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Day: 27 January 2021

New Covid fatality recorded

by: Cassandra Tanti
27/01/2021

The death of a 76-year-old on Wednesday marks the Principality’s 10th Covid-19 victim since the pandemic began.
Wednesday 27th January saw an additional 14 positive cases of coronavirus in Monaco, bringing the total to 1,413.
In communicating Monaco’s daily Covid count, the government revealed that a 76-year-old patient of the Princess Grace Hospital Centre who had tested positive for coronavirus had died. It is the 10th death of a Monaco resident linked to Covid since the start of the pandemic – seven of these deaths have been recorded within the first month of 2021.
There are currently eight people in intensive care, three of whom are residents. In addition, there are 43 people hospitalised in Monaco, and 27 of these are residents of the Principality.
Meanwhile, 152 people who tested positive with Covid and are experiencing mild symptoms are being followed in self-isolation by the Home Monitoring Centre.
An additional 20 recoveries brings that total figure to 1,180.
 
 

Subdued Saint Devote celebrations

by: Stephanie Horsman
27/01/2021

Prince Albert, Princess Charlene and their twins have celebrated Saint Devote, Monaco’s patron saint, amid strict health measures that prohibited the usual crowds from attending the event.

Monaco’s patron saint, Saint Devote, is celebrated each year on 26th and 27th January, and despite restrictions in place that did not allow for the normal festivities, her memory was nonetheless commemorated in style in 2021.

The Princely family, together with the clergy, certain high ranking government officials and a select few citizens, some of whom played active roles in the event, honoured the 4th century martyr with the traditional boat burning ritual and a mass in her namesake church.

Photo by Michael Alesi, Government Communications Department

Saint Devote was an early Christian from Corsica who was brutally tortured and killed for her faith. After her death, her body was ordered to be burned to prevent anyone venerating her, however this burning never occurred. Instead, she was secreted away by other Christians and placed in a boat for Africa.

A storm blew the boat off course, and instead of Africa, it landed in Monaco.

“According to legend, a dove came out of the mouth of Sainte Dévote and said to the sailors, ‘Follow it and it will guide you to the Vallon des Gaumates’,” explains Stephan Maggi, professor of Monegasque history.

Since 1874, it has been a custom in the Principality on the night before her saint’s day for a boat to enter Monaco’s port, in honour of the day her lifeless body was brought to the shores of Monaco, where it is transferred to the square in front of her namesake church and lit on fire. Afterward a fireworks display in Port Hercule usually follows.

The fireworks did not take place this year, nor were the public allowed to attend the moment when the symbolic boat glided into Monaco preceding the traditional boat burning, though a limited processional, lead by Archbishop Dominique-Marie David, did take place.

 
Top photo by Michael Alesi, Government Communications Department 
 
 

Rare defeat for Roca Team

by: Stephanie Horsman
27/01/2021

AS Monaco Basketball suffered a disappointing 72 to 79 loss on Wednesday night against Spain’s Joventut Badalone in the Euro Cup 7 Top 16 playoffs.  

When the two titans of a group go head to head, sparks are bound to fly. This was indeed the case when AS Monaco Basketball took to the court at an away game Wednesday against Joventut Badalone. Both the Monegasques and the Catalonians came out swinging and didn’t stop until the final buzzer.

The opening score was a magnificent three-pointer by Monaco and from there it is was a game of back and forth. The first quarter was all about the Red and Whites and the second was more for the opponents, mainly due to Badalone’s Macedonian powerhouse, Nedad Dimitrijevic, though Monaco did regain some points putting them within two points.

The team struggled in the third quarter, but saw some impressive shots made by Mathias Lessort JJ O’Brien and a Marcos Knight alley-oop. The deficit was felt by the lack of points scored by Captain Dee Bost, who only had two points on the entire night, a rare occurrence.

The Roca Team, whilst never too far behind, were simply unable to surpass the Catalonians. In the end, the score was 72 to 79, dropping them out of the Top 16 for the first time.

Marcos Knight was top scorer with 17 points, Rob Gray had 14 and Abdoulaye Ndoye came in with 13. The team made 26 shots out of 67 attempts and five out of 16 three-pointers.

“The Joventut deserved their victory. Badalone has a lot of size, we fought energetically to compete. They had open shots and they put them in,” said Coach Mitrovic after the match.

Roca Team has a shot at revenge when they face off against Badalone again on 2nd February on their home turf at Salle Gaston Medecin.

