Europe

LONDON, Apr 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Another 684 people died in hospitals, as of Thursday afternoon, bringing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths to 19,506, the Department of Health and Social Care said Friday.

As of Friday morning, 143,464 people have tested positive for COVID-19, marking a daily increase of 5,386, said the department.

Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, said that from Friday, “any essential workers who need a test will be able to book an appointment on GOV.UK directly. This applies for people in essential workers’ households too.”

PARIS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) economic growth is on course to shrink by 7.5 percent for the whole year of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic has hardly hit economic activities across the bloc, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton said on Friday.

"Today, in the European Union, we are roughly heading for 5 percent to 10 percent (of contraction), that is to say, around 7.5 percent (on average). If things don't get better and there is a second peak of (coronavirus outbreak), things can get worse," Breton told France 2 television.

BRUSSELS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Europe saw more encouraging signs on Friday as several countries, including the worst-affected, reported falling new COVID-19 infections and deaths.

The initial wave of COVID-19 infections appears to have passed its peak in 20 European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries, according to a new report published by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

So far, more than 1.15 million cases and some 113,700 deaths have been reported across Europe, according to the latest data from the ECDC.

ATHENS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Greece reported 27 new cases of COVID-19 infection and five new deaths over the past 24 hours, raising the total confirmed cases to 2,490 and 130 dead, fresh figures showed on Friday.

According to the Greek Health Ministry's coronavirus spokesman and infectious diseases professor Sotirios Tsiodras, among the new infections were patients and employees at a private clinic in western Athens.

MOSCOW (AP) — An unmanned Russian cargo capsule docked with the International Space Station, bringing more than 2 tons of supplies to the three-person crew.

The Progress spacecraft docked at 0512 GMT Saturday, about 3 1/2 hours after blasting off from Russia’s Baikonur launch complex in Kazakhstan.

The ship carried fuel, water, food, medicine and other supplies.

There are three astronauts aboard the space station: Russia’s Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, and Chris Cassidy of the United States.

PARIS (AP) — The French and Dutch governments announced at least 9 billion euros ($9.7 billion) in bailout money Friday to rescue Air France and KLM, which are fighting for survival as most of their planes are grounded by virus lockdowns around the world.

MOSCOW, April 24./TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov says President Vladimir Putin stays in constant touch with the regional leadership regarding the coronavirus situation. The deployment of additional hospital beds depends on the changing circumstances that unfold, he said.

MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/: The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office demands to block access to the publications and the websites of the US-based non-governmental organization Project Harmony, which is considered undesirable in the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor General’s Office informed TASS.

MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/: The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has launched a project to diagnose and detect pneumonia, including that caused by the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus, using CT scans combined with the Russian-UAE artificial intelligence (AI) technology developed in partnership between Group 42 (G42), UAE’s leading technology company, RDIF and Medscan Group, Russia's network of medical centers, the Fund said in a statement on Friday.

ST. PETERSBURG, April 24. /TASS/: Russia’s northernmost national park - Russian Arctic - switched to using solar batteries as soon as the midnight season began, the park’s Director Alexander Kirilov said.

"From May to October, the Omega polar station will receive electricity produced by solar batteries," the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysics Center’s magazine quoted the park’s director as saying. "The biggest advantage of using green energy is a lack of harmful emissions into the atmosphere."