Paris (AFP)

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

- Record of deaths in Moscow and St. Petersburg -

Russian authorities on Monday announced daily death records from Covid-19 in Moscow and St. Petersburg, a sign that the situation is deteriorating in Russia, hit hard by the Delta variant.

The quarter-final of the Euro football scheduled for Friday in St. Petersburg will however take place, organizers said.

And this, while nearly 300 supporters returning to Finland after attending the Euro in this city have tested positive for Covid-19, according to local health authorities.

They attended the Finland-Belgium match on June 21.

- Australia facing the Delta variant -

New cases of contamination with the highly contagious Delta variant were recorded Monday in various cities in Australia, forcing the authorities to impose restrictions in some regions.

# photo2

The largest epidemic focus is in Sydney (south-east), whose millions of inhabitants entered a two-week confinement on Sunday.

The authorities have decided on a four-day lockdown in Perth (west), the third city to limit travel after Sydney (south-east) and Darwin (north).

- Italy drops the mask -

Wearing a mask in Italy is no longer compulsory outside and the curfew was lifted on Monday in Valle d'Aosta, the last region of the peninsula where it was still in force.

Italians must nevertheless have a mask on them and put it in places where the distance of one meter between people cannot be respected.

# photo3

The Italian government decided on Monday to extend the freeze on layoffs until the end of October for sectors very weakened by the coronavirus pandemic, such as the textile, fashion and footwear industries, the source learned. government.

- Containment in Bangladesh -

Bangladesh closed almost all of its public transport on Monday before strict containment from Thursday, forcing thousands of Dhaka employees to walk to work.

- Pakistanis demand vaccines -

Hundreds of Pakistanis have invaded a public vaccination center in Islamabad to demand immunity as their country faces a shortage of sera.

Most of these people work abroad, especially in Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia.

- Brazilian survey -

Brazilian senators have called for the opening of an investigation against President Jair Bolsonaro, accused of turning a blind eye to suspicions of irregularities in the purchase of anticoronavirus vaccines, a scandal with potentially explosive consequences.

This procedure could lead to the impeachment of the head of state, even if this scenario is considered unlikely by analysts.

The health crisis that has killed more than half a million people in Brazil.

- UK -

The new British Minister of Health Sajid Javid has maintained the objective of lifting the last restrictions in England on July 19 despite the rise in contamination.

But Hong Kong will ban flights from the United Kingdom from July 1 to curb Delta variant contaminations, the government of this financial center announced on Monday.

The UK will now be classified as an "extremely high risk" country, the worst in the local epidemic assessment system.

- AstraZeneca vaccine: a long interval improves efficacy -

An interval of several months between the two doses of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine improves protection against Covid-19, according to a study released Monday by the University of Oxford, which sees it as a "reassuring" element for countries with supply issues.

- Almost four million dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 3,925,816 people around the world since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Monday at 10:00 GMT.

The United States is the country most affected both in terms of death toll, 604,105, and cases.

Daily contaminations have stagnated since mid-June (between 11,000 and 12,000 per day).

# photo4

Brazil, which has 513,474 dead, is followed by India (396,730), Mexico (232,564) and Peru (191,899), the country deploring the most deaths in relation to its population.

South Africa has passed the 60,000 death mark.

These figures, which are based on daily reports from national health authorities, are generally underestimated.

The World Health Organization estimates that the toll from the pandemic could be two to three times higher than officially calculated.

burx-elm / roc

© 2021 AFP