All the latest news from across Europe on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summary of key developments
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**EU forecasts 'recession of historic proportions' for 2020
**UK's death toll in hospital passes 30,000 - the highest toll in Europe
Why is the UK's COVID-19 death toll higher than other EU countries?
Germany's Bundesliga football league to resume from mid-May, Merkel says
UK and US allege attempt to hack COVID-19 response operations
Will a coronavirus vaccine be accessible to all or for the privileged few?
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Latest updates
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'At least 90,000 healthcare workers infected by COVID-19', says nursing group
At least 90,000 healthcare workers have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 260 nurses have lost their lives to the pandemic, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) said on Wednesday, warning that numbers could be much higher.
The figures released by the ICN are based on data from just 30 countries. It shows that, on average, 6% of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 are among healthcare workers.
"If that proportion were repeated globally, the 3.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world would yield a figure for the number of infected healthcare workers of 210,000," the ICN said in a statement.
Germany's Bundesliga to resume on May 14
"Today's decision is good news for the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga," Christian Seifert, the managing director of the Bundesliga, said in a statement.
Seifert highlighted "the great responsibility for the clubs and their employees to implement the medical and organisational requirements in a disciplined manner".
Travellers charged €190 at Vienna airport to avoid 14-day COVID-19 quarantine
Austria says anyone arriving at its airports or land borders without proof they are coronavirus-free must go into isolation.
If travellers don't have proof, they can pay €190 for a test at Vienna airport.
But German MEP, Michael Bloss, told Euronews the charge is discriminatory and risks exacerbating existing inequalities
Mark Rutte unveils Dutch lockdown exit plan
- a maximum of 30 persons (incl. staff) and 1.5 meters away,
- booking will be mandatory.
"Sports competitions can take place without an audience. This also applies to professional football," the statement adds.
French COVID-19 death toll now at 25,809
Banksy unveils new work depicting nurse as superhero
Coronavirus crisis is 'worst than Pearl Harbor' - Trump
Turkey to sample test 150,000 to measure scope of coronavirus outbreak
Details of France's easing of the lockdown to be announced Thursday
EU forecasts 'recession of historic proportions' this year
Spain extends lockdown until 24 May as coalition averts political crisis
Spain’s left-wing coalition government has averted — for now — a political crisis on top of the enormous challenge the country already faces from its devastating coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed more than 25,000 lives and severely damaged the economy.
Despite losing the backing of the main opposition party, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday received the Spanish Parliament’s necessary endorsement for a two-week extension to a state of emergency he declared on March 14, when Spain’s decentralised health care system had lost control of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We have won a partial victory against the virus thanks to the sacrifice of all,” Sánchez said.
“No one gets everything right in such an unprecedented situation but lifting the state of emergency now would be a complete error.”
Sánchez said the state of emergency must stay in place to ensure that the country makes a coordinated and cautious return to a “new normalcy”, but his government lost some support from opposition parties who complain he is abusing his extraordinary powers.
To compensate losing the backing of the conservative Popular Party and angering Catalonia’s separatists, Sánchez’s Socialists struck last-minute deals with the center-right Citizens party and Basque regionalists to guarantee the parliamentary endorsement.
That gave the government 178 votes in favor to 75 votes against, with 97 abstentions.
The state of emergency was set to expire on Saturday. The extension will take it through May 24.
The government argued the extension is critical to apply its complex rollback plan for the lockdown, which will vary by province as they prepare for a possible second wave.
Germany relaxes more virus rules, but with prudence
International comparisons 'difficult to make with certainty', British Housing minister says as UK has highest death toll in Europe
"There will be a time for that", Jenrick said, adding that such comparisons would be calculated by measuring different countries' excess deaths. "But it's difficult to do with inaccuracy today," he said.
"We are learning the lessons we can today as we are still responding to the situation," Jenrick said, adding that UK hospitals have had sufficient ICU and ventilator capacity to deal with the high influx of coronavirus patients.
Watch live: British death toll in hospital passes 30,000
Resuming sport
"Everyone wants sports to resume," he said. "The question is what are the risks [of resuming] and how are those risks being mitigated."
World Health Organization wants investment in health prevention
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, has been talking about how countries must learn from this pandemic.
He wants countries to invest in health prevention, which he says is cheaper and better than reacting after people are ill.
"Investing in health now will save lives later," he said.
Can Poland's presidential election happen on Sunday? No one knows
Bundesliga chief stresses 'great responsibility' to implement safety rules in league reopening
"Today's decision is good news for the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga," Christian Seifert, the managing director of the Bundesliga, said in a statement
This followed the news that the German government would allow the league to resume from mid-May.
