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TOP HEADLINES
**• **There are now more than a million confirmed COVID-19 cases globally , with nearly 53,000 deaths and more than 210,000 recoveries
**• The U.S. daily total of 1,169 deaths is the highest recorded **in any country during the pandemic
• Spain's daily death toll dropped for the first time in a week , with 932 new fatalities, slightly down on yesterday's 950
**• Germany's death toll has topped 1,000, **according to its Robert Koch public health institute. Johns Hopkins University calculates Germany has close to 85,000 confirmed cases – more than China
• Paris police tighten restrictions with extra checks to stop people going away for Easter
• Google is publishing anonymized overviews of public movements , enabling authorities to manage the outbreak
**• **Hungarian pharmaceutical firm Alkaloida Zrt has requested a domestic distribution license for its drug hydroxychloroquine , saying it can produce enough pills to treat 2.2 million infected people –but the European Commission says there is no evidence yet that the drug works on COVID-19
**• **The European University Hospital Alliance has called for borders to be kept open for medical supplies, warning that sedative and painkilling drugs for intensive care patients will start to run out in two weeks' time
• London's new intensive care hospital, the Nightingale, opens on Friday ; it can house up to 4,000 COVID-19 patients
**• **UK health secretary Matt Hancock predicts the country's outbreak will peak slightly earlier than previously expected , "in the next few weeks"
**• **Norway's welfare administration reports that unemployment rose sixfold in March to 14.7 percent –one in seven
• Latvia has reported its first coronavirus death . With Slovakia having reported its own first casualty on Tuesday, the only member of the EU 27 not to report a death is Malta
00:29
ACROSS EUROPE
By Julia Lyubova in Switzerland
As the number of infections and deaths continues to grow, Switzerland's government says it would be premature to relax restrictive measures that were imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Daniel Koch, head of the Federal Office of Public Health's communicable diseases division, said the number of new cases was increasing by around 1,000 cases per day. The government is advising the public to keep their distance from one another, stay at home and maintain hygiene.
With warm spring weather forecast over the Easter weekend, the authorities are also urging people not to go on holiday, with campsites closed until further notice in any case. However, the government has begun preparations for an eventual transition away from restrictions and has unveiled a scientific advisory task force.
In pictures: The UK gets a new hospital
The UK's new temporary hospital in London to help fight COVID-19. /AP
A ward in the new hospital that was built in just over a week. /UK Ministry of Defence
The hospital is set to start welcoming patients. /AP
Members of the British Army helped build the facility. /Ministry of Defence
By Rahul Pathak in Madrid
The grim milestones keep coming for Spain. With another 950 deaths in the 24 hours from Wednesday to Thursday, total fatalities have now gone past 10,000. However, like yesterday, there are signs that the spread of the virus is slowing, with the health minister Salvador Illa saying the curve of new infections was stabilizing.
Spain also announced its worst ever month in terms of the labor market. During March, 900,000 jobs were lost, bringing the total unemployment to 3.5 million people. As trade union leader Unai Sordo put it: "The country is essentially paralyzed by coronavirus."
01:39
By Ira Spitzer in Berlin
Germany's confirmed coronavirus deaths have topped 1,000 for the first time, according to the latest figures from the Robert Koch Institute. Germany has so far had a comparatively low death rate among confirmed cases: even though that has risen, it is still only 1.3 percent, compared with a worldwide average of 5.2 percent.
The German Teachers' Association is concerned about a long school closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Homeschooling is definitely not a standard model: you must not keep it up for too long," its president Heinz-Peter Meidinger told the Funke media group. Studies have shown that digital lessons may be 75 percent less effective than face-to-face lessons. German schools are currently closed until at least the middle of April.
The German capital Berlin has published a list of fines for people who violate social distancing regulations. Leaving the house "without a good reason" can cost between $10 and $108. "Good reasons" include shopping for food or exercising – which includes walking.
By Toni Waterman in Brussels
It will be a test of wills this weekend as Belgium's confinement measures face their biggest challenge yet: warm, sunny weather. In a country with 200 rainy days a year, officials worry that a week-long spell of spring weather will drive many out of their homes and into the streets. They are urging people to stay at home and have set up a task force to help clarify confinement measures. Police have complained that there's too much ambiguity in the measures, making them hard to enforce.
Meanwhile, the Belgian government plans to give doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other front-line hospital staff a one-off, tax-free bonus of 1,540 euros ($1,564) for their hard work during the coronavirus outbreak. The "thank you" plan also encourages businesses to give out 1,000 euros ($1,079) bonuses to employees who return to work or have worked throughout the crisis, such as supermarket employees. Another option is to give essential workers an additional two days of vacation.
FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES
From CGTN China:
Asymptomatic patients could cause a second wave of COVID-19
From CGTN America:
The Heat: Human cost of coronavirus around the world
From CGTN Africa:
Rwandan police to strictly enforce lockdown
**CGTN Europe has been providing in-depth coverage of the novel coronavirus story as it has unfolded. **
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** you can read the essential information about the crisis.**
Source(s): Reuters
