Paris (AFP)

Millions of faithful celebrate Sunday the Orthodox Easter confined and sometimes in an unprecedented way due to the pandemic of new coronavirus which has killed nearly 160,000 people worldwide, about two-thirds in Europe.

To support caregivers on the front line in this epidemic, dozens of stars, including the Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift, mobilized by giving a giant virtual concert in the night from Saturday to Sunday, followed by streaming by amateurs also confined.

The four historic members of the Rolling Stones thus played, each from their living room, their tube "You can't always get what you want", the video of each appearing on a screen divided into four, Charlie Watts improvising a battery with objects of everyday life, Mick Jagger throwing a kiss at the camera at the end.

- Easter on the balcony -

A week after the Catholics and the Protestants, it is therefore up to the Orthodox world to celebrate Easter in exceptional circumstances.

Full confinement was therefore imposed in Serbia and North Macedonia until Monday morning. In Romania, the faithful are called to celebrate Easter from their balcony, and in Greece, thousands of police supported by helicopters and drones are mobilized all Easter weekend to prevent the Greeks from leaving for the countryside as tradition dictates .

The global death toll from coronavirus victims continues to rise. According to the count made on Saturday at 19:00 GMT by AFP from data collected from the competent national authorities and WHO, since the onset of the disease in December in China, at least 157,539 people have died in the world, while the 100,000 dead mark has been crossed in Europe.

In the United States, the country most affected both in number of deaths (at least 38,664) and cases (at least 732,197), demonstrations hostile to the containment adopted in certain states, and encouraged by tweets from President Donald Trump, have had held Saturday in Texas, Maryland and New Hampshire.

- "Big risks" -

While more than half of humanity remains at home to limit the spread of Covid-19, the Republican President has openly called for defying confinement rules in states ruled by Democratic governors.

Donald Trump also hoped on Saturday that American Muslims will be held to the same standards of social distancing during Ramadan - which begins April 23 - as Christians at Easter, with a number of worshipers protesting the regulations. restrictions on gatherings due to the epidemic of new coronavirus.

The American president has again attacked China, accusing him of having "concealed" the gravity of the pandemic and of not revealing the true count of his deaths.

And he warned China: "If they were knowingly responsible, yes, then there should be consequences," he said at a White House daily press conference on Saturday.

For his part, the director of the Institute of Virology in Wuhan, the Chinese city which is the epicenter of the pandemic, categorically denied any responsibility after being singled out by American media.

With more than 190 countries and territories affected, the pandemic spread across the planet.

The threshold of 1,000 officially registered deaths has been crossed in Africa, three-quarters of which in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and South Africa

In Brazil, the health situation appears to be particularly worrying in the favelas.

"There are great risks of the virus spreading in the favela, around 40 to 50% of the tests that we do here are positive," said Tiago Vieira Koch, a clinical director who works in Rocinha, in Rio, the largest favela in Brazil.

The Brazilian president, however, repeated his opposition to confinement. "We must not be faced with this virus, we must face it with our heads held high, God is with us", launched Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday for the believers who were demonstrating against abortion in front of the presidential palace in Brasilia .

- Careful deconfinement in Europe -

In Europe, some countries have embarked on the path of cautious deconfinement, such as Austria and Denmark. Berlin has judged the pandemic now "under control" in Germany, which appears to be the largest European state to have better managed the crisis (less than 4,000 dead), thanks in particular to the extensive use of tests.

But for WHO, the pandemic is far from being stopped, with "constant or increasing figures" in eastern Europe and the United Kingdom, where the government has decided to extend the confinement "for at least three weeks".

In Spain, authorities announced on Saturday the extension until May 9 of strict containment measures.

After the United States, Italy (23,227 dead), Spain (20,043), France (19,323) and the United Kingdom (15,464) are the countries hardest hit. British statistics do not include deaths in retirement homes, estimated at 7,500.

© 2020 AFP