TOP HEADLINES

- French Prime Minister Jean Castex has revealed all French students aged six or over will be required to wear masks at school as part of a new national lockdown that comes into force at midnight on Thursday.

- The lockdown, confirmed by President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, means people will only be allowed to leave their homes for work, school or medical reasons until the end of November.

- Face masks and limits on numbers are important, but good ventilation technology is the key to reducing the risk of the virus spreading at public events indoors, according to a German study.

- Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday that the number of daily COVID-19 cases may be significant next week due to protests against an abortion ruling last week.

- Twenty-nine percent of adults in Britain worked from home last week, the highest proportion since July, according to a survey by the Office for National Statistics.

- Greece will introduce further restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday, as further lockdowns were imposed in the country's northern and central regions.

- Germany will enter a 'light lockdown' on November 2. Bars and pubs will close, while restaurants will remain open for takeaways only. Gyms, theaters and cinemas will also shut.

- German Chancellor Angela Merkel says intensive care units risk being overwhelmed in a few weeks due to a surge in cases, prompting her decision to introduce new measures.

- The spread of COVID-19 continues to increase across all parts of England with cases doubling every nine days, according to a new study by Imperial College London.

- The UK government believes it can control the virus and avoid a national lockdown by using tough local measures, said housing minister Robert Jenrick.

- Jenrick has also warned that police could break up large family gatherings at Christmas and said they were right to enforce restrictions on socializing. 

- French health minister Olivier Veran said on Thursday that he could not rule out a third wave of the COVID-19 virus.

- Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller told public television that daily COVID-19 case rises could hit 20,000 by Thursday or Friday.

- EU leaders aim to make progress on common testing and vaccination strategies at a video conference on Thursday.

ACROSS EUROPE

Andrew Wilson in London

The latest research in England has found that approximately 100,000 people are now catching COVID-19 every day, with 128 per 10,000 thought to be infected. 

The R rate in England is now around 1.6 but there are higher rates in some regions, with new infections doubling every nine days.

Infections are still highest amongst younger people but percentages in over-55s are catching up fast. Cases in the north-east remain highest but the rates in the south are now accelerating faster.

This will increase pressure on Downing Street to take further measures, and there are already predictions that areas in the south are on the verge of going into tier three restrictions.

Concerns about tough restrictions at Christmas are increasing across the country.

Stefan de Vries in Amsterdam

On Wednesday, the number of registered infections in the Netherlands dropped to 8,123, considerably less than the previous day, but that is believed to be the result of a technical malfunction encountered by the RIVM Health Institute.

In December, seven new so-called Extra Large Test Locations will open throughout the country. The centers will be built and manned by the military. A thousand troops are currently being trained to carry out the tests. 

In addition to the normal PCR-tests, rapid tests will also be available there. Also, businesses will be allowed to open on-site test centers. From November, the goal is to have four million tests available each month for a nation with almost 18 million inhabitants.

Trent Murray in Frankfurt

Germany will be placed under partial lockdown for one month from Monday, with Angela Merkel managing to convince state leaders to sign up to the plan. The measures will see restaurants and bars closed except for takeaway service. Gyms, cinemas and theaters will close and domestic tourism will effectively shut down, with hotels instructed not to accept bookings unless the guest can prove they're traveling for essential reasons. 

Chancellor Merkel will today speak in parliament on the new measures. At her Wednesday press conference, she said: "These are harsh measures. These are tough measures. These are measures for the whole country. But we must act and we must act now to prevent a national health emergency. We don't want to get into that kind of emergency and so we must take action."

Toni Waterman in Brussels

Medical staff in the Belgian city of Liege are staging a demonstration today, demanding more support staff as hospitals fill once again with COVID-19 patients. In the last week, 749 people were admitted to hospitals in Liege and 169 patients are in the ICU, according to the public health institute Sciensano. 

The institute has now given hospitals permission to recall medical staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, but who are showing no symptoms if no other options are available. 

Meanwhile, a ministerial decree was issued overnight to harmonize the varying COVID-19 measures across Belgium's different regions. New measures could be introduced nationwide on Friday, which are expected to mostly focus on the hospitality sector and shops. 

But given the continued spike in new infections, a lockdown can't be ruled out. The Walloon government has already warned it could impose its own lockdown if the federal government fails to do so. 

Belgium reported 21,048 new cases in 24 hours, with an average of 69.3 deaths a day in the past week, an increase of 35.7 percent from the previous week. 

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