Paris (AFP)

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

- Daily record of contaminations in India -

India has recorded nearly 315,000 new cases of Covid-19 over 24 hours, a daily toll that no country in the world had previously recorded, while the situation is tense in New Delhi hospitals facing a shortage oxygen.

The second epidemic wave is attributed to a "double mutation" of the virus, but also to the maintenance of mass gatherings which favored contamination.

- Damascus receives more than 200,000 doses of vaccine -

The Syrian government has announced the receipt of 203,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the first under the Covax program, while the medical sector is overwhelmed by an explosion of contaminations in this war-torn country.

- Fake Pfizer vaccines -

The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer confirmed on Wednesday that suspicious doses of its anti-Covid vaccine seized in Mexico and Poland and sold for up to $ 2,500 per unit, were counterfeit, according to American media.

- First case during the Olympic torch relay -

The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics reported the first coronavirus infection during the Olympic torch relay in Japan, as the pandemic continues to disrupt preparations for this global sporting event.

It is about a man of about thirty, who had participated in the relay on the island of Shikoku (west).

- EU plans to sue AstraZeneca -

The European Commission is considering legal action against the Swedish-British laboratory AstraZeneca, according to European sources.

In the first quarter, the laboratory only delivered 30 million doses to the EU out of the 120 million contractually promised.

In the second quarter, it plans to deliver only 70 million of the 180 million initially planned.

- Norway "lends" AstraZeneca vaccine -

Norway, which has suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, will at their request "lend" Sweden and Iceland the 216,000 doses of the serum currently in its possession.

- Germany plans to buy Sputnik V -

Germany plans to buy between June and August 30 million doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, which has not yet received the green light from Europe, said the Minister-President of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer.

"We strongly advocate for a rapid approval process by May," tweeted the former GDR conservative.

- The Brit Awards in public -

The Brit Awards, Britain's music awards, will take place on May 11 in front of an audience of 4,000 as part of government-led pilot tests to re-authorize mass events despite the pandemic.

Participants in the evening, scheduled at the O2 Arena in London, will be required to show negative screening upon entry and be tested after the event.

However, they will be exempt from the rules of distancing and wearing a mask.

- More than three million dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 3,060,859 people around the world since December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources, Thursday at 10:00 GMT.

The United States is the country with the highest death toll (569,404), followed by Brazil (381,475), Mexico (213,597), India (184,657) and the United Kingdom (127,327).

These figures are globally underestimated.

They are based on daily reports from national health authorities, without including reassessments based on statistical bases.

burs-paj / ber

© 2021 AFP