The new Corona virus (Covid-19) continued to claim more victims around the world, with the re-imposition of a complete lockdown in France, which came into effect today, and Italy, Britain and the United States recorded record numbers of infections.

Meanwhile, European Union officials called for swift reforms to the World Health Organization.

More than 10 million people have been infected in Europe since the outbreak began on the continent at the beginning of the year, according to a census conducted by Agence France-Presse.

The European continent - which includes 52 countries - is the third most affected region in the world in terms of the number of injuries, behind Latin America and the Caribbean (11.2 million injuries), and Asia (10.5 million).

For the second time since the outbreak of the epidemic, a complete lockdown was re-imposed in France, where the number of deaths exceeded 36,000, but it will not be similar to the first stone that was imposed last spring for a period of two months, during the spread of the first wave that killed 30,000.

Kindergartens, schools, institutes and secondary schools will remain open with enhanced health measures that would allow many parents to continue their work, but "non-essential" businesses, as well as theaters and ballrooms, will be closed.

In Spain, 5 regions closed its borders on Friday, including the Madrid region, and Parliament approved a request from the government to extend the state of health emergency for a period of 6 months.

Strong wave in Italy

For its part, the Italian Ministry of Health said today that the country recorded 31 thousand and 84 new infections during the past 24 hours, which is the highest daily number since the start of the pandemic in the country, and an increase from the previous record recorded yesterday, Thursday, of 26,831 cases.

The Ministry also announced that 199 new deaths were recorded today, compared to 217 yesterday.

In England, new areas will be put on second-class alert on Saturday, under which residents are prevented from receiving strangers inside homes, but the British government is still resisting calls for a total lockdown.

In Germany, restaurants, cultural and entertainment facilities will be closed from Monday until December 1, while tourists will be banned from stays in hotels.

Belgium - where the virus is spreading widely - held a new meeting today on the health crisis, and government spokesman Yves Van Leitheim said, "The worst is yet to come."

Record injuries in America

In the United States, the situation continues to deteriorate in the midst of the election campaign, and days before the polls, the country recorded yesterday a new record number of injuries in 24 hours, surpassing for the first time the threshold of 90,000 new infections.

In one day, 91,290 people were injured, while 1,021 people died, most of them in the north and central west of the country.

As of Friday, the epidemic has affected more than 44 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths has reached one million and 175 thousand people since the end of last December, according to data published by the French Press Agency.

Health Organization reform

On the other hand, European Union officials said today that the World Health Organization must implement changes quickly, obtain more powers to confront such a pandemic, and reveal the failures of its member states during dealing with health emergencies.

These statements came in a video conference of European Union health ministers, in which they approved a document calling for reforms in the United Nations organization.

The document identifies, for the first time, a set of rapid changes required to strengthen the mandate and resources of the World Health Organization.