Сovid-19 Infections in Europe Top 1.5 Million

By Staff, Agencies

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases continues to grow, surpassing the landmark 1.5 million in Europe as of Saturday, according to AFP.

Meanwhile, some European nations began rolling out plans to ease quarantine rules.

Spain, Italy, the UK, France and Germany remain as the leaders in Europe in the rate of the spread of the disease, with more than 150,000 confirmed cases in each country, the Johns Hopkins University reported.

Europe is trailing behind the US, which currently has over 1.1 million Covid-19 cases alone.

As the case numbers continue to grow, some European nations have been announcing plans to gradually end months-long lockdowns and begin reopening businesses.

The French government will start to gradually ease quarantine rules after May 11, with shops and schools being allowed to open while maintaining social distancing measures.

Relatively, Italy is expected to loosen the nationwide lockdown starting from May 4. The citizens will be first allowed to visit relatives living nearby and exercise outdoors, but will be mandated to wear masks on public transport. Shops and cultural sites will be allowed to reopen on May 18, followed by bars and restaurants on June 1.