TOP HEADLINES

- France has reported its worst daily death toll, 418, from COVID-19. The country has become the fifth to cross the 3,000 fatalities threshold after Italy, Spain, the U.S. and China. Later on Tuesday, president Emmanuel Macron announced plans to ramp up domestic production of face masks and respirators.

- Spain registered 849 COVID-19 fatalities overnight, the country's highest daily figure yet. Its death toll now stands at 8,189.

- A further 393 people with coronavirus have died in the UK in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,801 across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It was the UK's biggest daily total so far.

- A 12-year-old girl has died from the coronavirus in Belgium, making her Europe's youngest victim. She was one of 98 people who have died in the country in the past 24 hours.

- Poland will impose further curbs on public life to stop the spread of coronavirus, including closing parks, beaches, bike rentals, and other public places.

- Italy looks certain to remain under lockdown for at least two more weeks, according to officials, with the number of new coronavirus cases yet to show a decisive decline. Nearly 11,000 people have died, the world's highest death toll.

- A further 128 people have died from COVID-19 in Germany, bringing the total to 583, according to the Robert Koch Institute. Its president Lothar Wieler reiterated his optimism about flattening the infection curve.

- The UK government has announced a $92.4 million initiative to fly home Britons who are stranded abroad. 

- Sales of groceries in the UK in March beat all previous records as shoppers stocked up for a long period at home. According to consumer analysts Nielsen more than 79 million extra trips were made in the four weeks to 21 March - 42 million of them in just four days, according to rival analysts Kantar.

- British Airways is suspending all flights from London's Gatwick airport, the UK's second busiest. Paris-Orly, the second-busiest in France, has also announced it is to close over reduced passenger numbers.

- Sweden's GDP has shrunk by four percent this year - the biggest fall since the banking crisis in 2009 - as the economy slumps due to the coronavirus outbreak.

- Denmark, which has reported 77 coronavirus-related deaths, may gradually lift a lockdown after Easter if the numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths remain stable. 

- Spain's foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez has proposed increasing the European Union's budget to tackle coronavirus.

ACROSS EUROPE

By Guy Henderson in Berlin

Many Germans have been flouting the lockdown rules. Anecdotally, I have seen police officers passing by offenders.

Now several regional governments are drawing up fining regimes. In the capital Berlin, that may reportedly include paying between $55 and $550 for failing to keep a minimum distance of 1.5 meters in public. For anyone caught outside without good reason, $550 could also be the penalty. Non-essential businesses that fail to close could face a $11,000 charge.

The head of Germany's public health body, the Robert Koch Institute, says the restrictions could go on for "weeks and months." But this weekend, Lothar Wieler also said he had a holiday planned for August, which he still intended to take.

Officials want to halve the rate at which it doubles to once every ten days. At the moment, it's moving at around twice that speed. There is a risk that even Germany's strong healthcare system may struggle to cope if that continues. The below-average mortality rate is also rising here, particularly among the elderly and more vulnerable.

One city in Thuringia will make face masks mandatory in public spaces from next week. With a global supply shortage and the ongoing scourge of price surges, is that really a sensible policy? Experts are divided. Authorities in the city of Jena say if you can't find a proper mask – or if you can't afford one – use a scarf.

By Rahul Pathak in Madrid 

A day after the government said it wanted to "hibernate the economy" it says it now wants to help small business owners and the self-employed by having a moratorium on social security contributions.  

With new, even stricter, lockdown conditions coming into force on Monday, business activity in Spain has all but ground to a halt. Experts say with the state of emergency lasting four weeks it could cost the Spanish economy $53.7 billion.

Pedro Sanchez's administration is also considering new measures to help tenants to pay their rent as well as introduce financial relief to temporary workers who aren't eligible for unemployment benefits.

By Toni Waterman in Brussels 

Two new coronavirus fighting laws are set to hit the EU books on Tuesday. One allows member states to tap into $3.29 billion in unused funds to help support healthcare systems, labor markets and small and medium sized businesses. This is part of the $40.6 billion Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative.

The other new law amends the EU's Solidarity Fund, which is designed to help member states respond to natural disasters. This has now been amended to include public health emergencies. Both acts come into force on Wednesday. 

In Belgium, meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl has died from COVID-19, making her Europe's youngest victim. She was one of 98 people who have died in the country in the past 24 hours.

Some hospitals are on the verge of maxing out their intensive care beds as the number of people requiring around-the-clock specialized care increases. More than 50 percent of Belgium's intensive care beds are now occupied, but in some areas, the rate is much higher.  

The Belgian government is looking to issue bonds to raise the funds needed to cover emergency spending measures to cushion the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. No exact sum was given, but it will "run into billions," said the director of the Belgian Debt Agency. 

By Ross Cullen in Paris

French president Emmanuel Macron will visit a mask-making factory on Tuesday as the country focuses on getting specialist medical equipment to overburdened hospitals - especially in the regions of the Grand Est and Ile-de-France, which includes Paris. As more patients are brought into intensive care units, there is a squeeze on the number of beds available.

Millions more face masks were flown in overnight from China as part of the 'air bridge' bringing Chinese medical supplies to France. But as cargo flights continue, one passenger airport is closing. Paris-Orly is the second-busiest in France and is going to close on Tuesday until further notice due to the collapse in passenger numbers.

By Andrew Wilson in Oxford

It's becoming clearer that there is an issue with testing, both in the UK and worldwide. A shortage of key chemicals is hampering efforts to expand testing for COVID-19 and forcing officials to work on finding alternative components. 

The number of tests carried out on Sunday fell to just over 8,000 even though the government is aiming for 10,000 a day. By comparison Germany is looking to expand its testing from 500,000 a week to 200,000 a day.

Britain is preparing for its biggest peacetime repatriation operation, with plans to bring home up to 300,000 people left stranded abroad by the coronavirus lockdown. The government has allocated $92.4 million to charter hundreds of aircraft.

Deaths in the UK will continue to rise, according to the government's chief scientific advisor, but latest figures suggest the numbers are no longer accelerating. Sir Patrick Vallance says the current control measures may be starting to have a positive effect.

MARKETS AND BUSINESS

- Chair of the European Central Bank's supervisory board, Andrea Enria, has warned European banks to use "extreme moderation" in payment of bonuses. Enria said  the ECB could intervene if necessary.

- World stocks have rallied since the start of last week, but remain more than 20 percent down for the quarter. Britain’s FTSE last endured such a drop in 1987.

- Euro zone inflation plunged to 0.7 percent this month on crashing oil prices, signalling the start of a possible deflationary spiral as governments' coronavirus lockdowns trigger a dramatic slowdown in economic activity.

- Global airlines warned that many carriers may not survive the coronavirus crisis. Fresh quarterly estimates suggest airlines face a $61 billion cash burn and a $39 billion net loss during the current quarter, according to the head of the International Air Transport Association.

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

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CGTN Europe has been providing in-depth coverage of the novel coronavirus story as it has unfolded. Here you can read the essential information about the crisis.