Latest updates from around Europepublished at 09:40 Greenwich Mean Time 27 March 2020
Germany has seen a rise of 5,780 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 42,288, according to the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases. The number of deaths has climbed by 55 to 253. Chancellor Angela Merkel has appealed for patience in fighting the outbreak, rejecting calls for a relaxation of restrictions that only came in in several states earlier this week.
In France, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe says the epidemic that started in the east is now in the Paris region. Hospitals could reach saturation point around the capital within 24 to 48 hours, according to the Hospital Federation of France. Some 1.2 million residents in the area have left in the past week according to data analysed by mobile phone company Orange. On Thursday evening, officials said France had seen 1,696 deaths, including 365 in the past 24 hours.
Crimes in the deserted cities of Italy have plummeted by 64% in March, compared to the same period in 2019, but computer-based crime is rising, the interior ministry warns. That chimes with a new report from EU police agency Europol, which says criminals are focusing on fake sanitary goods, external, phone scams and cybercrime.
Elsewhere:
- After six hours of talks last night, EU leaders agreed to give eurozone finance ministers two weeks to agree a stronger response to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus. The BBC's Europe Editor Katya Adler assesses the EU's response here
- Russia has now recorded 1,000 confirmed cases and three deaths. It has ordered all cafes and restaurants to close from Saturday and next week has been designated a "non-working week"
- Switzerland has seen 194 deaths since the pandemic began with around 1,000 new cases in 24 hours, according to data collated from the country's cantons, external
- In Spain, some 9,000 rapid diagnostic tests imported from China have proved defective