With the introduction of curfews in certain French and Italian regions, the reconfiguration of Wales and Portuguese cities, Europe is closing in a little more on Friday October 23 in the face of the second wave of Covid-19.
Read also: Covid-19: "In the hospital, this second wave is more difficult to manage"
New curfews in France
Faced with an "
extremely high
"
circulation of the virus
in France, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced an extension of the night curfew (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.), which will affect from Saturday 54 departments, or 46 million people in Paris and in the main cities of France, that is to say two thirds of the population, for six weeks.
The health situation continues to deteriorate with 41,622 new cases of Covid-19 recorded in 24 hours, or 15,000 more than the day before, a new record.
Read also: Coronavirus: curfew extended to 38 departments, hardening expected next week ... What Castex announced
... and in three regions of Italy
Lazio, the region of Rome, and Campania, that of Naples, are establishing curfews from this Friday.
Lombardy, where Milan is located, had already implemented a similar measure on Thursday.
Wales Reconfined
The two-week re-containment of this British province comes into effect this Friday, the hardest measure introduced in the country since the first wave of Covid-19 in the spring.
More than 1.13 million dead
The pandemic has killed at least 1.13 million people worldwide since the end of December, according to an assessment established by AFP from official sources on Thursday.
More than 41.3 million cases of contamination have been diagnosed, of which nearly 28.3 million are now considered cured.
The United States is the most bereaved country with 222,965 dead, followed by Brazil (155,900 dead), India (116,616), Mexico (87,415) and the United Kingdom (44,158).
Record cases in Denmark
Denmark on Thursday recorded a record 760 new daily cases of Covid-19, as the government plans to tighten restrictions if the curve does not reverse within "
two or three days
".
In neighboring Sweden, the health authorities recorded on Thursday 1,614 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, the highest figure since June.
Remdesivir authorized in the United States
The U.S. Medicines Agency on Thursday granted permanent authorization to the antiviral drug remdesivir for hospital patients with Covid-19, confirming the conditional authorization granted in May, according to its manufacturer Gilead.
Read also: Coronavirus: confusion around the antiviral remdesivir
Limited plasma efficiency
Transfusing patients with Covid-19 with plasma (the liquid part of the blood that concentrates antibodies after an illness), taken from people who have been infected but recovered, does not reduce their chance of being seriously ill or of dying, according to one study published Friday in the medical journal BMJ.
Read also: Coronavirus: what is convalescent plasma treatment?