TOP HEADLINES

· Germany will hold a national memorial service on Sunday for its nearly 80,000 victims of the pandemic, sharing the pain of grieving families and those who died alone because of restrictions.

· Theater workers protested in Rome's Piazza del Popolo, calling for the country's entertainment venues to be reopened and for more support for workers in the sector amid the pandemic.

· It seems possible to become re-infected with a different strain of COVID-19, and there have been cases of this happening, Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser for the UK's National Health Service Test and Trace system has told the BBC. 

· France will enforce a strict 10-day quarantine for all travelers coming from Brazil from 24 April, in an effort to contain the spread of the variant first found in Brazil, confirmed the prime minister's office on Saturday.

· More than 600,000 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the UK in 24 hours, according to data released on Saturday.

· South Africa's health regulator has recommended that the government lift the pause on administering Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccines, given that certain conditions are met.

· The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units in France has fallen, the health ministry said on Saturday. Health ministry data showed that 5,877 people were in intensive care units with COVID-19 on Saturday, 37 fewer than on Friday.

· Russia has recorded a further 8,632 cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in the country to 4,702,101. The country also reported another 389 deaths, increasing the official toll to 105,582.

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ACROSS EUROPE

France

France has now imposed a 10-day quarantine on flights arriving from Brazil, Chile, Argentina and South Africa. The new restrictions were enforced on Saturday and all travelers from those countries will have to face quarantine or be subject to a fine. 

The country is battling against a third wave of the coronavirus and has closed non-essential shops whilst restricting travel around France, with a night-time curfew also imposed. 

However many in the country including graphic designer Julia Hamel say they're beginning to feel lockdown fatigue. "It's the length of the lockdown that is starting to take its toll," said Hamel. "I have no worries, financially it's fine, but it's starting to get difficult in terms of my morale."

Guy Henderson in London

As global deaths surpass three million and the number of new infections daily reaches new heights, the UK's case numbers continue to fall. However, there are new challenges emerging with it.

One of them is an unprecedented backlog of patients awaiting treatments for other health issues. According to National Health Service Providers, 4.7 million people were on various waiting lists at the end of February, of whom more than 400,000 have been waiting for more than a year to start cancer treatment. It is believed it could take up to five years to clear this backlog. 

A second challenge is the safe return to staging large events. The UK is due to allow indoor venues to host 1,000 people indoors or at 50 percent capacity from May 17, if the COVID-19 numbers allow. 

To find out whether it is safe to do so, officials are carrying out experimental trials – including Sunday's FA Cup soccer semi-final between Leicester and Southampton, for which up to 4,000 fans will return to Wembley Stadium for the first time in more than a year.

Entrants must show proof of a negative coronavirus test, similar events are planned in the weeks ahead.

Rahul Pathak in Madrid

The Madrid government is imposing local lockdowns in eight suburbs after the Spanish capital reported a 25 percent increase in cases in the 24 hours from Friday to Saturday.

The new restrictions will come into force at midnight on Sunday as the region's health ministry confirmed the daily number of people testing positive had risen to 2,896.

The total number of infections in the Madrid region is now 668,320, the total number of deaths 22,860.

This latest surge comes just days after Madrid's chief health advisor warned that vaccination centers may have to close if delivery of doses cannot be increased. 

Madrid, currently vaccinates around 275,000 people per week, but is due to receive just 157,900 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab next week, Antonio Zapatero warned on Friday.

Italy

Italy is in danger of missing the April 30 deadline for submitting its Recovery Plan to the European Commission, which could jeopardize the $239.6 billion of grants it desperately needs, according to Reuters. 

Two sources close to the matter have told the news agency that the European Commission is "not satisfied with several aspects of the drafts" that have been presented so far. Prime Minister Mario Draghi's spokesperson moved to calm fears by firmly denying that the deadline would be missed. "The plan will be presented on April 30," he said. 

Italy is applying for the biggest support package in the EU and any delay could have serious impacts on the economy. 

Italy reported 310 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, down from 429 the day before, the health ministry said. The country's daily tally of new infections edged down to 15,370 from 15,943.

Meanwhile Rome has been the setting for more protests. Undertakers took to the streets on Friday to complain about a delay in coffin manufacturing that has led to more than 2,000 bodies having to be stored at Rome's sole crematorium.

Mortuary rooms at other cemeteries are also packed as protestors accused city authorities of failing to cope with a surge of coronavirus deaths.

WATCH: Rahul Pathak rounds up the latest COVID-19 news in Europe

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

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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.