Britain’s confirmed tally of hospital deaths among people with the coronavirus has topped 20,000, making it the fifth country to reach the grim milestone.
The government says 20,319 people with COVID-19 have died in British hospitals, an increase of 813 from the day before. The figure doesn’t include deaths in nursing homes, which are likely to number in the thousands.
Britain is the fourth European country after Italy, Spain and France to reach 20,000 deaths. The United States has recorded more than 50,000 coronavirus fatalities.
There are signs the U.K. outbreak has peaked, with the number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus declining. But the government says it is too soon to ease a nationwide lockdown imposed on March 23 and extended to May 7.
Still, some businesses are planning to reopen after implementing social distancing measures. Several automakers say they will restart production in May.
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MADRID — Spain’s health authorities say 2,944 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed in the previous 24 hours, taking the total to nearly 206,000 cases.
Authorities say the daily figure is a 1.5% increase from Friday, compared to over 20% from a month before. There were 378 reported deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll since the start of the pandemic in Spain to nearly 23,000.
“The recent tendency of the evolution of the pandemic appears to hold true, each day improving a bit, but it is important to not fall into excessive euphoria,” Spanish health official Fernando Simón said. “We must be prudent. We have to develop ways to transition (out of lockdown), but first we must guarantee our security capabilities.”
On Sunday, Spanish children under 14 years old can go outside with a parent for a maximum of one hour and within one kilometer from home. They’ve been indoors since March 14. Parks and schools remain closed.
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ROME — Italians celebrated the 75th anniversary of their country’s liberation from World War II occupation forces by emerging on balconies or rooftops to sing a folk song linked to resistance fighters.
Italy will start distributing free protective masks to nursing homes, many of which have been devastated by coronavirus infections and deaths.
Domenico Arcuri, the government’s commissioner for the pandemic, says doing so is a “gesture of solidarity and nearness and support to these places ever more at the epicenter of this great crisis.”
Arcuri says free masks also will be distributed to public officials, transport workers and police. Millions of Italians will be allowed to return to workplaces starting on May 4, when lockdown restrictions will be considerably eased.
Italy, with some 26,000 reported deaths, most of them of elderly persons, has Europe’s highest toll from COVID-19. In Lombardy, Italy’s most stricken region, prosecutors are investigating about two dozen homes, including one in Milan where some 200 residents died.