France and the Netherlands imposed stricter mask-wearing rules on Wednesday amid signs that the COVID-19 pandemic is flaring up again across the globe, with the worldwide death toll exceeding 7,00,000. Toulouse in southwest France announced that the wearing of face masks is compulsory in particularly busy streets and squares from Wednesday. In the Netherlands, similar mask-wearing measures come into force in Rotterdam and in some busy neighbourhoods of Amsterdam, including its famous red-light district. South America’s largest country has recorded more than 2.75 million cases, and nearly 96,000 deaths, nearly half the region’s 2,03,800 fatalities. In South Africa, the hardest-hit country in Africa, some 24,000 health workers have contracted the virus and 181 have died since March.

Source: The Hindu August 05, 2020 18:25 UTC