London (AFP)

More than 750,000 people have now succumbed to Covid-19 worldwide and the efforts to contain the pandemic are causing diplomatic tensions between France and the United Kingdom, at the risk of causing traffic jams at the borders.

In the United States, the ultra-sensitive issue of wearing a mask returned to center stage on Thursday with Democratic candidate Joe Biden's call to impose it across the country, an idea immediately swept away by his Republican rival Donald Trump, who accused him of wanting to "lock all Americans in their basements for months."

The United States remains the most bereaved country (166,038 deaths), ahead of Brazil (105,463 dead), Mexico (55,293) and India (47,033).

In total, the pandemic has already claimed 750,471 lives worldwide for a total of almost 20.7 million officially recorded cases of contamination.

The number of deaths due to Covid-19 has doubled since June 2 and more than 100,000 new deaths have been recorded in 17 days, since July 26.

In Europe, the number of cases has been rising in recent weeks but - at least for now, not the number of deaths, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

"If you (...) stop the pressure on the virus, then it will come back," warned Richard Peabody, the epidemiologist who heads the team responsible for high-risk pathogens at the European branch of the WHO, Thursday.

- Exodus of tourists -

In Europe, a decision by the British government to impose a two-week quarantine on travelers from several countries and territories has provoked a diplomatic spat with France.

"Statistics show that we must remove France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta (...) from our list of travel corridors to keep infection rates down," Transport Minister Grant said. Shapps on Twitter.

"If you arrive in the UK from any of these destinations after 4:00 am Saturday, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days," he said.

Paris reacted strongly. This is "a British decision that we regret and which will lead to a measure of reciprocity, hoping for a return to normal as soon as possible", tweeted the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune.

This measure should also hit hard the many Britons currently on vacation in France or in the other European countries concerned, and could cause an exodus of holidaymakers wishing to escape this constraint on their return. It is estimated that around half a million Britons are currently on vacation in France.

It comes as the monitoring indicators for the Covid-19 epidemic in France "continue to deteriorate", the Directorate General of Health said Thursday, with a number of new confirmed cases which "is increasing regularly". Over the past 24 hours, 2,669 new cases have been detected, she noted in her daily update.

The virus strikes almost everywhere: several cases have been detected at Galeries Lafayette, a temple of shopping in Paris, but also in a detention center in central France or in a mythical café in the famous seaside resort of Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera.

The Airbnb group has announced measures to "limit unauthorized parties" in its homes in France and prevent inappropriate behavior, especially among young people.

In two regions of Spain, smokers have been asked to restrain themselves in public because of the risk of contagion.

This decision coincided with a cry of alarm from the College of Physicians which asked the authorities to "raise the bar" if they do not want to be overwhelmed by the pandemic as they were in the spring.

- "Cautiously optimistic" -

At the same time, the vaccine race continues around the world.

The United States, which has invested more than $ 10 billion in six vaccine projects and signed contracts guaranteeing the delivery of hundreds of millions of doses if successful, on Thursday promised the vaccines would be distributed free to Americans.

"I am cautiously optimistic that at least one of these (of the six experimental vaccines) will be proven safe and effective by the end of the year," Paul Mango, senior ministry official told reporters. of Health.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador for his part assured that the manufacture of the vaccine on which the Anglo-Swedish laboratory AstraZeneca is working and which must be produced in Argentina and Mexico for Latin American countries (excluding Brazil) would be available. "from the first quarter of next year".

It will be "universal and free" in Mexico. "All Mexicans will have access to the vaccine. The most humble don't have to worry," he said.

burs-ahe / ybl

© 2020 AFP