TOP HEADLINES

· The Netherlands has restarted transferring COVID-19 patients to Germany as its hospitals come under increasing strain from a second wave of COVID-19 infections. The Flevo hospital in Almere airlifted two of its intensive care patients to a hospital in Munster, around 65 km (40 miles) east of the Dutch-German border. Infections in the Netherlands have reached a record high almost every day since mid-September and jumped to a new peak of almost 10,000 on Friday.

· Wearing face masks will be compulsory in crowded outdoor areas in Portugal after a new ruling by the country's parliament on Friday. The measure covers all residents aged 10 and over when they cannot keep a physical distance from people. Breaking the rules will lead to a fine of between $118 and $591. On Thursday, the country had recorded 3,270 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily figure since the pandemic started.

· Filming in Venice of Mission Impossible 7 with Tom Cruise has been temporarily suspended due to a suspected case of COVID-19 among the film crew. According to Italian media reports, more than 100 extras were told there was a suspected case of the virus among the U.S. crew and that filming would be postponed to a later date.

· Italy has registered 19,143 new coronavirus infections, a jump of more than 3,000 within the past 24 hours. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is considering new restrictive measures, which could be announced over the weekend, but as of Friday, he continued to rule out a generalized lockdown. There were 91 new fatalities on Friday, bringing the total death toll to more than 37,000.

· Belgium has further tightened COVID-19 restrictions on social contacts, banning fans from sporting events, closing theme parks and limiting the number of people to 200 in cultural spaces such as theaters, concert halls and cinemas. The country has Europe's third highest infection rate per capita.

· Czechia registered 14,151 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, according to latest health ministry data. The country is experiencing one of the biggest surges in new coronavirus infections, with recent reports suggesting hospitals are three weeks from being overwhelmed.

· The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany have increased by more than 10,000 for a second successive day, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases. There were 11,242 new infections in the previous 24 hours, taking the total to 403,291. The death toll rose by 49 to 9,954.

· France has extended curfews to around two-thirds of its population. Prime Minister Jean Castex announced measures would be extended to 38 more regions, including the cities of Reims and Strasbourg, confining 46 million to their homes between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. 

· Greece will impose a curfew in areas most affected by COVID-19, including Athens. The Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said movement would be banned from Saturday between 12.30 a.m. and 5 a.m. in locations deemed high-risk.

· Ukraine has registered a daily record of 7,517 COVID-19 cases, the national security council said. The total number of fatalities rose by 121 to a total of 6,164. The government recently extended lockdown measures to the end of 2020.

· Spain's regional authorities have failed to reach a broad curfew agreement but several areas are imposing them anyway. Navarre and Rioja have already brought in such measures to prevent the virus's spread and Madrid will decide its next step today.

· A UK sewage survey program in south-west England will be extended to 90 wastewater sites as the environment minister George Eustice said it was "a significant step forward in giving us a clearer indication of infection rates." The extended survey will cover 22 percent of the country.

· Slovakia will shut most of its schools for a month from Monday and require the population to stay home apart from traveling to work, essential shopping and for exercise. After getting through the pandemic's first wave with one of the lowest infection rates in Europe, Slovakia is facing a new surge of cases. "This is the last way to avoid a total lockdown," said Prime Minister Igor Matovic.

ACROSS EUROPE

Paul Barber in London

Tougher COVID-19 restrictions are coming into force across the UK as the country grapples with its second wave. In Wales, a two-week "firebreak" lockdown starts this evening, with people having to stay indoors and work from home whenever possible and all non-essential shops and services closing.

The Scottish government is announcing details of its new five-tier alert system of coronavirus restrictions. It adds two levels to the three tiers used in England and will be operational from November 2.

Meanwhile, Greater Manchester's 2.8 million people have woken up this morning under the strictest English "Tier 3" restrictions. There are reports that Nottingham could be next, with hospitals in the city canceling non-urgent appointments.

Later on Friday, the latest national infection survey results and reproduction, or R, rate numbers and growth rates will be published.

Toni Waterman in Brussels

Belgium has once again tightened restrictions less than a week after the last round came into force. Effective immediately, all higher education lecture halls cannot exceed 20 percent occupancy. There is an exception made for first-year bachelor students. Audiences will no longer be able to attend sporting events, whether professional or not and all theme parks are now closed.

Belgium reported 16,746 new infections in the past 24 hours. Nine out of the 10 Belgian provinces are now at the highest alert level (Phase 4) and all hospitals have been told to postpone non-emergency procedures. They also have to set aside 60 percent of their ICU beds for COVID-19 patients by November 2.

Trent Murray in Frankfurt

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has reported 11,242 new COVID-19 cases in Germany. That's just shy of Thursday's all-time record of 11,287. It brings Germany's total number of cases throughout the pandemic to more than 400,000 – still less than half the number in France and Spain.

The government has also updated its travel advice, notably adding the UK to its list of "high-risk" zones.

Germany's neighbors Poland and Czechia are also suffering a major spike in cases. Lothar Wieler, president of the RKI, said there was capacity in German hospitals to help other countries if needed.

"I believe we would be in a position to do so but I'm not sure this is currently happening. I do know that patients from the Netherlands are currently being treated in Germany and I know that there are requests from several countries," he told reporters on Thursday.

"But I can't tell you which countries these are. [But] yes, there is still capacity," he added. 

Jens Spahn, the federal health minister, still remains in isolation after testing positive for the virus. The government says there is little risk of him infecting colleagues, despite meeting fellow members of the cabinet earlier this week, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, because social distancing was maintained at meetings.

Stefan de Vries in Amsterdam

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, there were more than 9,000 positive tests in one day in the Netherlands. There are now 2003 people in hospital, 463 of them are in intensive care. With Dutch hospitals now becoming saturated, several patients will be transported to facilities in nearby Germany on Friday.

The army will start building seven fast-track COVID-19 test facilities throughout the country. Each facility will be able to test 2,500 to 5,000 people per day. The results will be known in just 15 minutes, instead of 24 or even 48 hours currently. People who test negative can then continue working without losing time waiting for results. It also means that people who are infected can be isolated more quickly, making it easier to contain the spread of the virus.

Alex Fraser in Milan

A temporary hospital dedicated to COVID-19 patients has reopened in a former exhibition center in Milan, as cases in the city continue to rise. Patients will be admitted on Friday. So far, 156 people with the coronavirus are in intensive care in the northern region of Lombardy.

At 11 p.m. Thursday, a nightly curfew began in Lombardy as the region tries to slow transmission of the virus. On Friday from midnight in the region of Lazio, where Italy's capital Rome is situated, people will also have to remain indoors at night.

Italy recorded 16,079 new positive tests on Thursday. National newspapers are reporting that if case numbers do not improve across the next seven days, harsher restrictions on people and movement could be imposed nationally.

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