Several countries in Eastern Europe imposed new restrictions Saturday, similar to many countries in this continent, as Germany announced more than 10,000 deaths and France toped a million cases.

The restrictions caused clashes in Naples, Italy, between police and hundreds of youths who protested against a curfew imposed on Friday evening in the region of this city, due to concern about the economic consequences of such a measure.

The World Health Organization sounded the alarm by saying that "many countries" in the northern hemisphere are recording a steady increase in the number of cases of Covid-19. As a result, hospitals and intensive care departments are close to or exceeding their maximum capacity, the organization warned.

In the entirety of the European continent, the number of injuries exceeded 8.2 million, while more than 258 thousand died. And 10003 deaths were recorded in Germany, which until a short period was relatively isolated from the pandemic, but is currently witnessing a large spread of it.

The pandemic has led to the deaths of at least 1,366,406 people since the end of December, according to a census by Farnas Press on Friday.

The epidemiological situation is exacerbated in Eastern Europe. Faced with the significant increase in injuries, Poland classifies, as of Saturday, all of its territories as a "red zone", a measure that was until now limited to major cities and their surroundings.

Restaurants and primary schools will be partially closed, while high school students and university students will continue their distance learning. Weddings were banned and the number of people allowed to be present in stores, transportation and churches was drastically reduced.

In neighboring Slovakia, a night curfew goes into effect on Saturday through November 1. In Czechia, where the level of injuries and deaths has been the worst in Europe in the past two weeks, a partial lockdown was imposed until the third of November.

A partial lockdown also begins Saturday in Slovenia, whose Foreign Minister Anze Lugar has contracted the virus.

A night curfew will be imposed in Athens and Thessaloniki, the two largest cities in Greece, from Saturday, while wearing a mask has become mandatory at home as well as abroad.

- 'Worse than the first' -

The situation raises concern in France as it has crossed the one million mark of COVID-19 cases. The situation continues to deteriorate with 4,2032 injuries in the last 24 hours, a new record high.

Health authorities now fear a second wave, "worse than the first," noting that they are studying local isolation measures.

Faced with this rise, the government has expanded the night curfew, which, since Friday evening, includes 46 million people in Paris and major cities, or a third of the total population, for a period of six weeks.

In Italy, the curfew imposed Friday sparked anger and anxiety in Naples. When it was imposed at 23:00, hundreds of people gathered and set fire to garbage cans and fired projectiles at riot police in the city center.

Besides Naples, curfews have been imposed in the regions of Latium, Rome and Lombardy, which includes Milan (north).

In Spain, which officially crossed the one million threshold, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the actual number "exceeds three million.” Prior to that, several regions announced tightening restrictions, calling on the central government to impose a night curfew.

In Belgium, the authorities of the five French-speaking provinces decided Friday to tighten the measures decided upon at the federal level.

- Vaccine trials resume -

In Britain, which recorded the largest number of deaths among European countries with more than 44 thousand deaths, Wales re-imposed a lockdown Friday until the ninth of November.

Ireland has imposed this measure on all its citizens for a period of six weeks since midnight on Wednesday, closing non-essential stores.

Denmark, for its part, announced the strengthening of measures restricting gatherings and expanding the wearing of the muzzle, effective Monday.

In terms of scientific research, two experiments on experimental vaccines against Covid-19 will resume in the United States after problems, which increases the chances of reaching a vaccine or several licensed vaccines by early 2021.

In Latin America, restrictions continue to be imposed in Argentina for two weeks to curb the spread of the disease. "The solution to this problem is still a long way off," President Alberto Fernandez said Friday.