooked Republicans warn Trump over US tariffs
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Trump vows huge new China tariffs as markets nosedive
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Belgian prince loses legal quest for social security
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Facing Trump's trade war, EU seeks to quell divisions
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France detains alleged Romanian royal wanted in home country
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Van Dijk reveals 'progress' in talks over new Liverpool contract
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Starmer unveils support for tariff-hit auto sector
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Dortmund defender Schlotterbeck ruled out for season with injury
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Arteta says Arsenal can upset Real Madrid on 'biggest night' of career
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Inter captain Martinez fined 5,000 euros for blasphemy
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Netanyahu to plead with Trump for tariff break
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EU funding of NGOs 'too opaque', auditors find amid political storm
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La Liga appeal decision allowing Barcelona's Olmo to play again
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JPMorgan Chase CEO warns tariffs will slow growth
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World sport-starved Moscow cheers Ovechkin NHL record
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Stocks sink again as Trump holds firm on tariffs
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Trump warns against 'stupid' panic as markets plummet
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Macron rejects any Hamas role in post-war Gaza
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Covid subvariants cast shadow over European summer
A resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Europe, this time driven by new, fast-spreading Omicron subvariants, is once again threatening to disrupt people's summer plans.
Several Western European nations have recently recorded their highest daily case numbers in months, due in part to Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5.
The increase in cases has spurred calls for increased vigilance across a continent that has relaxed most if not all coronavirus restrictions.
The first resurgence came in May in Portugal, where BA.5 propelled a wave that hit almost 30,000 cases a day at the beginning of June. That wave has since started to subside, however.
Italy recorded more than 62,700 cases on Tuesday, nearly doubling the number from the previous week, the health ministry said.
Germany meanwhile reported more than 122,000 cases on Tuesday.
France recorded over 95,000 cases on Tuesday, its highest daily number since late April, representing a 45-percent increase in just a week.
Cases have also surged in Britain, where there has been a seven-fold increase in Omicron reinfection, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The ONS blamed the rise on the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, but also said Covid fell to the sixth most common cause of death in May, accounting for 3.3 percent of all deaths in England and Wales.
- BA.5 'taking over' -
Mircea Sofonea, an epidemiologist at the University of Montpellier, said Covid's European summer wave could be explained by two factors.
One is declining immunity, because "the protection conferred by an infection or a vaccine dose decreases in time," he told AFP.
The other came down to the new subvariants BA.4 and particularly BA.5, which are spreading more quickly because they appear to be both more contagious and better able to escape immunity.
Olivier Schwartz, head of the virus and immunity unit at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, said BA.5 was "taking over" because it is 10 percent more contagious than BA.2.
"We are faced with a continuous evolution of the virus, which encounters people who already have antibodies -- because they have been previously infected or vaccinated -- and then must find a selective advantage to be able to sneak in," he said.
But are the new subvariants more severe?
"Based on limited data, there is no evidence of BA.4 and BA.5 being associated with increased infection severity compared to the circulating variants BA.1 and BA.2," the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said last week.
But rising cases can result in increasing hospitalisations and deaths, the ECDC warned.
Alain Fischer, who coordinates France's pandemic vaccine strategy, warned that the country's hospitalisations had begun to rise, which would likely lead to more intensive care admissions and eventually more deaths.
However, in Germany, virologist Klaus Stohr told the ZDF channel that "nothing dramatic will happen in the intensive care units in hospitals".
- Return of the mask? -
The ECDC called on European countries to "remain vigilant" by maintaining testing and surveillance systems.
"It is expected that additional booster doses will be needed for those groups most at risk of severe disease, in anticipation of future waves," it added.
Faced with rising cases, last week Italy's government chose to extend a requirement to wear medical grade FFP2 masks on public transport until September 30.
"I want to continue to recommend protecting yourself by getting a second booster shot," said Italy's Health Minister Roberto Speranza, who recently tested positive for Covid.
Fischer said France had "clearly insufficient vaccination rates" and that a second booster shot was needed.
Germany's government is waiting on expert advice on June 30 to decide whether to reimpose mandatory mask-wearing rules indoors.
The chairman of the World Medical Association, German doctor Frank Ulrich Montgomery, has recommended a "toolbox" against the Covid wave that includes mask-wearing, vaccination and limiting the number of contacts.
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V.Dantas--PC