Staff of Salford Royal hospital pose for a photo before the weekly "Clap for Our Carers" in Manchester, Britain on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Jon Super/Xinhua)
-- UK coronavirus deaths top 31,000 as another 626 patients die;
-- COVID-19 curve decreasing in Italy as death toll tops 30,000;
-- Spain sees rise in new coronavirus deaths, infections;
-- France's coronavirus death toll tops 26,000.
BRUSSELS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.
LONDON -- Another 626 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 31,241, Environment Secretary George Eustice said Friday.
The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.
Earlier in the day, the National Health Service (NHS) England said a six-week-old baby has become one of the latest to die after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
A worker sprays disinfectant at Velletri cemetery near Rome, Italy, on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)
ROME -- Italy on Friday posted a decrease in COVID-19 intensive care cases and hospitalizations as the death toll pushed past the 30,000 mark, according to the latest numbers released by the country's Civil Protection Department.
The nationwide total of active infections fell by 1,663 cases to 87,961, down from a total of 89,624 infections on Thursday.
Of those who tested positive for the new coronavirus, 1,168 are in intensive care (down by 143 patients compared with Thursday's) and 14,636 are hospitalized with symptoms (down by 538 patients over the past 24 hours).
Social distancing marks are seen on the ground at the Gare du Nord Railway Station in Paris, France, May 7, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)
PARIS -- With 243 people losing their lives to the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, France on Friday saw its pandemic toll rise to 26,230, while the numbers of people hospitalized and admitted into intensive care continued to decline.
To date, a total of 16,497 people have died in hospitals and 9,733 in nursing homes and other communal living institutions, said the Ministry of Health in a press release.
The pressure on hospitals continued to ease as the number of patients listed in serious condition fell to 2,868 from 2,961 on Thursday. A total of 22,724 people are now hospitalized with the virus, a decrease of 484 within one day.
A COVID-19 patient shakes hands with a nurse as he is moved out of an ICU ward of a hospital in Barcelona, Spain, on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Francisco Avia/Xinhua)
MADRID -- The Spanish health ministry on Friday confirmed a slight increase in the number of new deaths of the coronavirus, while the number of new cases rose by over 1,000.
The coronavirus death toll in Spain rose to 26,299 after 229 people lost their lives in the 24-hour period until 21:00 hours local time on Thursday.
This is 16 more than the 213 deaths registered 24 hours earlier, but it signifies that Spain has now suffered fewer than 250 new deaths for each of the past six days.■
