Spain’s death toll tops 20,000, France’s surpasses 19,000

BRUSSELS (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

Policemen check a resident at an open-air market in Armentieres, northern France.

ROME -- A further 482 people had died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Italy, raising the country’s death toll to 23,227, official data showed on Saturday.
The total number of confirmed cases -- combining active infections, fatalities and recoveries -- rose to 175,925, an increase of 3,491 against Friday, according to fresh figures from Italy’s Civil Protection Department.
Also, there were 2,200 additional recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the total recoveries to 44,927, since the pandemic first broke out in the northern Lombardy region on Feb. 21.
MADRID -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday in a televised press conference that he would ask the Spanish Parliament to extend the current ‘state of alarm’ for a further 15 days until May 9.
Sanchez’s announcement came after Saturday’s fresh figures from health authorities showed that Spain had reported more than 20,000 deaths from the coronavirus and had over 190,000 confirmed cases.
The Spanish Health Ministry on Saturday confirmed that over 20,000 people in the country have lost their lives because of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
London -- Another 888 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in hospitals in Britain as of Friday afternoon, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths to 15,464, the Department of Health and Social Care said Saturday.
As of Saturday morning, 114,217 people have tested positive for the virus, marking a daily increase of 5,526, said the department.
The figures were announced amid growing concerns over a serious shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline medical staff in hospitals.
Paris -- A further 642 people had died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in France, raising the country’s death toll to 19,323, official data showed on Saturday.
Budapest -- Six million masks and 3 million gloves arrived in Hungary from China, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto announced Saturday on his Facebook page.
Four Wizz Air planes delivered the protective equipment from two Chinese cities through the air bridge between the two countries, said the minister, adding that since the opening of the air bridge in March, Wizz Air’s planes have made about 50 round-trips flights between China and Hungary.
After completion of customs clearance and quality control, the protective equipment will be brought to the central warehouse, and from there it will be distributed among hospitals and clinics, said Szijjarto.
Athens -- The Greek Health Ministry announced on Saturday that COVID-19 infections have now reached 2,235 and deaths stood at 110 since the start of the outbreak in the country on Feb. 26.
Since Friday, 11 new confirmed cases and two new deaths were registered, according to an e-mailed press release from the ministry.
Currently, 67 patients were hospitalised in intensive care units, while 39 have been discharged from ICUs.
Bucharest -- The number of healthcare staff infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, increased by 50 in Romania in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,031, authorities announced on Saturday
So far, a total of 8,418 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Romania, according to the Strategic Communication Group, the official coronavirus communication task force.
The frontline medics account for over 12 percent of the total infections in the country.

(Latest Update April 20, 2020