TOP HEADLINES

Spain has recorded its biggest one-day death toll on Wednesday, with 864 fatalities in the previous 24 hours and the total number of deaths stands at 9,053.

Vladimir Putin is now working remotely as part of social distancing measures, say Russian authorities, while a phone app has been launched to track people told to stay at home.

The UK plans to increase the number of coronavirus tests to 25,000 daily by the middle of April from its current capacity of 12,750 a day.

Italy will extend anti-coronavirus lockdown restrictions until 13 April, Health Minister Roberto Speranza confirms. 

Lockdown and social distancing could be slowing the spread of the virus in the UK, according to preliminary findings from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

French car registrations drop 72 percent due to the pandemic. 

The UK's Wimbledon tennis championships has been cancelled for the first time since World War II.

A 13-year-old boy has died in London after testing positive said King's College Hospital. 

Germany is set to extend social distancing until at least the end of the Easter holidays, says broadcaster n-tv with Chancellor Angela Merkel in talks with regional states on Wednesday.

The Spanish government has agreed new measures to protect families and workers – including the self employed. People renting can now apply for state loans of up to six monthly payments. 

Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa has warned of "one, two, three months" of restrictions on movement as the death toll rises to 187 in the country.

Germany has had a retail sales boom as households stock up on daily essentials – sales jumped 6.4 percent in February.

The Red Cross in Austria has launched a smartphone app called Stopp Corona, on which people make an anonymous digital diary of who they have come into contact with. If someone then tests positive, all their contacts can be made aware.

France is transfering 38 critically ill coronavirus patients by high-speed train from Paris to less overwhelmed regions.

Italy's manufacturing activity plunged in March at the sharpest rate for 11 years. It fell to 40.3 from 48.7 in February on the IHS Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI).

ACROSS EUROPE

Guy Henderson and Ira Spitzer in Berlin 

Germany's rate of infection is doubling every six days, compared with every three days in the UK.

The aim is to flatten that curve further, to every 10 days. Until then, Germany's lockdown measures are likely to remain in place.

There has been some praise for the efficiency of financial support measures here, with individuals and businesses reporting money arriving in their bank accounts within days of applying. In Berlin alone, more than €500 million ($547 million) has already been distributed. The finance ministry is promising further support to businesses that redirect their efforts to addressing supply shortages of essential equipment, such as face masks.

There's a global shortage of them. Germany mask manufacturer Dräger says it's received an order of "tens of millions" from the U.S.

The German farmers' association has warned that some fruit and vegetables could become more expensive and harder to find with the country's borders closed to seasonal foreign workers because of coronavirus. Normally around 300,000 seasonal workers come to Germany's fields every year, mostly from other European countries, such as Romania. 

The city of Jena became the first German city to require people to cover their mouths while shopping or taking public transportation to try to slow the spread of the virus. Given the shortage of protective masks, the city said scarves or towels are acceptable alternatives. The move has sparked a nationwide debate on the effectiveness of the measures, and whether they could spread to the rest of the country. 

The German airline Lufthansa will cut the working hours of around 87,000 employees – two-thirds of its global staff. The airline has grounded around 95 percent of its fleet because of the coronavirus crisis. Lufthansa also confirmed it is asking the German government for financial assistance.

Ross Cullen in Paris

The first transfer of patients from the Paris capital Ile-de-France region to healthcare facilities elsewhere in the country, is happening on Wednesday. As authorities face up to a shortage of intensive-care beds and critical medical supplies. 

The patients will be moved by a specially adapted TGV high-speed train to Brittany, where there is more capacity to deal with those suffering from the disease.

Patients from the east of the country – a region where many facilities are overwhelmed with cases – have already been moved to other areas in France and even abroad, to Germany. It comes after France set another unwanted record on Tuesday as 499 people died – the highest number of people losing their lives in a 24-hour period so far.

Isobel Ewing in Budapest

According to the government's official coronavirus task force, police have taken action in nearly 1,000 cases related to the lockdown, which came into force on Saturday. Police have handed out 800 warnings, 13 fines and reported 90 people for breaches of the rules.

Personal protective equipment is now available to all Hungarian hospital medical staff and patients, according to military commanders stationed at hospitals.

It comes after Hungary received a large shipment of protective gear from China, following reports that front-line staff did not have adequate protection.

The border at Balassagyarmat in northern Hungary has been reopened, after an agreement with Slovakia that commuters be allowed to pass back and forth.

Commuters between Austria and Hungary will also be able to cross the Austro-Hungarian border from Wednesday.

On Tuesday, nine members of the Hungarian swim team and its support network were diagnosed with the coronavirus, according to a statement issued by the Hungarian Swim Federation. This number is expected to increase as more results are expected on Wednesday. A total of 130 people were tested. 

Budapest is using George Soros's one million euros ($1.1 million) donation to test the city's medical staff and those working in the social support system.

Each household in Budapest's District VI will be given a washable face mask – the intention is that most people stay at home, hence one per household.

Toni Waterman in Brussels

Belgium has received another shipment of medical supplies from the Jack Ma and Alibaba Foundations. This latest donation included 800 ventilators, 300,000 mouth masks and 300,000 protective hospital gowns. More than 50 percent of Belgium's intensive care beds are occupied due to the coronavirus, although some hospitals say they are near their saturation point. 

Anyone caught spitting at police or on food products could now face hefty fines and jail time in Belgium. Several police officers say they have been spat on by people claiming to be infected with COVID-19. Offenders now face a fine up to €2,400 ($2,625) and two years in prison for spitting at law enforcement officials and a fine of €16,000 ($17,502) and up to five years in prison for spitting on food products.

Meanwhile, Belgium's Central Council of Penitentiary Surveillance is calling for "all prisoners who can be released" to be released from the country's overcrowded prisons during the outbreak. In an email statement to The Brussels Times, the CCSP president said prisons were holding 9,981 inmates but only had capacity for 9,219. 

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

From CGTN America: U.S. Open tennis site to house temporary hospital

From CGTN Africa: Number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Djibouti rises to 30

From CGTN China: President Xi stresses coordination of virus controls and the economy

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.

Source(s): Reuters