UK to ease rules; Spain extends measures

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signaled that the United Kingdom could start easing some of its novel coronavirus lockdown measures from Monday, while also committing to a new goal of doubling testing capacity to "200,000 per day by the end of the month".

During his first clash with new Labour Party leader Keir Starmer in Parliament on Wednesday, Johnson confirmed he would clarify plans to begin lifting the lockdown on Sunday.

Britain failed to meet its target of conducting 100,000 daily COVID-19 tests for a fourth day running on Wednesday. But the prime minister said "capacity currently exceeds demand" and the government was taking steps to address that.

Johnson also said he "bitterly regrets" the virus crisis in care homes. He said:"It has been enraging to see the difficulties we've had in supplying PPE (personal protective equipment) to those who need it," but that the government is now "engaged in a massive plan to ramp up domestic supply".

During Wednesday's news briefing, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick confirmed UK deaths attributed to COVID-19 had increased by 649, taking the nation's toll to 30,076, which remains the highest in Europe. However, data from the Office of National Statistics released on Tuesday showed the UK's true fatality toll was about 3,000 more.

The virus had infected 1,459,723 people and claimed 146,293 lives across Europe as of Thursday, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Minister infected

Russia confirmed 11,231 new infections on Thursday, taking its cases to 177,160. And Russia's Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova has tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the third Russian Cabinet official to get infected.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved plans on Wednesday to open industrial enterprises in Moscow after May 12 as the country's economy has been hit by the epidemic as well as the plunge in oil prices.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in his blog on Thursday that the city government is introducing a regime of mandatory wearing of masks and gloves in public transport and other public places.

In Germany, COVID-19 restrictions would be eased while minimum social distance and hygiene rules would continue to apply, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.

"I think we can say that we have passed the first phase of the pandemic," said Merkel after a telephone conference with minister-presidents of federal states.

Under measures agreed with Germany's 16 federal state leaders, people from two households will be allowed to meet, and more shops will open, provided hygiene measures are in place. But guidelines on people keeping a distance of 1.5 meters from each other and wearing mouth and nose masks on public transport will remain in place.

Merkel also confirmed an "emergency mechanism" which would be triggered if more than 50 new infections over seven days per 100,000 inhabitants were locally detected in a certain region.

Germany had reported a total of 166,091 cases and 7,119 deaths, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.

In Spain, the Congress (lower chamber) on Wednesday voted to approve Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's request to extend the State of Alarm he imposed on the country on March 15 for a further two weeks after it was due to expire on Saturday.

The country has recorded more than 25,000 COVID-19 deaths.

Chen Yingqun in Beijing, Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.