“Will hug everyone who can” Most Britons will be free to hug, albeit with caution, have a few beers in pubs, sit down to eat in restaurants or visit the cinema after a series of strict lockdowns. Britain’s biggest public health crisis in a century has brought parties, gatherings and religious services to a halt, with fines of up to £10,000 ($14,000) for violators. The UK has begun to relax the anti-epidemic restrictions. (Photo: Reuters) British actress Joanna Lumley told The Telegraph: “I’ll literally hug everyone I can.” However, besides the excitement, there is also anxiety. Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned people to be cautious and suggested that the spread of the variant first identified in India meant the final reopening in the UK in June could be delayed. “Together, we have reached another important milestone in our path out of lockdown, but this next step must be taken with extreme caution.” he said. There is growing concern about the B.1.617.2 variant, which British scientific advisers say will become the dominant variant in the country, more contagious than B.1.1.7. From May 17 in the UK, gatherings of up to 30 people will be allowed outdoors, two families will be allowed to meet indoors; cafes, bars and restaurants will reopen for indoor service; nursing home residents will be allowed five visitors; and the use of masks will no longer be compulsory in schools. Clare Smyth, head chef of Core restaurant in London, who won her third Michelin star in January, said: “It’s been a long time.” Restrictions will be eased to varying degrees in different regions. The UK death toll from COVID-19 is 127,679 – the highest in Europe and the fifth highest in the world, behind the US, Brazil, India and Mexico, according to Johns Hopkins University. The UK economy last year suffered its worst contraction in three centuries. The government spends hundreds of billions of pounds saving jobs and companies. France opens the door cautiously Meanwhile, with vaccination being accelerated and the number of cases falling, the French are waiting for the anti-epidemic restrictions to be eased on April 19. Groups of up to six people will be able to dine together as restaurants with outdoor spaces open at 50% capacity, people get access to museums, theaters and cinemas, while curfews are in will be rescheduled from 7pm to 9pm. Locations in France will be opened to operate at partial capacity. (Photo: The Connexion) This is the latest step in a gradual reopening plan in France, starting with allowing travel between regions from the beginning of May. Public health official Jerome Salomon told JDD Sunday: “Continued social contact is one of the factors that make up public health” However, some restaurant owners are complaining about serving limits, especially in light of the risk of rain in May. “Imagine you restarting the whole machine, creating a new menu, bringing all the staff back, but then you have to destroy everything and throw away your merchandise because it rains.” Chef Philippe Etchebest told JDD. Furthermore, less than half of restaurants across France have outdoor dining spaces, he said. Movie theaters can open at up to 35% capacity. Museums, theatres, zoos, libraries and all shops will be allowed to reopen at partial capacity. In France, 20.3 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine to date, and 8.8 million have received both doses. The government aims to hit the first 30 million doses by mid-June and is currently rescheduling injection appointments for people over 50 to anyone over 18. However, President Emmanuel Macron warned that if infections flare up again, the government could “emergency brake” on reopening.

According to the Reuters , OkCupid will join many major online dating platforms such as Tinder, Match and Bumble to participate in the US government’s vaccination incentive program. This is the latest effort by the Biden administration to attract young people to get the Covid-19 vaccine, thereby achieving at least one shot of the vaccine for 70% of Americans by July 4. A user opens the Tinder dating app. Photo: Reuters. “(People who have been vaccinated) will have their own certification badge, have a filter to find people who have been vaccinated, and can use many exclusive functions for free,” Mr. Slavitt said. Shar Dubey, CEO of Match Group, which owns dating apps like Tinder and OkCupid, said she feels “honored to work with the White House to increase vaccination rates across America”. “(Immunization) will help people meet face-to-face and interact in meaningful ways. It also makes dating safer for everyone and anywhere,” added Ms. Dubey. Last week, the White House also teamed up with two ride-hailing apps, Lyft and Uber, to provide free rides to people getting vaccinated against Covid-19. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the US currently has more than 33 million cases and nearly 590,000 deaths from Covid-19. The country has fully vaccinated nearly 39% of the population, or about 128 million people.

The country also vowed to make more efforts to promote the shift from pursuing quantity to improving quality in intellectual property work in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25). Mark Snyder, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of the US chip corporation Qualcomm, said that China has made remarkable achievements in strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights. In recent years, the National Intellectual Property Office of China reviews more than 1 million patent applications each year and issues more than 500,000 of them. This is also the highest number in the world. “The large number of intellectual property filings and cases handled by both the administrative authorities and the intellectual property courts in China is concrete evidence of society’s confidence in the effectiveness of the government’s policies. policies and reform measures taken by the Chinese government on intellectual property. These achievements are also evidence of an unprecedented accumulation of specialized knowledge and experience in the field of intellectual property.” Mark Snyder said. China is also the global leader in the number of international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) system. In 2020, China is the country using this system the most, with nearly 69,000 applications. By filing an international patent application under the PCT, an applicant can claim protection for inventions in a large number of countries. Illustration Specifically, 3 Chinese companies have entered the list of top 10 patent filing companies at PCT. Huawei Technologies Co topped the list, while Chinese display maker BOE Technology Group Co and smartphone maker Oppo ranked seventh and eighth respectively. Jason Ding, head of Huawei’s IPR division, said the company has become one of the world’s largest patent holders thanks to its investment in innovation. By the end of 2020, Huawei held more than 100,000 active patents worldwide. The latest report from German patent analysis firm IPlytics shows that Huawei accounts for 15.39% of global 5G patents or a collection of patent applications that include the same technical content or similarly, as of February 1, this is the highest number in the world. Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE ranked 3rd with 9.81% and Oppo ranked 9th with 3.47%. Feng Ying, Oppo’s Senior Director of Intellectual Property, said that the company will invest more resources in R&D through innovation. Such advancements will certainly impact the overall economic landscape in China. Official data shows that the number of invention patents in China reached a ratio of 15.8 per 10,000 people by the end of 2020, exceeding the target set for the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020). Shen Changyu, head of the National Intellectual Property Administration of China, said that China will further improve the funding and reward policies for patents, and protect and encourage patents. high value institution during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. According to data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in March 2021, Chinese universities have risen significantly in global rankings of patent applications. In 2020, there were 9/20 top Chinese educational institutions on the WIPO list, an increase of 6 since 2017, extending China’s lead over the US in the number of applications. patent signing. In particular, Shenzhen University, a school only 38 years old but filed the third highest number of international patents in the world in 2020, just behind the University of California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT). WIPO data also shows that the institution’s 252 patent applications are more than Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University combined. Chinese schools and businesses are working to file more international patents as part of the world’s second economy’s ambitions to achieve technological innovation and self-reliance in the face of stress. increasingly direct from the West.