Paris (AFP)
France is in a "critical" epidemic situation and on Saturday stepped up controls on the travel ban, hit by a third wave which is sweeping over Europe and also leading Belgium and Poland to tighten their restrictions.
On other continents, countries facing a new outbreak of Covid-19 cases are also tightening the screw: total containment enters into force on Saturday in Chile and the Philippines are preparing to put their capital Manila and the provinces under cover on Monday. neighbors.
The French authorities on Saturday stepped up checks at airports and road tolls to enforce the ban on travel.
The restrictive measures already in force in 16 departments, including Paris and its region, were extended Friday midnight to three other departments.
In these areas, travel over 10 km is prohibited without exemption, as are exits from the territory without a compelling reason.
The shops are closed and the half-classes are imposed in high school.
But unlike other European countries, Paris has decided to leave schools open because of the risk of dropping out of school and of mental problems among confined students.
The third wave of Covid-19 continues to rise in France, leaving the country in a "critical" situation, according to Prime Minister Jean Castex.
A defense council is to be held Wednesday evening to decide on a possible tougher sanctions.
Faced with this situation, Madrid announced on Saturday that a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours would now be required for anyone wishing to cross the French land border to travel to Spain.
In Belgium, the professions of non-medical contacts (hairdressers in particular) are again closed for four weeks.
"Non-essential" shops (excluding food, pharmacies, bookstores) can only welcome customers by appointment.
Poland has decided to close nurseries, kindergartens, large furniture and DIY stores, as well as beauty and hairdressing salons.
In churches, one person for every 20 square meters of surface area will now be authorized, against 15 square meters previously.
- Latin America hard hit -
European countries are not the only ones to tighten their restrictions: the Philippines, where hospitals in the capital are struggling to absorb an outbreak of Covid-19 infections, announced a new containment from Monday for the capital and its surroundings .
In Kenya, also affected by a third wave, Nairobi and four neighboring counties have been isolated from the rest of the country since the night of Friday to Saturday and schools are closed.
In Chile, more than 80% of the population are subject to total containment as of Saturday, without even the possibility of going out to buy basic products on weekends, in the face of a brutal increase in infections despite a campaign of particularly effective vaccination.
Latin America is hard hit: Brazil announced on Friday a new record of coronavirus deaths in 24 hours, with 3,650 deaths.
Peru has identified nearly 12,000 contaminations in one day, again a record.
Argentina recorded nearly 13,000 new infections the same day, the highest for more than two months, and Buenos Aires announced the suspension of flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
Mexico, the third country most bereaved by Covid-19 after the United States and Brazil, crossed the 200,000 dead mark on Thursday.
The pandemic of the new coronavirus has killed at least 2,768,431 people around the world and more than 126,070,470 cases of infection have been officially diagnosed, according to a report established on Saturday by AFP.
Faced with the new epidemic wave, many countries are placing their hopes in the acceleration of the vaccination campaign: more than 500 million doses have been administered worldwide as of Friday.
While the European Union remains facing supply difficulties, France said on Saturday to expect "significant deliveries next week" of nearly 3 million doses of vaccine against Covid-19, according to the minister responsible for Industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
"This allows us to confirm the target of 30 million French people vaccinated at the end of June," she added.
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© 2021 AFP