TOP HEADLINES

· London Mayor Sadiq Khan has asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ban people from different households mixing in the British capital, The Guardian reported on Friday.

· Czechia will tighten restrictions on public activities and gatherings next week, health minister Roman Prymula announced on Friday.

· As the Netherlands hit a daily record of 2,777 cases on Friday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte described the country's second wave as "very worrying," adding new restrictive measures will be required. 

· Hungary plans to help its economic recovery from the pandemic by reducing taxes and boosting investments, prime minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.

· The Spanish government has recommended reintroducing a partial lockdown on all of Madrid city as the country's total tally of confirmed infections passed 700,000.

· Switzerland has added several countries – including the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal – to its high-risk list of countries and regions, meaning arrivals must quarantine for 10 days.

· The Welsh government has announced local lockdown restrictions for the capital Cardiff and the country's second-largest city Swansea.

· Italy's state lender CDP has created a National Tourism Fund that will invest up to $2.3 billion in its hard-hit hotel sector.

· The UK's reproduction R number of infections has risen to a range of 1.2-1.5, up from last week's figure of 1.1 to 1.4, as a new study found that more than 80 percent of people in Britain are not adhering to self-isolation guidelines.

· Poland and Slovakia have reported record daily figures of new cases – 1,578 and 419 respectively.

· AC Milan soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has tested coronavirus-positive but responded on Twitter: "COVID had the courage to challenge me. Bad idea."

AROUND EUROPE

Lucy Hough in Brussels

Concern is mounting that Belgium has decided to roll back its coronavirus measures, despite turning red on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warning color scheme. This means there are more than 120 infections for every 100,000 of the population. 

Belgium has relaxed rules on close social contact and face masks, making them only mandatory in crowded places from 1 October. By comparison, France has brought in strict limits on social contact and introduced a curfew in more than a dozen cities where bars and restaurants will be forced to close by 10pm local time. 

The University of Leuven has now become Belgium's fifth university to advise its students not to give in to the relaxation of the rules. 

Isobel Ewing in Budapest

It's estimated there might be up to 270,000 coronavirus cases in Hungary, a country of just under 10 million. That's approximately 10 times more than the officially recorded number of active cases.

Experts in Hungary believe the detection rate of coronavirus has likely fallen during the second wave due to infections among asymptomatic young people.

A further source of uncertainty around the number of real cases is the likelihood that Hungary is at maximum testing capacity due to limited resources.

Hungary's coronavirus taskforce on Friday said 29 hospitals have been dedicated to taking COVID-19 patients, 10 of which are in Budapest, to treat moderate and severe patients.

In the past 24 hours police have taken action against 133 people for failing to comply with mandatory mask-wearing regulations.

Nawied Jabarkhyl in London

The economic cost of COVID-19 is rising sharply in the UK. The government borrowed almost $46 billion in August to try to deal with the fallout of the pandemic, almost seven times the amount of public borrowing in August last year.

Meanwhile, American biotech firm Novavax said it has started the final trial phase for its coronavirus vaccine in the UK. It's looking to enrol up to 10,000 volunteers aged between 18 and 84 over the next six weeks to take part in the Phase 3 trial.

Hermione Kitson in Pisa

The number of new coronavirus infections has risen in Italy, a day after schools reopened nationally. The health minister reported 1,786 new cases in the past 24 hours and 23 deaths. 

Unlike neighboring countries such as France and Spain, Italy has so far managed to stave off a significant second wave of infection. Experts say this is due to Italy's gradual easing of lockdown measures, public compliance and effective testing. 

On Tuesday a record 103,696 swabs were carried out, the highest number in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic. However, the real test will be in the coming weeks after schools reopened on a national level for the first time in six months. 

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

CGTN China: Chinese consulate: Pompeo's spy allegation is vicious slander

CGTN America: The Heat: COVID-19 soars in US, UK and India

CGTN Africa: Human rights groups sue Kenya over COVID-19 curfew killings

Sign up here to get the COVID-19 Europe bulletin sent directly to your inbox

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.