Paris (AFP)

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

- Iran: record number of deaths in 24 hours -

Iran's health ministry on Sunday reported more than 500 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, a record since the start of the pandemic in the worst-hit country in the Near and Middle East.

Iran recorded 542 deaths and 39,619 new cases in 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 94,015 out of 4,158,729 cases, according to the health ministry.

- Australia: end of confinement in Brisbane -

Australia's third city, Brisbane (east), comes out of an eight-day lockdown on Sunday, introduced to fight against an epidemic resurgence.

"It seems that we were able to prevent an epidemic of (variant) Delta in just eight days of containment, barely 10 days after the notification of the first case," said Steven Miles, head of the Queensland region of which Brisbane is. the main city.

Sydney (south-east), where the epidemic is flaring, is entering its seventh week of containment.

Authorities are calling on residents to get vaccinated, despite the country having just over 20% of its population fully vaccinated.

- DRC: improvement in Kinshasa, resurgence in Lubumbashi -

The epidemic situation is improving in the Congolese capital Kinshasa but the city of Lubumbashi (south) is experiencing a resurgence, according to the country's authorities.

In Kinshasa, "the 3rd wave is in constant regression and we can say that it is behind us", declared the professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, chief of the experts in charge of the fight against the pandemic.

On the other hand, the economic capital, Lubumbashi, is experiencing a "resurgence of the pandemic", according to its mayor, Ghislain Robert Lubaba Buluma, who issued an order to impose the wearing of masks in the city center.

- Saudi Arabia: reopening of the border for vaccinated pilgrims -

Saudi Arabia will reopen the Omra pilgrimage (small pilgrimage) to Mecca to foreign pilgrims vaccinated against Covid-19, the official Saudi press agency reported on Sunday.

Saudi authorities will start accepting entry requests from Monday.

The borders were closed 18 months ago due to the pandemic.

The small pilgrimage, unlike the Hajj, takes place throughout the year and normally attracts millions of visitors each year.

- Brunei: first local cases in 15 months -

Brunei has decreed health restrictions to curb the expansion of Covid-19, after the discovery of the first cases of local transmission in 15 months.

Seven local contaminations were discovered, the health ministry said on Saturday, pushing the government to close all places of worship and postpone planned events by two weeks.

- France: extension of the health pass on Monday -

Contested in the street, the extended health pass will come into force on Monday in France and will punctuate the daily life of the French to fight against the epidemic which continues to flare up.

Bars, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, hospitals, long-distance trains ... Everywhere from now on, it will be necessary to show a white paw, including to drink a simple coffee on the terrace.

- Over 202 million cases worldwide -

More than 202 million cases have been recorded worldwide since the end of 2019 and the pandemic has killed at least 4.28 million people, according to a count made Sunday at 10 a.m. GMT by AFP from official reports.

The United States is the country with the most deaths (616,718), ahead of Brazil (562,752), India (427,862), Mexico (244,248) and Peru (196,873).

The World Health Organization estimates, taking into account the excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, that the toll of the pandemic could be two to three times higher than that officially established.

burx-ot / mw / it / mba

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