 
(By Monaco Life with AS Monaco Basketball press release, photo by AS Monaco Basketball)
 
 

Top-tier property market remains strong

by: Cassandra Tanti
27/01/2021

New research has shown that the French Riviera and Monaco rank highest for the most expensive properties above €3.4 million, confirming it as the most prestigious property pocket in the global market.
Research by high net worth mortgage broker Enness Global has looked at the current cost of purchasing in the global prime market, across the world’s most sought after property playgrounds of the super-wealthy.
Enness analysed data from over 35,000 current property listings at €3.4 million and above to reveal the average cost of a property purchase in 17 of the go-to destinations for high net worth (HNW) homebuyers in the current market.
The research shows that the French Riviera is currently the most premier property destination in the global prime market, with the average high-end property for sale in the Côte d’Azur currently worth just shy of €21.4 million.
Monaco comes in second with an average asking price for top-tier property of €16.5m. It’s also the only other premier property destination where property values currently sit comfortably above the eight-figure price threshold.
“Reputation is everything when it comes to the property preferences of the super-wealthy and they don’t get much stronger than the Côte d’Azur and Monaco,” said Managing Director of Enness Global Mortgages, Hugh Wade-Jones. “This reputational strength has resulted in a sustained level of demand from high net worth homebuyers and properties in both locations remain some of the most sought after in the world. As a result, asking prices remain robust despite the wider turbulence caused by Covid.”
Mallorca (€10.8m), Barbados €10.7m and Tuscany (€10m) are also home to some of the highest average asking prices in the €3.4m+ market, as well as the French Alps (€9.6m), Ibiza (€9.2m) and Valais (€8.9m).
Dubai joins Monaco in the top 10 as the only other prime global city destination with an average property price of €8.4m, while the Maldives (€8.3m) completes the top 10.
In contrast, the Loire Valley provides the most affordable option for global HNW homebuyers at present, with the average price of property in the region coming in at €3.6m in the current market.
 
 
 

EU fossil fuel phase out reaches new high

by: Cassandra Tanti
27/01/2021

It’s official. Renewables have overtaken fossil fuels as the European Union’s main source of electricity as new projects came online in 2020 and coal-power shrank.
A report by think tanks Ember and Agora Energiewende shows that renewable sources such as wind and solar generated 38% percent of the 27-member state bloc’s electricity in 2020, with fossil fuels such as coal and gas contributing 37%.
Denmark achieved the highest proportion of wind and solar power, which contributed 61% of its electricity needs in 2020. Ireland achieved 35% and Germany 33%.
Countries with the lowest share of renewables, below 5%, were Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the data released on Monday showed.
Curbs on homes and business designed to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus led to a 4% drop in overall electricity demand in the EU last year, but the impact was felt more keenly by fossil fuel producers.
Coal-fired power generation fell 20% in 2020 and has halved since 2015, according to the report.
“Coal generation fell in almost every country, continuing coal’s collapse that was well in place before Covid-19,” it said.
Many European countries are phasing out polluting coal-plants in order to meet emission reduction targets, but low electricity prices amid the pandemic lockdowns also made some coal plants unprofitable to run compared with cheaper renewable generation.
“Renewables will keep rising, because we keep installing more and more. The jury’s out as to whether fossil fuels will rebound but if they do rebound it’s not expected to be by a lot,” Dave Jones, Ember’s senior electricity analyst said.
 
(Monaco Life with Reuters, photo source: Pixabay)
 
 

Experts say deaths not directly linked to vaccine

by: Stephanie Horsman
27/01/2021

French health agencies say that data on the safety of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is “reassuring” and the deaths of nine elderly patients after receiving the jab is likely a case of poor timing.

The safety of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccination has come under scrutiny after the deaths of nine elderly patients in France.

Preliminary reports made by the Regional Pharmacovigilance Centres (CRPV) of Bordeaux and Marseille and the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) have concluded that the deceased, all of whom were over 75 years of age, living in care homes and suffering from serious underlying conditions, were most likely cases of poor timing.

“In view of the information available to us to date, there is nothing to conclude that these deaths are linked to vaccination. These were elderly people residing in nursing homes or in old age residences, all of whom had chronic diseases and heavy treatments,” says the ANSM.

To further allay fears, the ANMS stated that of the 388,730 people who had been given the vaccine during an observation period spanning from 27th December to 19th January, there have been 144 instances of side effects in any form.

“The majority of the effects correspond to expected or non-serious adverse effects, in particular to reactogenicity effects such as, for example, fever, headaches and nausea,” they said in a report published on 22nd January.

Amongst those who had side effects, there were 31 who had what were considered “serious adverse effects”, including two with anaphylactic shock and four with tachycardia, though the data on the latter is not yet concluded to be associated with the inoculation.

As of now, no adverse reactions have been linked to the Moderna jab.

 
 

Photo source: Unsplash