The European Parliament (EP) is currently locked in negotiations with the European Council over approving the bloc's €1.8 trillion budget.

Hans Kluge told an emergency meeting that the health workforce was as big a problem now as a lack of ventilators and personal protective equipment was in March.

Russia has allowed thousands of people to attend sporting events in recent weeks including Champions League games and an F1 race.

The EU is "deep in the second wave" of the COVID19 pandemic, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday. Within hours, France and Germany both announced lockdowns.

The outbreak came despite the government last week ordering all birds on poultry farms to be kept indoors after tests confirmed a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza in two dead wild swans.

Protests continued in Poland this week after a court imposed a near-ban on abortion.

With elections looming at the weekend, Georgia's political and economic progress to date could be at the stake as it comes under increasing pressure from private interests and malign Russian influence.

Hundreds of Czechs are in training to become healthcare volunteers as a new wave of COVID-19 threatens to overwhelm hospitals.

Scientists at Imperial College London estimated that there are about 96,000 new cases of COVID-19 in England every day and that the outbreak is doubling every nine days.