A pastry chef makes a "mask" for a chocolate Easter bunny in Athens, Greece, on April 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
-- Italy sees ICU patients decrease for the 10th consecutive day while death toll tops 20,000;
-- Lockdown extended till May 11 in France;
-- Death toll reaches 11,329 in UK;
-- Spain sees decline in new cases, deaths;
-- The Netherlands records two-week low daily deaths.
BRUSSELS, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.
Photo taken on April 11, 2020 shows the empty Piazza del Popolo in Rome, Italy.(Xinhua/Cheng Tingting)
ROME -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 20,465 lives in locked-down Italy as of Monday, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries so far to 159,516, according to latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department.
Addressing a televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli explained that there were 566 new fatalities, compared with 431 registered on Sunday.
Active infections increased by 1,363 from Sunday to a tally of 103,616.
Meanwhile, there were 1,224 new recoveries, bringing the total of recoveries to 35,435 since the pandemic broke out in the northern regions on Feb. 21.
Of those infected, 28,023 people are currently hospitalized, 176 more from the previous day; 3,260 are in intensive care, down by 83; and 72,333, or about 70 percent, are isolated at home.
It was the tenth consecutive day that the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units showed a decreasing trend, according to Borrelli.
An ambulance is parked on Shaftesbury Avenue in London, Britain, April 13, 2020.(Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)
LONDON -- The death toll of those hospitalized in Britain who tested positive for the novel coronavirus reached 11,329 as of Sunday afternoon, marking a daily increase of 717, the Department of Health and Social Care said Monday.
As of Monday morning, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Britain hit 88,621, said the department, adding that 367,667 tests have concluded, with 14,506 tests on Sunday.
Chairing Monday's Downing Street daily press briefing, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, also First Secretary of State, said the government does not expect to relax or lift the coronavirus lockdown later this week.
"We are still not past the peak," even though there are some "positive signs" from the data that show "we are starting to win this struggle", said Raab.
"We don't expect to make any changes to the measures currently in place at that point and we won't until we're confident -- as confident as we realistically can be -- that any such changes can be safely made," he said.
A woman wearing a face mask walks across a street in Paris, France, on April 12, 2020.(Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)
PARIS --French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the country's coronavirus lockdown will be extended till May 11.
"The confinement... the strictest... will pursue till Monday May the 11th," Macron said in his televised address to the nation, as four weeks of lockdown in the country has produced some positive effects in containing the spread of coronavirus.
He said May 11 will mark the start of a new phase in France. From then on, nurseries and schools will reopen progressively; restaurants, cafes, hotels will remain closed; all people showing COVID-19 symptoms will be tested.
"The hope is reborn but nothing is won," Macron noted, adding "In the Grand Est (region in northeast France) as in the Paris region, the (health) system is under pressure. The epidemic is still not controlled,"
"We should therefore pursue with our efforts and continue to apply the rules," he said.
A medical worker prepares to enter the COVID-19 patients' wards at a hospital in Barcelona, Spain, April 9, 2020.(Photo by Francisco Avia/Xinhua)
MADRID -- The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths in a 24-hour period both fell in Spain, according to the data collected by the Spanish Ministry for Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services by 2100 hours on Sunday and made public on Monday.
The total number of people who have lost their lives from the virus rose to 17,489, a daily increase of 517, compared with the 619 deaths in the previous 24-hour period.
This was accompanied by a fall in the number of new cases: 3,477 new cases reported compared to 4,167 on Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 169,496.
A woman takes photos of the Manneken Pis (Little Pissing Man) wearing a mask in Brussels, Belgium, April 13, 2020.(Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
BRUSSELS -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Belgium has increased from 29,647 to 30,589 by Monday morning with 3,903 deaths, according to the latest figures from Belgian health authorities.
Belgium registered 942 new cases and 303 new deaths in the past 24 hours, announced the public health institute Sciensano.
Furthermore, in the past 24 hours, 310 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized while 239 left the hospital. Between March 15 and April 12, over 11,400 patients entered the hospital, while 6,707 were discharged.
Figures show a stabilization in the number of hospital admissions in recent days and a slight drop in intensive care patients.
Signs and barriers noticing people to keep distance are seen at the Saturday market in Haarlem, the Netherlands, April 11, 2020.(Photo by Sylvia Lederer/Xinhua)
THE HAGUE -- The number of reported COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours reached its lowest point in over two weeks in The Netherlands, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced on Monday.
The 86 reported deaths from the disease since Sunday resulted in a death toll of 2,823. The last time the death toll was that low was on March 26, when 78 patients were reported dead. On Sunday the number of reported daily deaths was 94 and on Saturday it was 132.
The number of people who are or were admitted to hospital rose by 147 to a total of 8,729, and that of people who tested positive for COVID-19 since Sunday grew by 964 to a total of 26,551.
A notice at an entrance to a public park informs people of the closure time on the Easter weekend due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Budapest, Hungary, on April 10, 2020. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)
BUDAPEST -- New arrival of medical protective equipment from China has landed in Budapest, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto announced on Monday.
"In the early morning hours on Monday, six planes landed in Budapest, carrying 5.3 million face masks, 6 million pairs of gloves and 86,000 protective gowns from Beijing and Shanghai," the minister said on his Facebook page.
"The virus does not take into account our holidays, therefore the China-Hungary air bridge must also operate at Easter, for the safe supply of medical protective equipment for hospitals, clinics and police and military units," he added.
On Sunday morning, a plane from southern China's Shenzhen landed in Budapest, carrying 1,365,000 protective masks.■
