Violent protests in Slovenia, Sweden's record cases: COVID-19 bulletin

TOP HEADLINES

• Italy's regions of Lombardy, Piedmont,Valle D'Aosta and Calabria** entered a second lockdown on Friday.**

• Hungary will try to avoid closing its schools for as long as possible but hospital treatments may have to be rescheduled due to the influx in virus patients, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

• **The UK has removed Germany, Sweden and Denmark from its list of 'safe' countries. **Travelers arriving from Germany and Sweden will have to self-isolate from 4 a.m. local time on Saturday, and 4.a.m. local time on Friday from Denmark.

• Sweden has reported 4,034 new cases in the past 24 hours, the highest recorded daily figure since the start of the pandemic.

• Ireland says it's "on target" to get the second wave of infections under control by December 1, accordingtoPhilip Nolan, the chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group.

• Beijing has added France to its travel ban list for non-Chinese foreign visitors as the pandemic's second wave continues tosurge acrossEurope.

• Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has admitted the decision to put the nation back into a three-week lockdown "was a difficult decision" butsaid "measures must be taken for three weeks to overcome this second wave."

• In the UK, students at Manchester University ripped down fencing that had been installed around their halls of residence, saying they felt 'imprisoned.' The university later apologized.

• Hundreds of anti-restriction protesters gathered in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana on Thursday evening , with some attacking police officers who warned them that public gatherings were banned.

• Romania is tointroduce a night-time curfew and close all schools for 30 days from Monday toslow the spread of thevirus.

• The arthritis drug of Swiss drugmaker Novartis failed to help patientswith thevirussurvive without invasive ventilation compared with standard therapy , the company said after a late-phase clinical trial.

• FormerMotoGPWorld Champion Valentino Rossi, who missed two racesbecauseof the virus, has been cleared to travel to Spain after his latest test came back negative.

CLICK: SWEDEN'S ABILITY TO AVOID LOCKDOWN IS THE ENVY OF EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS BUT IS IT WORKING?

ACROSS EUROPE

Ross Cullen in Paris

More than 58,000 cases of COVID-19 were identified on Thursday, another daily record for new infections in France.

The health minister, Olivier Veran, said: "How long the restrictions last depends in a large part on us." He explained that if the rules are followed then "the second wave will be very strong but less intense than the first."

About 85 percent of beds in intensive care are now occupied, with 4,000 people being treated for COVID-19 in intensive care units.

Health protocols will be strengthened in high schools, which will be able to switch to more distance-learning courses, provided they keep at least 50 percent of face-to-face lessons.

From November 6, all passengers from France bound for China's mainland must take both a nucleic acid test and a blood test for antibodies against the coronavirus. The tests must be done no more than 48 hours before boarding.

Hundreds of anti-restriction protesters took to the streets of Ljubljana, Slovenia on Thursday night. /AFP

Protesters threw bottles, flares and rocks at the police, who used tear gas and water cannon to disperse them. /AFP

Slovenian police say they detained 10 people during the protests. /AFP

Alex Fraser in Milan

In four regions of Italy a second lockdown has begun. Lombardy, Piedmont, Valle D'Aosta and Calabria, have been designated as red zones, which means people can only leave their homes for work, health emergencies or to buy designated essential items. Travel in, out and within the red zone is banned. Bars, restaurants and many shops must close.

The cities of Milan and Turin fall under these restrictions.

The governors of three of the red zone regions have reacted angrily to the local lockdowns. They are unhappy with the methods used by the government to decide which areas would be declared red zones. They say the epidemiological data used is 10 days out of date.

The rest of Italy is divided into orange and yellow zones, although those regions are under tighter restrictions, they are not under lockdown. All of Italy now has a nightly curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m..

On Thursday, Italy reported 34,505 new cases – the highest total it has confirmed in a day since the start of the pandemic. In the previous 24 hours, 445 people died.

Mark Webster, Budapest

Hungary's foreign minister has announced the country will start importing small quantities of a Russian-made COVID-19 vaccine in December for final testing and licensing.

Peter Szijjarto said Budapest would increase imports of the drug from late January and there are plans for a Hungarian company to switch from producing a seasonal flu vaccine to the anti COVID-19 treatment.

Tighter measures are now in place across the country in an effort to reduce the recent rapid rise in coronavirus infections and the borders will remain closed until December 1.

The UK has removed Denmark, Germany and Sweden from its travel corridor, meaning people arriving from the three nations will have to self-isolate. /AP

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