The sculptural group of Boadicea and Her Daughters is seen surrounded by the "London Eye" in London, Britain, on May 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
-- UK unveils plan to wind down furlough scheme, COVID-19 deaths top 38,000;
-- Italy's COVID-19 death toll rises by 87 to 33,229;
-- COVID-19 cases, fatalities stable in Spain;
-- Germany reports 741 new COVID-19 infections, total at 180,458.
BRUSSELS, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.
LONDON -- British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on Friday announced the plan to wind down the coronavirus furlough scheme as Britain seeks to reopen its economy.
Chairing the Downing Street's daily briefing, Sunak unveiled a series of changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which he said has so far covered the wages of 8.4 million staff unable to work during lockdown.
"As we reopen the economy, there is broad consensus across the political and economic spectrum, the furlough scheme cannot continue indefinitely," he told reporters.
Photo taken on May 25 , 2020 shows a city view of Milan, Italy. (Xinhua)
ROME -- A further 87 COVID-19 patients had died in the past 24 hours in Italy, bringing the country's toll to 33,229, out of total infection cases of 232,248, according to fresh figures on Friday.
Nationwide, the number of active infections dropped by 1,811 to 46,175, according to the Civil Protection Department.
Of those active infections, 475 are in intensive care -- 14 fewer compared to Thursday, and 7,094 are hospitalized with symptoms -- down by 285 patients from the day before. The remaining 38,606, or about 84 percent, are isolated at home with no symptoms or only mild symptoms.
Operators modify the circulation of vehicles to widen the sidewalks and ensure social distancing on pedestrians in Barcelona, Spain, May 19, 2020. (Barcelona City Hall/Handout via Xinhua)
MADRID -- The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths remained stable in Spain on Friday, the country's Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare said.
The ministry confirmed 39 COVID-19 deaths in the past seven days (one more than the 38 confirmed on Thursday). This means that 27,121 people have lost their lives in Spain to the coronavirus, but only two of those deaths were in the 24-hour period until midnight on Thursday.
The same period saw a slight increase in the number of new cases of COVID-19 detected by PCR tests (which indicate whether the coronavirus is active in the body). The ministry reported 187 new infections (compared with 182 in the previous 24 hours), taking the total number of confirmed cases to 238,564.
A woman wearing face mask is seen in Berlin, capital of Germany, May 28, 2020. (Photo by Binh Truong/Xinhua)
BERLIN -- New infections with COVID-19 in Germany increased above last week's average as 741 confirmed cases have been reported within one day, bringing the total to 180,458, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Friday.
Over the course of last week, an average of 561 daily cases had been reported by the RKI, the federal government agency for disease control and prevention.
According to the RKI, the number of deaths from the novel coronavirus in Germany increased by 39 to 8,450 on Friday, resulting in a case fatality rate of 4.7 percent in Germany.■
