Europe tightens rules as virus surges
Governments across Europe are ratcheting up restrictions to try to beat back a resurgence of the coronavirus that has sent new infections on the continent to their highest weekly level since the start of the pandemic.
The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday there were more than 700,000 new COVID-19 cases reported in Europe last week, a jump of 34 percent from the previous week.
Britain, France, Russia and Spain accounted for more than half of the new infections.
The increasing caseload is partly the result of more testing, but the UN health agency noted that deaths were also up 16 percent last week from the week before.
Doctors are warning that while many of the new cases are in younger people, who tend to have milder symptoms, the virus could again start spreading widely among older people, resulting in more serious illnesses.
