TOP HEADLINES

• Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to announce tighter border controls "to the extent that you simply can't get anywhere anymore" following warnings from leading virologists that the move is vital to control the spread in the country of more contagious variants.

• Czechia's health ministry is to recommend halting new vaccinations for the next two weeks to prioritize giving second doses, due to supply delays.

• Madrid health authorities have suspended their vaccine roll-out this week and next as they are running out of doses, according to Ignacio Aguado, the region's deputy president. The area has administered 180,000 jabs since the campaign began.

• Britain is on a collision course with the EU over vaccine shortages, with Brussels believing its contract entitles it to a share of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab produced in UK plants. 

• The UK has recorded 1,725 COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours and a further 25,308 cases of the disease, according to official data. A total of 101,887 people have died from the virus in Britain.

• Switzerland will require negative coronavirus tests from people entering the country from high-risk areas as of February 8. The federal government says it will now pay for all coronavirus tests, including those for people without symptoms.

• Sweden, which has spurned a complete lockdown throughout the pandemic, has registered 4,183 new cases, according to official statistics. The country registered 178 new deaths, which have occurred over several days and weeks, taking the total to 11,425. 

• The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units in France exceeded 3,000 for the first time since December 9. There were also 417 more deaths in France yesterday, taking the country's total to 74,106.

• President Emmanuel Macron will host a meeting for senior ministers today to decide whether to impose a third national lockdown as more than 1 million people have now received a first dose of the vaccine.

• Global cases of COVID-19 have topped 100 million since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University. More than 2 million people worldwide have lost their lives to the virus.

• French drug maker Sanofi will help manufacture 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by rivals Pfizer and BioNTech. The Germany-based BioNTech, which has encountered delays in scaling-up shot production, will initially make the vaccines at Sanofi facilities in Frankfurt, starting in the summer.

• Cyprus has announced a staggered easing of lockdown measures from February 8, including the reopening of primary schools and shopping malls, following a fall in the number of COVID-19 infections on the island. 

• Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin says he has abolished some COVID-19 restrictions in the Russian capital, allowing bars, restaurants and nightclubs to open overnight. New COVID-19 cases in Moscow have not exceeded 3,000 in the past week and more than 50 percent of beds in coronavirus hospitals were vacant for the first time since mid-June.

• Belgium's proposed ban on all non-essential travel to and from the country has come into effect. Exceptions include family reunification, work and travel for medical reasons. All arrivals and trips by road, air, sea and rail traffic are subject to the ban, to be enforced by police.

• British citizens returning home from roughly 30 countries deemed at "high risk" from new coronavirus variants will soon have to quarantine in hotels. Beefed-up rules will require the travelers to stay in hotels near airports for 10 days, according to reports.

• Iceland has issued its first vaccination certificates to ease international travel for those inoculated against COVID-19, with EU countries still haggling over using such documents. All the 4,800 Icelanders who have received two doses of the vaccine are eligible for the digital certificates, according to the health ministry.

• Portugal's government has been urged to transfer COVID-19 patients abroad as deaths hit a record high and the oxygen supply at a hospital near Lisbon partly failed from overuse. Deaths in the past 24 hours hit a daily record of 293.

ACROSS EUROPE

Toni Waterman in Brussels

Belgium

A new ban on all non-essential travel to and from Belgium has come into effect as the government tries to restrain the spread of highly transmissible variants of COVID-19. Essential travel includes business trips, trips for compelling family reasons and humanitarian travel, such as to provide care. But anyone traveling needs to carry with them a sworn statement that their trip is essential.

Belgian police will enforce the ban with regular checks at borders and tourist hotspots. The moratorium on travel will remain in effect until March 1, just long enough to cover the winter school holiday. Belgium had recorded a surge in new infections following the Christmas holidays and the government is keen to avoid a repeat situation.

Despite their best efforts, new infections and hospitalizations continue to climb.

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The EU

The EU and AstraZeneca will hold another round of testy talks later on Wednesday evening to try to resolve a row over delayed vaccine deliveries. But going into that call, AstraZeneca's CEO Peter Soriot pushed back at criticism.

In an interview with several EU newspapers out on Wednesday, Soriot said European governments were getting "emotional" and laid the blame for the sluggish deliveries at Brussels' doorstep. He said Europe was late to pre-order the jab – three months behind the UK – and that AstraZeneca only agreed "to try our best, but we can't guarantee we're going to succeed."

Soriot said the British factory producing the jab is three times more efficient than the factories in Europe and shot down suggestions that some doses could be rerouted from the UK to the EU, adding the agreement with the British government stipulates that supply coming from those UK factories should go to the UK first.

Mia Alberti in Budapest

On Wednesday, Hungary will receive the first of three shipments of Bamlanivimab, a COVID-19 antibody drug. The medicine, produced by the U.S. pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co, has shown to help reduce risk of hospitalization and death from coronavirus by 70 percent, when combined with another similar drug, Etesevimab.

"Antibody-based preparation reduces the development of more serious complications by 70-75 percent, so three-quarters of patients do not worsen and hospitalization is not necessary. This could significantly reduce the pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Hungary was the first EU country to authorize the emergency use of the drug and is due to receive a total of 6,236 doses until mid-March.

The government is also expected to extend the current restrictions, which include the closures of all restaurants and bars and an 8 p.m. curfew, beyond February 1.

Nawied Jabarkhyl in London

The UK has passed another grim milestone in its fight against COVID-19 after recording more than 100,000 deaths. That's according to official figures, which count deaths within 28 days of a positive test for the virus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered his "deepest condolences to everyone who's lost a loved one," amid questions about whether his government could have done more to save lives.

In a bid to try to reduce further deaths, the UK is set to announce a mandatory hotel quarantine period for international travelers. Ministers have been weighing up the decision amid disagreements over how far it should go.

The plans are expected to impact British residents returning from high-risk countries such as South Africa and Brazil. They will need to isolate for up to 10 days. Critics say that doesn't go far enough and the move may be too little too late.

Ross Cullen in Paris

In France on Wednesday the Health Defense Council (President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Jean Castex and senior ministers) will meet to discuss the health situation and whether to impose a third national lockdown.

They will be looking at three indicators: the effects of the nationwide 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, which has been in place for nearly two weeks; the presence in France of the coronavirus variants first identified in the UK, South Africa and Brazil; and the social, economic and psychological consequences of bringing back confinement.

More than 3,000 people are now being treated in intensive care and there have been more than 2,000 new admissions to hospital in the past 24 hours.

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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.

Video Editor: Murray Job

Video animator: Paula Harvey