Montevideo (AFP)

The Covid-19 epidemic continues to spread around the world, with Latin America and the Caribbean becoming the most bereaved region of the globe as restrictions multiply in Europe.

The pandemic has killed more than 715,000 people, infecting more than 19 million people on the planet since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December, according to a report established Friday evening by the 'AFP from official sources.

Latin America and the Caribbean deplore the highest number of deaths: at least 213,120 dead, ahead of Europe (212,660 dead), according to a report on Friday.

Over the past seven days, almost one in two deaths worldwide (44%) have occurred in Latin America. The region is also the one with the most cases of infection (more than 5.3 million), mainly in Brazil which on Friday approached the 100,000 dead mark with 2.9 million cases.

In this country, the official toll is "six to seven times lower than reality," said Domingos Alves, a Brazilian specialist in statistics related to the pandemic.

Mexico has become the third most bereaved country in the world, exceeding the mark of 50,000 dead (50,517, with 462,690 confirmed cases), a toll well above the forecasts of the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, much criticized.

Colombia, where the virus was detected in early March, crossed the 12,000 death mark on Friday.

In Cuba, which recorded its highest number of daily cases in three months, authorities again restricted the movement of vehicles and people in Havana on Friday.

- 25% of positive tests -

The United States, faced with a resurgence of the epidemic since the end of June, remains by far the country deploring the most deaths from the new coronavirus, at more than 160,000.

On Friday, they recorded 1,062 additional deaths and more than 52,000 new cases of coronavirus, according to the count Friday at 12:30 GMT Saturday) from Johns Hopkins University.

Back to school has started in several US states, including where the coronavirus is still actively circulating, and quarantines have already had to be imposed because of sick students.

In a Mississippi county that was sifted through after high school Covid-19 cases, tests returned 25% positive.

India, just three weeks after registering one million official cases, passed the two million reported case mark on Friday.

- Series restrictions -

Spain, where local quarantines are imposed in particular in the Basque Country, Catalonia and Aragon, added the city of Aranda de Duero, 32,000 inhabitants, to the list on Friday, 150 km north of Madrid.

Police controls have been installed on the outskirts of the city, which will remain under bell for at least two weeks.

"Everything is very quiet, we are a little afraid of course. Some stores are closed but in the end it almost looks like a normal day. We can see that we have a little bit of morale because we do not know what is happening. it's going to happen, "Maria José Fernandez, a 27-year-old clothes seller, told AFP.

In Germany, two schools in the north of the country had to close their doors after the appearance of cases of Covid-19 infection, just a few days after the start of the school year.

Berlin imposes from Saturday a compulsory Covid-19 test for any traveler returning from a region at risk.

In England, it is the city of Preston, in Lancashire (north-west), which will see its containment tightened because of an increase in local cases. Similar bans are maintained in parts of the North West, West Yorkshire and Leicester.

In Ireland, the inhabitants of three counties, or about 368,000 people, will be reconfigured from midnight.

Faced with maintaining travel restrictions linked to the pandemic, the European Commission on Friday called on EU member states to allow the entry into the Union of unmarried partners of European citizens and residents.

The EU also decided on Friday to remove Morocco from the list of countries exempt from travel restrictions, because of an upsurge in contamination.

In the United Kingdom, a quarantine is imposed from Saturday to visitors coming from Belgium, Andorra or the Bahamas

The rest of Africa is not spared. Senegal made the wearing of masks compulsory in covered public places, transport and markets on Friday, banning beach gatherings, weddings, baptisms and funerals.

In France, Saint-Tropez, the famous seaside city of the Côte d'Azur popular with the jet-set, requires the wearing of the mask since Saturday, facing the "significant flow of tourists".

burx-vmt / roc

© 2020 AFP