Seifert highlighted "the great responsibility for the clubs and their employees to implement the medical and organisational requirements in a disciplined manner".
"Games without stadium spectators are not an ideal solution for anyone," Seifert said. "In a crisis threatening the very existence of some clubs, however, it is the only way to keep the leagues in their current form.
Pope Francis praises migrant farm workers as Italy debates their legalisation
Germany's Bundesliga football league to reopen from mid-May: Merkel
The German government has authorised the Bundesliga football league to resume from mid-May, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.
Belgium to reopen shops from 11 May
US private sector lost 20,2 million jobs in April
Coronavirus: Meet the EU nationals left homeless and hungry by London's lockdown
Qatar Airways to lay off staff due to the coronavirus crisis
Macron announces measures for France's culture sector
Coronavirus: French mayors criticise government decision to reopen primary schools
French President Emmanuel Macron has come under fire for sending young children back to school as part of an easing of lockdown restrictions.
France will reopen primary schools on a voluntary basis from Monday, May 11.
But many local officials have criticised the government, saying there's not enough time before that date to put in place social distancing and health measures.
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NYC's subways shut down for virus cleaning
Spain to declare state of mourning over virus
Spanish Prime Minster Pedro Sánchez said on Wednesday that his government will declare a national state of mourning for the more than 25,800 deaths the European nation has suffered from the coronavirus pandemic.
Sánchez appeared before Spain’s Parliament on Wednesday to ask for a fourth two-week extension of the state of emergency that has allowed his government to apply a strict lockdown that has reined in a savage COVID-19 outbreak. It appears he will have the support despite losing the backing of the main opposition party.
Spanish health authorities reported 244 new deaths over the previous 24 hours on Wednesday, taking the toll of virus fatalities to 25,857.
The figures, which are in line with the overall slowdown of the outbreak in Spain, don’t include thousands more who have died in nursing homes before they could be tested.
Spain also reports that its total number of confirmed infections surpassed 253,000.
Sánchez said that he would specify when the national mourning will be held as the country emerges from a lockdown that has reduced the infection rate to under 1%. Some small shops slowly started to reopen this week.
“We have won a partial victory against the virus thanks to the sacrifice of all,” Sánchez said. “But raising the state of alarm now would be a complete error.”
Czech study finds few undetected coronavirus infections
An economic shock 'without precedent since the Great Depression' - EU Economy Commissioner
EU growth map for 2020 and 2021
EU forecasts 'recession of historic proportions' for 2020
'The only thing I had in my mind: run': Italians go walkabout for first time in two months
Germany 'may loosen lockdown restrictions'
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is meeting Wednesday with the governors of the country’s 16 states to discuss further loosening restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
With the number of new cases in Germany averaging around 1,000 in recent days, pressure to relax the rules further has grown. Business leaders in particular have warned that the economy could suffer long-term damage from the lockdown, which has been light compared to some other European countries.
German media reported Wednesday that a draft plan would give states significant room to reopen all schools, hotels and restaurants, but require them to clamp down swiftly on any big outbreaks.
British epidemiologist stands down over breaking social distancing rules
Professor Neil Ferguson, who has been heavily involved in Britain's lockdown strategy, has resigned as a government advisor after breaking social distancing rules.
Ferguson, an epidemiologist, said he “made an error of judgment” and regrets “any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing.”
His statement came after the Telegraph reported he had allowed his married lover to visit him at home during the lockdown.
Disabled are hardest hit by virus, says UN
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the world’s one billion people with disabilities are among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Guterres said in a video and report Wednesday that the coronavirus crisis is revealing the extent of exclusion that the most marginalized members of society experience.
If disabled people contract COVID-19, Guterres said, “many are more likely to develop severe health conditions, which may result in death.”
He said: “The share of COVID-19 related deaths in care homes — where older people with disabilities are overrepresented — ranges from 19 percent to an astonishing 72 percent.”
... and that could be bad news
An analysis by the Associated Press published Wednesday found that the known infection rate in the U.S. was rising fast even as lockdowns are lifted in some states.
New confirmed infections per day in the U.S. exceed 20,000, and deaths per day are well over 1,000, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. Public health officials warn that the failure to flatten the curve and drive down the infection rate in places could lead to many more deaths — perhaps tens of thousands — as people are allowed to venture out.
“Make no mistakes: This virus is still circulating in our community, perhaps even more now than in previous weeks” said Linda Ochs, director of the Health Department in Shawnee County, Kansas.