Europe

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed his gratitude to the staff of the National Health Service for saving his life when his treatment for the coronavirus could have “gone either way” as the U.K. on Sunday became the fourth European country to surpass 10,000 virus-related deaths.

Dressed in a suit, and looking and sounding relatively assured, Johnson said in a video posted on Twitter after his discharge from St. Thomas’ Hospital in London that it was “hard to find the words” to express his debt of gratitude to the NHS for saving his life “no question.”

Paris, Apr 12 (AFP/PTI) More than 75,000 people have died from the coronavirus in Europe, with 80 percent of the fatalities occurring in Italy, Spain, France and Britain, according to an AFP tally at 0945 GMT Sunday compiled from official sources.

With a total of 75,011 deaths from 909,673 infections, Europe is the hardest-hit continent in the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed at least 109,133 people worldwide.

Europe's most affected country is Italy with 19,468 deaths, followed by Spain with 16,972, France with 13,832 and Britain with 9,875.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: OPEC+ may increase or decrease the timeframe of the new two-year agreement on cutting oil output, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told Rossiya-24 television channel on Friday.

"We will have an opportunity to extend this timeframe. If the situation on the market improves faster, we will be able to decide to cease activities on restoring the market in shorter time," Novak said.

BERLIN, April 12. /TASS/: The number of recoveries from coronavirus in Germany has surpassed the number of those infected for the first time since the outbreak, the Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute responsible for disease control and prevention (subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Health) reported.

According to the research institute, some 120,479 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Germany, with 60,200 recoveries. The death toll from the coronavirus has hit 2,673. Some 57,606 people are undergoing treatment for coronavirus.

BERGAMO/Italy/, April 12. /TASS/: Russian military specialists have disinfected retirement homes in three settlements in Italy’s Lombardy, the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service said on Sunday.

"Russia’s military specialists jointly with the servicemen of the chemical protection and biological troops of Italy’s Armed Forces carried out a disinfection effort at retirement homes in three settlements in Lombardy in the towns of Costa Volpino, Sovere and Lovere," the ministry said.

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/: Head of the Public Council under the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, attorney Anatoly Kucherena suggested establishing a working group to deal with issues of legitimacy and lawfulness of restrictive measures aimed at the coronavirus infection control.

"The group should develop a code that will be effective exclusively in epidemic conditions. Citizens will trust in such tough actions only when actions of authorities will be absolutely lawful and, above all, appropriate to the situation," the attorney told TASS.

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/: The decision of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) on temporary restrictions for exports of critical goods to third countries will come into force from April 12 of this year.

The ban will enable providing population with the sufficient quantity of such goods during worsening of the sanitary-epidemiological situation related to the coronavirus spread. Exports of the said goods are banned until June 30, 2020.

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin misses direct communication with people amid the restrictions over the coronavirus, but the schedule of his work has become much more intense these days, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"I believe that he is missing this. For him, communication with people is an absolute priority in his work. He gets understanding of the reality from there," Peskov said.

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/: The number of novel coronavirus cases in Russia has risen by 2,186 over the past day, reaching 15,770 in 82 regions, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

Some 1,291 people have recovered and 130 others have died.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Sunday it was pledging 200 million pounds ($248 million) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and charities to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in vulnerable countries and so help prevent a second wave of infections.

More than 1.6 million people are reported to have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and deaths have topped 100,000 according to a Reuters tally.