TOP HEADLINES 

- Ireland has added 13 Central and South American countries to its 14-day mandatory quarantine list, which will mean travelers from these countries will have to isolate in designated hotels.

- The Czech government approved a series of strict restrictions limiting people's movement over the next three weeks' closures to slow down fast-spreading COVID-19 infections.

- Greece has extended its lockdown restrictions to more areas of the country as the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down. Earlier this month, a full lockdown was imposed in the capital Athens.

- The Belgian government has prolonged its COVID-19 restrictions for another week after health authorities warned that infections are rising. 

- Residents in Nice will be banned from walking alongside the beach under new lockdown measures set to last for two weekends due to rising infections. 

- A Dutch appeals court has ruled in favor of the country's curfew measures after finding that the government was entitled to use an emergency law. 

- Portugal's prime minister Antonio Costa said that he hoped a vaccine passport that would allow people to travel freely will be in place by summer. 

- Spanish health workers are to stage a protest in the capital Madrid against privatizations in the health sector. 

- Italy has tightened restrictions in five of its regions as scientists warn of a growing threat of highly contagious new variants.

- Wales has now administered more than one million vaccine doses – meaning more than one in three adults in the country have received at least one dose.

- Experts in Germany fear the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on German youth after a recent survey by the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf found that about one child in three is suffering from pandemic-related mental health conditions. 

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ACROSS EUROPE 

Trent Murray in Frankfurt 

The latest data from Germany's Robert Koch Institute shows there have been 9,762 new COVID-19 cases recorded. That's an increase of 6.5 percent compared to the same time last week, and pushes the national incidence rate up yet again, from 61.7 cases per 100,000 people, to 62.6. 

The government has set a target of 35 cases per 100,000 people to allow lockdown to end. But for several days now the number, which had previously been falling, has reversed course and continues to climb. 

That will make Chancellor Merkel's planned meeting on Tuesday with state premiers difficult, because cracks are emerging in the united lockdown front, with some states agitating to loosen restrictions.

France

As infections begin to rise in France, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has suggested that the capital goes under a 'three-week lockdown' to restore eventual normality.

While the mayor does not have the power to impose lockdowns, the deputy mayor has also supported Hidalgo's suggestion and told France Info radio, "You can't force yourself to live in a semi-prison for months. Now you have to make courageous decisions."

However, since the suggestion of stronger measures, the mayor has been met with skepticism, with critics decrying the idea as a PR stunt – while prime minister Jean Castex said: "You should not talk nonsense."

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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.