TOP HEADLINES
- Belgium will let shops reopen from Tuesday, but keep other curbs over the festive period, while Czechia will allow restaurants and non-essential shops to reopen on Thursday. Italy has eased anti-COVID restrictions in five regions, as Ireland allows shops, restaurants, gyms and pubs serving food to reopen from Tuesday, and England replaces a national lockdown with tiered local restrictions from December 2.
- Infections have come down in England by 30 percent during its national lockdown, a large-scale study of more than 100,000 volunteers has shown.
- Moderna will apply for European and U.S. emergency authorization for its vaccine on Monday after late-stage trial results showed it was 94.1% effective with no serious safety concerns.
- German Amazon warehouse workers are set to strike for the second time in a week, disrupting Black Friday discount shopping sales to demand better pay and working conditions amid the pandemic.
- Austria's economy grew by 12 percent in the third quarter compared with the second after activity picked up following the easing of pandemic-related restrictions, its statistics office has announced.
- France's top health advisory body has recommended vaccinations should target retirement home residents and their staff first when doses reach the country.
- British minister Robert Jenrick said he was relaxing rules to allow shops to stay open for longer over the festive season as Prime Minister Boris Johnson shared hopes UK regulators would approve leading vaccine candidates before Christmas.
- Italy's government has approved a new $9.6 billion stimulus package to help out businesses affected by the latest round of anti-coronavirus restrictions.
- Russia is set to start mass trials of its second coronavirus vaccine, EpiVacCorona, on people aged over 18 on Monday.
- Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany could face a third wave of coronavirus infections if citizens are careless in the coming weeks.
- Napoli soccer coach Gennaro Gattuso is concerned about the number of people not wearing masks during the mourning for Diego Maradona, as thousands of Neapolitans defied lockdown to pay their respects to the club hero following his death last week.
AROUND EUROPE
Stefan de Vries in Amsterdam
With stores in Belgium closed, shoppers are crossing the Dutch border to do their shopping, leading to big crowds in cities and shopping centers in the south of the Netherlands.
Now, some Dutch mayors would now like to close the border to Belgian consumers. However, the mayor of Maastricht, the biggest city in the south of the Netherlands, has called such a ban unacceptable, reminding people how troublesome it was when the border for the Dutch closed during the first lockdown this year.
In the meantime, medical specialists are concerned about the stagnating decline of infections. The period in which more than 1,000 new patients with the coronavirus are admitted to hospital every week is already three weeks longer than during the first wave in the spring. The number of patients admitted to hospital has been falling for a couple of weeks, but not fast enough. On Sunday, the Netherlands registered 5,609 positive tests, an increase of 1,110 cases compared with the day before.
Trent Murray in Frankfurt
The latest data from Germany's Robert Koch Institute indicate there have been 11,169 new infections recorded, as well as 125 deaths over the past 24 hours. Over the space of seven days last week, 2,136 people died from the virus, a significant jump on the previous week's 1,535 deaths.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will today meet with members of her cabinet to discuss the ongoing crisis.
Germany's partial lockdown was due to end this week, but in light of the continued spike in cases, it has been extended until at least December 20. In her weekend podcast, Merkel said: "We can be proud of what we have achieved in the past 10 months. It is worthwhile for us to continue to stick to the rules because together we will be stronger than the virus."
Error loading player: No playable sources found
00:19
Toni Waterman in Brussels
The number of coronavirus patients in hospital is back below 4,000 for the first time in six weeks, easing pressure on Belgium's healthcare system. The number of daily infections also continues to decline, with an average of 2,390 new infections recorded per day last week.
As weeks of lockdown bring the second wave to heel in Belgium, the government on Friday said it would ease restrictions ever so slightly over the holiday season. From Tuesday, all non-essential shops will be allowed to reopen, but with limits on capacity. Museums and swimming pools can also reopen, but the easing stops there. Restaurants, bars, salons and gyms must all keep their shutters down until at least 15 January.
Ross Cullen in Paris
Non-essential shops have now reopened in France as coronavirus restrictions ease. The personal movement limit was also extended, allowing people now to travel up to 20 kilometers from their homes for a period of up to three hours. A study has shown that one in 10 French people has left their main residence for a second home away from cities during this second lockdown. A million more people fled the big cities than during the first lockdown.
France's highest court, the Council of State, has given the government three days to review its 30-person limit in places of worship. Several Christian organizations appealed to the council to challenge the limit, saying it did not take into account the size of churches. Most major mosques in and around Paris decided to remain closed. Rectors denounced the 30-person restriction as "unmanageable."
Linda Kennedy in Budapest
An online and mail-based registration system for a coronavirus vaccine is set to be launched in Hungary, the government has said, so that people can register, make a reservation and be among the first to receive the vaccine.
Also, the Russian minister of health visited Hungary over the weekend and discussed the testing of the Russian vaccine. It's reported that Mikhail Murashko offered to allow Hungarian experts to test the vaccine in Russian labs as early as Tuesday, December 1. Meanwhile, the number of new infections in Hungary over a 24-hour period at the weekend was 6,819 – an increase on the average daily total of around 4,000.
Austria's economy grew by 12% in the third quarter compared with second after pandemic-related restrictions were eased. /Georg Hochmuth/APA/AFP
Austria's economy grew by 12% in the third quarter compared with second after pandemic-related restrictions were eased. /Georg Hochmuth/APA/AFP
FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES
CGTN Europe special: The Alps - Timeless and changing
CGTN China: Chinese mainland reports 18 new COVID-19 cases
CGTN America: Passengers defy health warnings against flying for U.S Thanksgiving
CGTN Africa: Africa's confirmed COVID-19 cases pass 2.15 million mark
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.
Source(s): Reuters
,AFP