Record-high daily coronavirus cases in Germany, Italy sees downward trend

The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries, reported Xinhua.

BERLIN

Germany reported a record 23,679 COVID-19 infections within one day, bringing the total to 1.24 million, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the federal government agency for disease control and prevention, announced on Thursday.

The number of deaths related to COVID-19 in the country increased by 440 within one day to a tally of 20,372, according to the RKI. Germany witnessed a new record of 590 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday.

"The number of cases has been on a high plateau for weeks, and we are currently even seeing an increase in the number of cases again," said Lothar Wieler, president of the RKI, during a press conference, describing the development as "worrying."

Wieler warned that the situation was "extremely fragile," as the number of COVID-19 cases in Germany could quickly rise exponentially again. "We have to prevent this," he stressed.

London

Another 20,964 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,787,783, according to official figures released Thursday.

The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 516 to 63,082, the data showed.

Also on Thursday, British Health Secretary Mitt Hancock told a virtual press conference at Downing Street that mass testing will start from next week for secondary school-age children in the areas of London, Essex and Kent, which were worst impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, all secondary schools and colleges in Wales will move to online learning from Monday, Welsh Education Minister Kirsty Williams said.

PARIS

As the downward trend in daily COVID-19 infections has been flattening, museums, cinemas and theaters in France would remain closed for three more weeks with a night-time movement ban to be introduced to abort a potential third wave, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday.

"We are not yet at the end of this second wave," Castex warned. "We cannot let down our guard. We have to stay focused and find our way through the next few weeks with lots of vigilance."

On Thursday, France reported 13,750 new COVID-19 cases, down from 14,595 registered a day before, while the deaths increased by 292 in one day.

Since the epidemic outbreak, over 2.3 million people in the country have tested positive, of whom 56,940 have died.

ROME

Italy recorded 16,999 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, confirming a downward trend in infections seen since late November, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

On the same day, the total number of people who have recovered since the outbreak of the pandemic in late February exceeded one million. Another 30,099 recoveries were recorded on a daily basis, pushing the total to 1,027,994.

Thursday also saw 887 new fatalities, which brought the country's death toll to 62,626.

Official statistics showed active infections dropped by 13,988 compared to Wednesday, bringing total active cases to 696,527. Overall, Italy's number of assessed COVID-19 cases reached 1,787,147.