UK records over 50,000 COVID-19 cases overnight for 1st time

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

LONDON

Britain recorded more than 50,000 coronavirus cases overnight for the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world, according to official figures released Tuesday.

Another 53,135 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, marking a new record daily increase in coronavirus cases in the country, according to the official figures. The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 2,382,865, the data showed.

Another 414 have died within 28 days of a positive test, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain to 71,567, the data showed.

LISBON

Portugal registered another 3,336 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the national tally to 400,002.

According to the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), the country's death toll rose by 74 within one day to 6,751.

The DGS epidemiological bulletin also showed 2,930 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, 37 fewer than on Monday. Of them, 486 were in intensive care units, down by 17.

STOCKHOLM

Nearly 3,000 people have been turned away at the Swedish-Danish border in the first week after Sweden introduced an entry ban from neighboring Denmark, Swedish Television reported on Tuesday.

Most were stopped while trying to cross the Oresund bridge by car from Denmark to southern Sweden and long queues have formed on the bridge, where so far over 200 people have been told to return to Denmark per day. Normally, border police reject around 100 people per week, according to the report.

"We urge travelers not to try to enter Sweden unless they absolutely have to. The border police are under a lot of strain and anyone trying to cross risks waiting in a long queue only to be told they have to turn back," Anders Wiberg, head of the police unit in southern Sweden in charge of handling the entry ban, told the Swedish Television.

COPENHAGEN

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced on Tuesday the extension of the current nationwide lockdown until Jan. 17.

"Let me say it very clearly," she told journalists. "The situation with infection rates and hospitalizations is more serious now than it was in the spring."

Shopping centers, schools, restaurants and bars are currently closed across most of Denmark until Jan. 3, but with the country on Monday registering a record 30 deaths due to coronavirus, some or all of these restrictions are likely to be extended.

All public employees who do not deliver critical services are required to work from home and the prime minister called on all private companies to also move to remote work.