Paris (AFP)

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

- London will lift the last restrictions -

Wearing a mask will no longer be compulsory in closed public places in England from July 19, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday, who plans to lift the last restrictions linked to the virus on that date.

The end of these measures is controversial in the midst of the surge in contaminations attributed to the Delta variant.

- Uruguay resumes an almost normal life -

The government of Uruguay, a country of 3.6 million inhabitants, on Monday authorized the resumption of public activities, suspended after several weeks of daily records of infections and deaths.

Meetings, shows, parties and amateur sport are again allowed.

Cinemas have also reopened, with the exception of the three most populous departments - including Montevideo - in which they will reopen on July 15.

Schools have reopened.

Only high schools and universities still work in isolation.

- The Dominican Republic finds tourists -

The Dominican Republic, whose economy is largely based on tourism, has recovered 80% of the visitors it received before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Tourism announced on Monday.

468,367 travelers visited this Caribbean country in June.

- Vaccine made in Morocco -

Morocco has announced a local manufacturing project for the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19 with, "in the short term", a production capacity of 5 million doses per month, according to the Moroccan press agency MAP.

The project will require a global investment of around 421 million euros.

- Luxembourg: the Prime Minister in a "serious but stable" state -

Affected by the Covid-19, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel, 48, is in a "serious but stable" condition and will remain hospitalized for another "two to four days", announced Monday his services.

- Bad situation in Spain -

The health situation in Spain has deteriorated markedly in recent days, with an explosion in the number of Covid-19 contaminations among young people, a rebound which forces the authorities to consider a tightening of measures at a time when vaccination is accelerating.

- Norway postpones its full reopening -

Norway postponed Monday to "late July, early August" at the earliest the almost total lifting of its health restrictions in order to guard against a possible fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic due to the Delta variant.

- Germany opens up to five countries -

Germany has lifted entry bans on its territory linked to the Covid-19 pandemic for residents of five countries, as of Wednesday: United Kingdom, Portugal, India, Nepal and Russia.

- France: 4th wave possible at the end of July -

French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Monday that a fourth wave of the pandemic from the end of July was "a possibility" but "not inevitable" thanks to the vaccination, confirming a warning from the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.

- Israel: fears about the Delta variant -

The rebound in contaminations in Israel, where more than half of the population is yet fully vaccinated, is a "preliminary sign" of potentially lower vaccine efficacy on "moderate cases" of the Delta variant, said Ran Balicer, head of the national expert committee on the epidemic.

- Bangladesh: prolonged confinement -

Bangladesh extended a nationwide strict containment for a week on Monday, as cases of contamination and the death toll from Covid-19 reached record levels.

- Record cases in Africa -

More than 36,000 daily contaminations have been identified in the last seven days in Africa, a record on this continent since the start of the pandemic, according to an AFP count from official reports stopped on Sunday.

With 36,141 daily cases on average over the week of June 28 to July 4, this epidemic outbreak exceeded the 32,609 contaminations per day recorded between January 5 and 11, 2021, at the time of the previous epidemic peak.

- Almost four million dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 3,980,935 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 most affected country in terms of number of deaths (605,526).

They are followed by Brazil (524,417), India (402,728), Mexico (233,622) and Peru (193,230).

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

WHO estimates deaths could be two to three times higher.

burx-elm / cn

© 2021 AFP