Washington (AFP)

More than 2,000 deaths in 24 hours in the United States, the bar of 50,000 deaths exceeded in Mexico and that of one million cases in Africa: new figures highlight the alarming progression of Covid-19 which is pushing many countries to tighten their sanitary measures.

The United States recorded 2,060 new coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday, a grim daily toll that they had not reached for three months, according to Johns Hopkins University. This rebound brings to more than 160,000 the total number of deaths from the new coronavirus in the country, by far the most affected in the world by the pandemic, ahead of Brazil.

The US authorities, however, announced Thursday the lifting of their recommendation calling on US citizens to avoid all travel abroad.

Standing out from his own, more cautious experts, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a vaccine could be produced before the US presidential election on November 3.

- "Conscience clear" -

In Brazil, where the death toll reached 98,493 on Thursday, President Jair Bolsonaro said Thursday to have "a clear conscience".

"With our means, we can really say that we have done everything possible, and even the impossible, to save lives," said the Head of State, who since the start of the epidemic has been opposed to containment and physical distancing measures and minimizes the severity of the disease.

In Mexico, the third most bereaved country in the world, the 50,000 death mark was crossed Thursday as criticism mounted over the government's management of the epidemic and economic crisis. And Argentina, where the disease has killed 4,251 people, recorded for the third consecutive day a record number of new contagions.

Eight months after the onset of the Covid-19 epidemic, Africa on Thursday crossed the threshold of one million cases of the new coronavirus, more than half of which in South Africa, according to an AFP count. The pandemic has killed more than 21,000 people on the continent, which remains the least affected in the world.

These figures are only part of the story, as many African countries with failing health systems have limited screening capacities.

- One million cases in 4 days -

Globally, more than 19 million cases have been reported in total, including one million in four days, and more than 712,000 people have died.

Faced with the continuing pandemic, many countries have implemented new containment or travel restriction measures.

In Britain, authorities have announced that travelers from Belgium, Andorra or the Bahamas arriving in England and Scotland will again be subject to quarantine from Saturday, due to a "significant increase" cases of the novel coronavirus in these countries.

Finland, one of the continent's most spared countries, announced Thursday that it was preparing new measures to respond to an accelerating epidemic.

"The situation is extremely delicate," said the strategic director of the Ministry of Health, Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, adding that a "form of second phase had started", although it was too early to speak of "second wave".

Norway has announced that it will return France to the red zone due to the resurgence of coronavirus cases, leading to a mandatory ten-day quarantine for all travelers arriving from France in the Scandinavian country.

In France, where the number of people diagnosed positive for the virus has increased by more than 30% in one week, the mask has become mandatory even outdoors in the busiest areas of cities like Toulouse or Saint-Tropez, the famous popular jet-set resort on the Côte d'Azur. It will soon be the same in Paris, while the scientific body which guides the government has deemed "highly probable that a second epidemic wave will be observed in the fall or winter".

A similar measure came into effect in Amsterdam's Red Light District and Rotterdam's shopping districts.

Ireland, for its part, has decided to postpone the last phase of its deconfinement, which includes the reopening of all pubs.

And Germany has just classified the Belgian province of Antwerp as a risk zone, with compulsory quarantine for coming travelers, unless they present a negative test.

In Spain, Catalonia continued a vast detection campaign, sometimes door-to-door, in three medium-sized towns in an attempt to curb the rise in contagions.

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© 2020 AFP