A man wearing a face mask cycles in central London
BRUSSELS, June 2 (NNN-Xinhua) — The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.
UK: Another 111 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain as of Sunday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 39,045, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.
Noting that 111 is the lowest daily death toll since lockdown began in March, Hancock said during the Downing Street daily press briefing that Britain is winning the battle against the novel coronavirus, but warned COVID-19 is “not done yet”.
ITALY recorded 178 fresh cases of infection from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the lowest such figure since Feb 27, the Civil Protection Department said.
The overall number of COVID-19 infections, fatalities and recoveries rose to 233,197 cases over the past 24 hours, from 233,019 cases on Sunday.
The pandemic began in Italy on Feb 21 in the northern, densely populated and highly industrialized Lombardy region, whose capital is Milan.
FRANCE: On the eve of the second phase of de-confinement, France recorded 31 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the lowest daily increase since mid March, bringing the overall death toll of the epidemic to 28,833, the Health Ministry said.
French hospitals registered 18,506 fatalities, up from 18,475 on Sunday, while the data from nursing homes and medico-social establishments would be updated on Tuesday.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 fell to 14,288 from 14,322 on Sunday. The number of those who need life support continued its downtrend, falling by 17 to 1,302.
SPAIN did not receive any foreign tourists or any income from tourism in April due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, according to data from the Spanish Statistical Office (INE).
In a monthly report, the INE said this follows a drop of 64 percent in the number of international tourist arrivals in March, as the country closed to foreign visitors from March 15.
Meanwhile, the fact that travel restrictions remained in place throughout May means that the month that has just finished will also end with zero tourists from abroad and zero income from the sector.
GREECE took another step to normalcy with the reopening of primary schools and kindergartens, open-air cinemas, hotels and swimming pools among other businesses which had closed since March.
The Ministry of Tourism announced on Friday the first list of 29 countries, including China, which can send tourists to Greece as of June 15 to the airports of Athens and Thessaloniki.
As of July 1, international flights are allowed into all airports in Greece and visitors are subject to random tests upon arrival, while additional restrictions regarding certain countries will be announced at a later date, the ministry stressed.
According to latest update, a total of 2,918 confirmed cases have been registered nationwide since Feb 26 while the death toll stands at 179.
PORTUGAL: The Ministry of Territorial Cohesion of Portugal announced that it quadrupled the amount to 108 million euros (around 120.2 million U.S. dollars) offered to companies that modified their production to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
This measure was taken, according to the ministry, to encourage the production of materials considered essential to control the novel coronavirus, such as visors, masks and alcohol gel.
According to official data, so far contracts have been signed with 195 production initiatives, which allocated 40 million euros (around 44.5 million dollars) from European funds, including the Portugal 2020 program (PT 2020), a partnership between Portugal and the European Commission.
In addition, a program to support scientific research in the fight against the pandemic was launched, which is projected to invest 13 million euros (nearly 14.5 million), of which 3 million euros (around 3.3 million U.S. dollars) have already been allocated to 18 research projects.
Portugal has reported a total of 32,700 cases and 1,424 deaths from COVID-19, with 14 new deaths and 200 more cases recorded over the last 24 hours, the health authorities said. — NNN-XINHUA
