Paris (AFP)

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

- USA: the virus will cause "more than 600,000 deaths" -

US President Joe Biden estimated Friday that the death toll from the Covid-19 epidemic in the United States "could reach well over 600,000".

Joe Biden will also tackle one of the most visible effects of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic by promising immediate help to millions of hungry jobless Americans.

- British variant: higher mortality -

The more contagious British variant of the novel coronavirus also appears to be linked to higher mortality, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday.

For men in their 60s, the risk of death is 10 in 1,000 with the virus, a figure that reaches 13 to 14 in 1,000 with the new variant, said the government's scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance.

- WHO: too early to tell the origin of the virus, effective tissue masks -

It is too early to draw any conclusions as to whether the Covid-19 has its origin in China, said on Friday the World Health Organization (WHO) which is on a mission in this country.

In addition, according to the organization, fabric masks are still as effective, even in the face of new variants of the coronavirus, because the mode of transmission is the same.

Germany and Austria have just imposed medical masks (surgical or FFP2) in shops and transport, and the French government is asking to no longer use certain fabric masks.

- Vaccines for disadvantaged countries -

The World Health Organization and Pfizer-BioNtech have announced an agreement that should provide 40 million doses of the pharmaceutical giant's anti-Covid-19 vaccine to the Covax system, intended for disadvantaged countries.

- Belgium: ban on travel abroad -

Belgium has decided to ban its population from non-essential travel outside the borders from Wednesday until March 1.

Frontier workers are not affected.

- First confinement in Hong Kong -

Thousands of residents of one of Hong Kong's poorest and densest neighborhoods were ordered overnight from Friday to Saturday to stay at home as part of the first lockdown ordered by the authorities since the start of the pandemic.

- New restrictions in Madrid -

The region of Madrid, one of the most affected in Spain, has announced new restrictions and decided to bring forward the time of the curfew and the closing times of bars and restaurants.

- 50,000 dead in Germany -

In Germany, the number of deaths caused by the coronavirus crossed the threshold of 50,000 on Friday, according to the Robert Koch health watch institute.

- Japan: tightening of restrictions -

The Japanese government has approved two bills to make the restrictions more effective, including jail terms of up to one year for people who test positive but refuse to be hospitalized.

- Hungary will buy Russian vaccine -

The Hungarian government has announced that it has reached an agreement to purchase up to two million doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, although it has not yet been authorized by European health authorities.

- More than two million dead -

The pandemic has killed more than 2.09 million people worldwide and more than 97.4 million cases have been diagnosed, according to a report established by AFP on Friday from official sources.

The United States is the country with the most deaths (413,818), followed by Brazil (215,243), India (153,032), Mexico (146,174) and the United Kingdom (95,829).

- More than 56 million vaccinated -

At least 56.7 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in at least 63 countries or territories, according to an AFP count from official sources on Friday at 11:00 GMT.

Twelve countries concentrate more than 90% of the injected doses.

- Zidane positive -

French Real Madrid coach Zinédine Zidane tests positive for Covid-19, the club said.

burs-ang-acm / am / ybl

© 2021 AFP