Paris (AFP)

New reports, new measures and highlights: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.

- "Very serious" situation in Germany -

"The situation has become very serious overall", alarmed the president of the German public health institute Robert Koch (RKI), Lothar Wieler, for whom the virus could "spread uncontrollably", if nothing was done.

The warning comes as the country has recorded a new record of contamination, with 11,287 additional cases in 24 hours.

- New curfews in prospect in France -

Faced with a "particularly worrying" situation, the French government is to announce Thursday the shift of several departments to "maximum alert" and new curfews, in addition to the Paris region and eight metropolises which have already been subject to it since Saturday.

- ... and in two regions of Italy -

Lombardy, the northern region most affected by the pandemic, and Campania, to the south, where Naples is located, are preparing to implement curfews, the first from Thursday 11 p.m. local and the second from Friday same time.

- More than 1.13 million dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 1.13 million people around the world since the end of December, according to a report established by AFP from official sources Thursday at 11:00 GMT.

More than 41.3 million cases of contamination have been diagnosed, of which nearly 28.3 million are now considered cured.

The United States is the most bereaved country with 222,220 dead, followed by Brazil (155,403 dead), India (116,616), Mexico (87,415) and the United Kingdom (44,158).

- No Christmas market in Strasbourg -

Faced with the worsening health situation, the city of Strasbourg (North-East) is giving up its famous Christmas market, the largest and most famous in France which usually attracted two million tourists from around the world to admire the illuminations of the Alsatian capital and stroll among its 300 wooden chalets.

- The Irish reconfined -

The Irish have been under house arrest for six weeks since midnight Wednesday (11:00 p.m. GMT) but schools will remain open.

Non-essential businesses will close and residents will only be able to leave their homes to exercise within a three-mile radius, or face fines.

- Partial confinement for Czechs -

The Czech Republic imposes restrictions on the movement of people and all outlets, except food stores and pharmacies, are closed from this Thursday until November 3.

- Death of a volunteer testing a vaccine -

A volunteer who participated in the tests of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford against Covid-19 died in Brazil, according to official sources who did not specify whether he had received the vaccine or a placebo.

Oxford assured that phase 3 of the tests would continue, an independent committee having concluded that they did not pose a risk to the health of the volunteers.

burs-paj / mw / ia

© 2020 AFP