Europe

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland is highly unlikely to allow large gatherings this year and the “cocooning” of people over 70 years old in their homes may persist for quite a while, Health Minister Simon Harris said on Sunday.

“What’s not going to come back quickly are scenarios in which we can’t safely socially distance,” Harris told the Sunday Independent newspaper in an interview.

“I can’t see how people can be in packed pubs again as long as this virus is still with us and we don’t have a vaccine or an effective treatment.”

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Orthodox priests in much of Europe held Easter services in churches empty of parishoners because of restrictions imposed to block the spread of coronavirus.

In Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kyiv, priests at the services that began late Saturday night wore the elaborate robes that characterize Orthodoxy’s most important holy day and choirs sang, but worshipers could only see them on TV or online broadcasts.

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/: A light aircraft crashed during a training flight near the village of Lesnoye in Russia’s Far Eastern Khabarovsk region, killing three people on board, an emergency source told TASS on Saturday.

"An L-4 light aircraft crashed while performing a training flight. It had three people on board. According to preliminary information, they died," the source said.

At present, emergency services are working at the scene. The cause of the accident is being established.

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/: The decision of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) to expand the list of goods exempt from import duties and simplify the requirements for certificates of origin comes into force on April 18, 2020.

PRAGUE, April 18. /TASS/: The Czech Republic has expressed its protest over a rally, organized by the left-wing radical organization the Other Russia outside its Consulate General in St. Petersburg on April 16, ministry spokesperson Zuzana Stichova told reporters on Friday.

"A diplomatic note has been sent to the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding the incident outside the Czech Republic’s Consulate General in St. Petersburg," she said. "The [Russian] police did not inform the Consul General about measures taken with regard to that incident."

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/: Washington uses questionable approaches while designating certain entities as terrorist organizations and adding them to relevant lists, and this fact is also confirmed by domestic US experts, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Friday.

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/: The number of people infected with the novel coronavirus in Russia has grown by 4,785 over the past twenty-four hours to 36,793 in all the country’s regions, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Saturday.

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/: The British regulator, which frequently threatens Russian media with fines, should fine the BBC broadcasting corporation for creating a negative perception of Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

The Russian diplomat described on her Facebook account how the BBC provided information on Russia. "All, totally all that is reported on Russia, about Russia and from Russia is a thorough selection of words, expressions and emotions that should create a negative perception of the reality," the diplomat stressed.

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/: The Russian Ministry of Health believes that there are no obstacles to using the Chinese drug hydroxychloroquine unregistered in the Russian Federation to treat a new coronavirus infection, the ministry’s press service told reporters on Saturday.

Earlier, the Russian Government instructed the National Medical Research Center for Cardiology of the Ministry of Health to use and transfer to other medical organizations unregistered Chinese drug hydroxychloroquine in the amount of 68,600 packages for the treatment of coronavirus infection.

PARIS, April 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Coronavirus pandemic keeps taking its toll across Europe, one of the worst-hit regions in the world, as the total number of lives lost has crossed the grim threshold of 80,000.

Although Italy and Spain have suffered the most, a slowing of new cases and deaths brings hope.

The two countries are discussing a gradual return to normal. For example, Spain is planning to reopen schools at the end of May.