Many countries are toughening their health measures in an attempt to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, which has crossed the 650,000 death mark since Monday evening.
According to the latest report on Monday, the United States remains the most bereaved country (146,968 deaths) ahead of Brazil (87,004), the United Kingdom (45,752), Mexico (43,680) and Italy (35112).
Seven months after its appearance in China in January, the virus, for which no vaccine has yet been found, continues to circulate actively, fueling fears of a second wave with potentially disastrous economic and societal challenges.
Belgium: the “contact bubble” lowered to 5 people
With a “worrying” increase in cases (especially in Antwerp), Belgium is one of the countries with the most deaths from Covid-19 compared to its population (85 per 100,000 inhabitants). Monday evening, a new tightening of measures was announced.
From Wednesday, the number of people Belgians are allowed to see closely and regularly as part of their “contact bubble” will be 15 to 5 people, per household, for the next four weeks.
Belgians are also invited to do their shopping alone and limit them to 30 minutes.
Germany: screening for “at risk” travelers
In Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn for his part announced that he would impose screening tests on travelers returning from risk regions. Currently, 130 regions are on the list of “high risk” areas.
Germany has recorded more than 206,000 cases of the new coronavirus. German authorities managed to keep the death toll relatively low with just over 9,200 people dead.
Great Britain: quarantine for travelers from Spain
As for Great Britain, since Sunday it has been subjecting passengers from Spain, the world's second largest tourist destination behind France, to a period of isolation, a measure criticized by Madrid which retaliated by ensuring it was a "safe country" .
France: places of gatherings closed
Also worried about a rebound in contaminations, the French authorities for their part ordered the closure of meeting places such as beaches, parks and public gardens at night in the tourist town of Quiberon, on the Atlantic coast.
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According to the report established Monday evening by the Directorate General of Health (DGS), the epidemic has killed 17 additional people since Friday in France and the circulation of the virus remains "sustained".
Bolivia: "a public calamity"
In South America, where the picture of the epidemic remains bleak, Bolivia declared Monday the state of "public calamity" throughout the country. Bolivia's interim president, Jeanine Anez, announced on Monday that she had recovered from an asymptomatic form of the new coronavirus and was able to return to work.
The Bolivian Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) has postponed general elections initially scheduled for September 6 until October 18.
Hong Kong: wearing a mask is compulsory
Wearing a mask in public has meanwhile become mandatory in Hong Kong, where public gatherings of more than two people will be banned.
While the semi-autonomous region of southern China had managed to contain the epidemic, the number of cases has started to rise again since the beginning of the month. A thousand infections have been confirmed in the past two weeks, or more than 40% of the total recorded since the arrival of the epidemic in January.
Morocco: severe travel restrictions
In Morocco, the government's flash decision to introduce severe travel restrictions on Sunday evening in the face of the risk of the spread of the coronavirus, caused scenes of chaos.
"I understand that everyone is angry but we have no choice: the epidemiological situation in Morocco is worrying with an increase in the number of deaths and serious cases", explained Monday the Minister of Health, Khalid Ait Taleb.
Local reconfinement in Algeria and Venezuela
Other countries such as Venezuela and Algeria have decided to renew local containment measures.
The Algerian government decided on Sunday evening to renew confinement for 15 days in most of the country. Partial home confinement from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., in force in 29 of the 48 wilayas (prefectures) of the country, is renewed for 15 days from Tuesday, according to an official statement.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro also extended severe containment measures in Caracas and six states on Sunday to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, with restrictions in the rest of the country remaining more flexible.