While most countries of the world began the process of deconfining their populations in May and June, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread. Tuesday, July 7, the global toll was 538,057 dead and 11,620,000 confirmed cases, including Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Faced with a sometimes very rapid rebound in contamination, the authorities have decided in several countries to reintroduce containment or health protection measures for citizens, often located.

Twenty countries around the world have implemented local containment measures after a rebound in Covid-19 contamination. © France 24 infographic

  • Europe

Spain: Catalonia on Saturday 4 July ordered the confinement for two weeks of an area comprising some 200,000 inhabitants around Lerida. The leader of the region, Quim Torra, announced the obligation to wear the mask from Thursday, even if the rules of social distancing were respected. The Spanish authorities say they are "very concerned" about this region. In Galicia, in the northeast of the country, the local government imposed new restrictions on 70,000 people on Sunday for at least five days. No strict confinement, at home, is currently imposed in the two regions, but the freedom of movement of the inhabitants is limited.

>> Read: Catalonia, Galicia, Valencia: Spain is reconfiguring and monitoring other clusters

Portugal: The approximately 700,000 inhabitants of around twenty peripheral districts of the capital, Lisbon, were forced on July 1 and for at least two weeks a new home confinement. The number of new cases in Portugal, which had so far been relatively spared from the pandemic, increased by a third in June compared to May.

United Kingdom: The British government announced, on June 29, a tightening of the containment of the city center and part of the districts of Leicester, in the center of England. No less than 10% of all new cases detected in the country were detected in this city. Non-essential stores have had to close again and schools will be closed for at least two weeks.

United Kingdom: tightening of containment in Leicester after an outbreak of Covid-19 © Screenshot France 24

UK: tightening of containment in Leicester after an outbreak of Covid-19

Germany: The neighboring cantons of Gütersloh and Warendorf, in North Rhine-Westphalia, in the West, underwent a week-long reconfiguration on June 23, affecting more than 600,000 people. In Gütersloh the measures were extended until July 7.

Italy: In Mandragona, a town north of Naples, the 700 residents of a building complex have been confined since June 22, after the discovery of 43 cases of contamination among them. They are mainly Bulgarians employed in the agricultural sector, who illegally occupied the premises.

Ukraine: As of June 19, strict containment measures were reintroduced in the country, which suffered a sharp increase in the number of Covid-19 contaminations. The western regions, bordering Poland, are the most affected.

Serbia: President Aleksandar Vucic announced Tuesday (July 7) a new curfew over the weekend due to an alarming rebound in the coronavirus pandemic, with a record number of deaths in a single day. The situation is particularly worrying in the capital Belgrade.

Kosovo: The government reinstated a curfew on Monday, July 6, in the capital Pristina and three other cities in the country to respond to a spate of Covid-19 cases.

Switzerland: Since July 6, the Swiss have had the obligation to wear a mask in all public transport, a first across the country since the beginning of the epidemic. Following successive relaxations, the number of people detected positive for coronavirus has started to rise in the Confederation since mid-June.

>> Read: France, Germany, United Kingdom ... Europe facing the threat of a second wave of Covid-19

  • Asia

India: The state of Tamil Nadu, in the South, ordered the reconfiguration from June 19, and until the end of the month, of the agglomeration of Chennai. This measure affected around 15 million people. According to the Ministry of Health, nearly 700,000 cases of infection with the new coronavirus have been recorded since the start of the pandemic in India, for 19,963 deaths. The government is concerned that half a million people will be infected by the end of July.

China: Wuhan, the cradle of the epidemic, was deconfigured in early April, but the town hall immediately reimposed confinement to 70 of the city's 7,000 residential districts. In Beijing, a new outbreak of the virus detected around the Xinfadi market in June had led to the confinement of several residential areas, which was gradually lifted.

Azerbaijan: The small Caspian country imposed a new strict confinement of its population from June 22 after a jump in coronavirus infections, until August 1.

  • Americas

United States: Several states have backtracked in recent days, after easing, or paused in their deconfinement process, including the closing of bars in California, Texas and Florida, as well as beach closings in California and Florida. The resumption of the Covid-19 epidemic forced the governor of Arizona to announce Monday, June 29, the closing of bars, nightclubs, gymnastics clubs and water parks for a period of 30 days. Schools will also not reopen until August 17, two weeks after the scheduled date.

Argentina: The capital Buenos Aires and its metropolitan region, where 14 million people live and where more than 90% of contamination cases are concentrated, was again placed in strict confinement from 1 to 17 July in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. Argentina recorded Monday, July 6, 75 deaths from Covid-19, a daily record since the start of the pandemic, which left 1,582 dead in the country for 80,434 cases.

Covid-19 in Argentina: a worrying situation in the poorest neighborhoods

Panama: Since June 8, this Central American country has implemented traffic restrictions in the capital Panama and in a neighboring province.

French Guiana: On June 25, the prefecture decided to close all bars and restaurants, target containment of around 20 new districts, and tighten the curfew. The epidemic continues to spread in this French territory of 290,000 inhabitants bordering Brazil. The peak of the epidemic is not expected before mid-July.

>> Watch the special program: Covid-19, a Latin pandemic, reports across the South American continent

  • Oceania

Australia: More than five million people were ordered to stay confined to Melbourne, the country's second largest city, on Tuesday July 7, which reported 191 new cases in 24 hours. The measure took effect from midnight, Wednesday through Thursday, for a period of at least six weeks.

  • Middle East

Israel: The government decided on Monday July 6 to order the immediate closure of bars, nightclubs, party rooms and sports centers to stem the resumption of the Covid-19 epidemic, while restaurants can only accommodate 20 people, against 30 previously.

>> Read: Israel partially reconfigures after rising infections

West Bank: The Palestinian Authority has decided to close off the areas it governs in the territory from July 3 to 12. This decision has no effect on parties under Israeli control.

  • Africa

Madagascar: The presidency announced on July 5 that the capital Antananarivo was again placed in containment from Monday until July 20. Accustomed to counting dozens of cases of coronavirus per day, the Malagasy health authority reported hundreds of cases daily for three days, including 216 for Saturday, a record for the country.

With AFP

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