Paris (AFP)

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

- Contamination on the rise in the world -

New Covid-19 contaminations, which have been on the rise since the end of June, exceeded half a million daily on Tuesday and Wednesday, an increase that had not been reached since May 28, according to an AFP count made on Thursday. from official reports.

A total of 188,347,302 cases have been officially recorded since the discovery of the virus in December 2019 in China.

In terms of deaths, the pandemic has claimed at least 4,061,908 victims worldwide.

After the United States, the country most affected with 608,115 deaths, come Brazil (537,394), India (411,989), Mexico (235,507) and Peru (194,752).

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

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the true number of deaths could be two to three times higher.

- Death leap in Africa -

Coronavirus-related deaths have seen "an increase of 43%" in the space of a week in Africa, from 4,384 deaths to 6,273 in the week of July 5 to 11, the WHO warned on Thursday.

The skyrocketing cases are explained, according to the WHO, by insufficient vaccine supplies, but also public weariness in the face of preventive measures and an increased spread of variants.

Currently, the highly contagious Delta variant has been detected in 21 African countries.

Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia accounted for 83% of the new deaths recorded last week.

- Vaccination of children: alarm signal from the UN -

The United Nations sounded the alarm Thursday on a risk of "absolute catastrophe" if the dangerous delay in the vaccination of children because of the pandemic is not caught up and if the health restrictions are lifted too quickly.

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In 2020, 23 million children fell through the cracks and did not receive all three doses of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine or DTP3, which serves as a baseline measure, according to published figures. by WHO and Unicef.

- AIDS increases risk -

Being infected with HIV, the AIDS virus, increases the risk of a severe form of Covid-19, or even death if you are in hospital, according to WHO data released on Thursday.

- EU: borders open to Ukrainians -

EU states gave the green light on Thursday to add Ukraine to the list of countries and territories whose travelers, even not vaccinated against Covid-19, can be admitted to the Union.

On the other hand, Thailand and Rwanda were excluded from this green list, which now includes around twenty countries and territories.

- Record cases in Tokyo -

Anti-Covid measures at the Tokyo Olympics "are working", assured the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, on Thursday, when the Japanese capital has recorded a record number of new contaminations since January.

Tokyo recorded 1,308 new cases on Thursday.

- Melbourne: fifth confinement -

The state of Victoria and its capital Melbourne, Australia's second city, enter their fifth confinement Thursday evening.

This decision brings to 12 million the number of Australians subject to an obligation of confinement, since the five million inhabitants of Sydney have also been confined since the end of June.

- University of Lagos: students sent home -

The University of Lagos sent its students (55,000) home Thursday and suspended face-to-face classes for fear of a new wave of Covid-19 in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) recently detected the presence of the Delta variant, putting national authorities on high alert in the face of the growing number of cases.

© 2021 AFP