In France, the first step in a gradual alleviation of confinement took place on Saturday with the reopening of all shops.
A relaxation of measures applied by several European countries, while Europe has passed the milestone of 400,000 deaths.
Worldwide, more than 1.44 deaths have been recorded.
THE ESSENTIAL
France, like other European neighbors, found its stores on Saturday, reassured by the ebb of the coronavirus.
On Saturday, 213 additional deaths were recorded in the hospital, according to the latest report which confirms a further drop in hospitalizations.
For his part, Bruno the Mayor announced that the compensation ceiling for closed businesses will be doubled and increased to 200,000 euros per month.
In total, the pandemic has killed more than 400,000 people in Europe, and more than 1.44 million worldwide.
Information to remember:
France began the first stage of a gradual deconfinement on Saturday
Hospital pressure continues to decline
The compensation ceiling for closed businesses will be doubled and increased to 200,000 euros per month, according to Bruno Le Maire
213 new deaths, further decrease in hospitalizations
The epidemic killed 213 people in hospital in 24 hours, against 396 on Friday, when other indicators are down, according to data from Public Health France.
This figure brings the total number of deaths in France since the start of the epidemic to 52,127.
The highest 24-hour hospital death toll during the second wave was 551 on November 9.
The number of hospitalizations linked to Covid-19 is also down, with 28,139 people hospitalized (against 28,620 on Friday), after a peak of more than 33,000 patients on November 16.
Hospitals now have 3,765 intensive care patients (against 3,871 on Friday), with 122 new admissions over 24 hours.
The number of new cases of contamination is 12,580, against 12,459 cases on Friday.
The positivity rate (proportion of the number of positive people compared to the total number of people tested), also fell, to 11.4%, against 11.7% Friday, 12.2% Thursday and 13% Wednesday.
Reopening of stores in France
The so-called "non-essential" stores reopened Saturday in France after a month of closure linked to containment.
The reopening also took place less than a month before Christmas, a crucial period for businesses.
As for walks, they are now allowed within a radius of 20 km around your home and for three hours, instead of a kilometer and an hour until then.
The compensation ceiling for closed businesses will double
The compensation ceiling for businesses that remain closed due to the pandemic will be increased to 200,000 euros per month, announced Bruno Le Maire on Saturday, during a trip to traders in Reims, where he was accompanying Prime Minister Jean Castex.
On Wednesday, the government announced a new support system for closed companies, which includes compensation for 20% of their turnover compared to that achieved last year during the same month.
This support, initially capped at 100,000 euros, will therefore be doubled.
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Reduction of measures in Europe, but not in all countries
The situation seems to be improving in Europe to the point of prompting the authorities to relax the pressure.
In Poland, shopping centers reopened on Saturday.
Irish and Belgians will have to wait until Tuesday to find their traders, but in these two countries the ebb of the epidemic is confirmed.
And, as of Sunday, three new regions (Lombardy (north), Piedmont (northwest) and Calabria (south)) of Italy will lift their restrictions, allowing non-essential businesses to reopen - but bars and restaurants will remain closed.
The European continent as a whole, however, is still a long way from getting rid of the coronavirus.
In Germany, yet considered a good student in the fight against Covid-19, the restrictions remain in force until early January.
In Cyprus, the authorities decided to impose a curfew on Monday.
And in Turkey, an age-based curfew has been imposed since Saturday.
In Britain, Wales will tighten restrictions on pubs and restaurants to limit the spread of the virus before Christmas.
This comes after a new containment decided by Northern Ireland and the return in England to a three-level alert system.
The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics will cost an additional 1.6 billion euros
The one-year postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, due to the coronavirus pandemic, could cost an additional 1.6 billion euros compared to the initial budget of 10.7 billion euros, an increase of 15%, a Japanese daily revealed on Sunday.
The organizers of the Olympics will officially decide on the amount of this increase from mid-December after discussions with the Japanese government and the city of Tokyo, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources in charge of organizing the Games.
More than 1.44 million deaths worldwide
The pandemic has killed at least 1,444,426 people worldwide since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December, according to an assessment compiled by AFP from official sources on Saturday. at 11:00 GMT.
The United States is the most affected country in terms of both deaths and cases, with 266,009 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University count.
Faced with an upsurge in cases, the city of San Francisco has also announced the establishment of a curfew and other restrictions from Monday.
Non-essential businesses will be closed and gatherings prohibited from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. the next day.
A measure that will remain in effect until December 21, Mayor London Breed announced on Saturday.
After the United States, Brazil is the second country most affected by Covid-19 with 172,561 dead, followed by India with 136,200 dead, Mexico with 104,873 dead, and the United Kingdom with 57,551 dead.
Among the hardest hit countries, Belgium is the one that deplores the highest number of deaths in relation to its population, with 141 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Peru (109), Spain (96) and the Italy (89).