-England full easing plan –
All legal requirements for wearing facemasks and social distancing are likely to finish in England on July 19, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says when unveiling a five-point plan for the ultimate step of easing curbs.
– Record Africa cases –
Africa has suffered a record number of coronavirus cases over the past week, registering over 36,000 new infections per day, consistent with an AFP count supported official figures.
– Bangladesh lockdown –
Bangladesh extends a strict nationwide lockdown, confining people to their homes for an additional week as coronavirus cases and deaths both hit new records.
– French fourth wave? –
France could see a replacement spike in Covid cases by the top of July thanks to the spread of the more contagious Delta variant of the virus, the govt spokesman says.
– Norway postpones easing –
Norway says it’s postponing the lifting of anti-coronavirus measures, “until the top of July, the beginning of August” at the earliest, fearing a possible fourth wave of cases brought on by the Delta variant.
– Vaccine is less effective? –
Rising coronavirus cases in Israel, where most residents are inoculated with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, offer “a preliminary signal” the jab could also be less effective in preventing mild illness from the Delta variant, top expert Ran Balicer says.
– Luxembourg PM –
Luxembourg´s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel is in “serious but stable” condition with Covid-19 and can stay in hospital for 2 to four more days, his government says.
– Springboks in isolation –
Rugby World Cup winners South Africa enter isolation for the second time in as many weeks after lock Lood de Jager tests positive for coronavirus.
– Russian filmmaker dies –
Russia´s Oscar-winning director Vladimir Menshov dies at age 81 after testing positive for coronavirus.
– Nearly 4 million dead –
The pandemic has killed a minimum of 3,980,935 people since the virus first emerged in December 2019, consistent with an AFP compilation of official data at 1000 GMT on Monday.
Us is that the worst-affected country with 605,526 deaths, followed by Brazil with 524,417, India with 402,728, Mexico with 233,622, and Peru with 193,230.
The figures are supported reports by health authorities in each country but don’t take under consideration upward revisions administered later by statistical bodies.
The World Health Organization says up to 3 times more people have died directly or indirectly thanks to the pandemic than official figures suggest.
