A medical worker is seen at Evaggelismos General Hospital in Athens, Greece, on April 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.
ROME -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 27,359 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries to 201,505 as of Tuesday, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department.
The death toll on Tuesday was 382, bringing the total to 27,359 fatalities since the pandemic first broke out in the northern Lombardy region.
The department reported 2,091 new infections and 2,317 more recoveries compared to Monday, bringing the nationwide totals to 105,205 and 68,941, respectively.
BERLIN -- Germany reported on Tuesday 1,144 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing its total tally to 156,337, according to the federal disease control agency Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
"It is a success that we have all achieved here," said RKI President Lothar Wieler. "We have succeeded comparatively in getting through this epidemic in Germany."
At the height of pandemic in Germany, more than 6,000 new infections had been recorded by the RKI on a single day.
LONDON -- The coronavirus-related deaths occured in England up to April 17 was around 36.4 percent higher than previously announced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) due to different counting criteria, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Tuesday.
Figures showed that the death toll reported to the DHSC by April 17 was 13,917 for England, which is 5,068 fewer than the 18,201 death registrations involving COVID-19 reported by the ONS for the same period.
"Both data sources have some delay from date of death to reporting," said the ONS, adding that "the ONS and DHSC COVID-19 death numbers have different criteria."
ATHENS -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis outlined on Tuesday the government's plan for gradual transition to normalcy after the lifting on May 4 of the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 23.
During a televised address to the nation, he congratulated Greek people for the successful collective response to the challenge of the novel coronavirus so far.
"We implemented unprecedented measures to curb its spread. You showed unprecedented responsibility and solidarity," he said.
LISBON -- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Tuesday that he will not ask for the extension of the State of Emergency by the end of its third phase which concludes on May 2.
The statement came after the president's meeting with public health specialists on Tuesday.
"It is hoped that it will not be necessary in the future to resort to the state of emergency again," said the president at the end of the meeting held at National Authority for Medicines and Health Products (Infarmed).
VIENNA -- Austria has decided to progressively lift its lockdown on May 1, almost seven weeks after the restrictions were put in place to deal with the coronavirus crisis, the health minister said on Tuesday.
The strict lockdown will be lifted at midnight April 30, Rudolf Anschober said at a press conference held here on Tuesday. It will be replaced by new rules: going out is generally allowed again, but it is still important to keep a minimum distance of one meter from each other, he said.
RIGA -- A group of Latvian IT and telecommunication companies have joined forces to develop a mobile application for tracking contacts of people infected with the novel coronavirus, local media reported Tuesday.
Developers of the app hope that initially it will be used by some 400,000 of Latvia's 1.9 million residents, thus helping prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the population.
The app, which uses Bluetooth to detect the presence of an infected person and runs on iOS and Android devices, will be available for free downloading in mid-May, the developers said at a news conference.
