COVID-19 death toll in Italy reaches 14,681, London's new emergency field hospital opens door

-- Italy registers 119,827 coronavirus infections, death toll at 14,681;

-- Britain's new emergency field hospital opens door;

-- COVID-19 death toll in France reaches 6,507;

-- Spanish bio-engineers discover drug that blocks effects of COVID-19.

The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

ROME -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 14,681 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries so far to 119,827, the latest data from the country's Civil Protection Department managing the national emergency response showed on Friday.

On daily basis, 766 deaths of COVID-19 were reported on Friday compared with Thursday's 760 cases.

The number of active infections increased to 85,388, with 2,339 new cases compared to the previous day.

Beds are seen in one of the seven new Intensive Care Units (ICU) in Vall d'Hebron Hospital, in Barcelona, Spain, March 26, 2020. (Vall d'Hebron Hospital via Xinhua)

BARCELONA, Spain -- Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), together with international collaborators from Canada, Sweden and Germany, have identified a drug capable of blocking the effects of the novel coronavirus which leads to the COVID-19 disease, the institute said on Friday.

"We have been able to develop cell cultures that resemble the kidney, what we call micro-kidneys, in order to investigate the effect of a drug that is about to enter phase two in patients with the COVID disease," the leader of the research project, Professor Nuria Montserrat, told Xinhua.

The treatment, which has proven capable of reducing up to 5,000 times the amount of virus present in the tissue, uses micro-kidneys generated by human stem cells to show how the virus interacts with and infects the human cells.

A medical biologist prepares to handle a swab to test a mediacal worker for the COVID-19 disease at a COVID-19 drive-in test center in Paris, France, April 1, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

PARIS -- The death toll from COVID-19 in France has reached 6,507, including 5,091 in hospital and at least 1,416 at nursing homes, a health official announced on Friday.

In the past 24 hours, 588 people have succumbed to the disease, a new high since the epidemic began, said Director General of Health Jerome Salomon at his daily briefing on the epidemic.

A total of 27,432 people tested positive for COVID-19 are now hospitalized, including 6,662 in intensive care, among whom 93 are under the age of 30, said Salomon.

Photo taken on March 30, 2020 shows a general view of the ExCel exhibition centre which is being transformed into a field hospital to be known as the NHS Nightingale Hospital London to help with the coronavirus outbreak in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

LONDON -- The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Britain reached 38,168 as of Friday morning, an increase of 4,450 in 24 hours, according to the lastest figure from the Department of Health and Social Care.

As of Thursday afternoon, of those hospitalised in Britain who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, 3,605 have died, marking a record daily rise of 684.

On Friday, London's new emergency field hospital, built with military help in just nine days, opened its doors to await its first COVID-19 patient as the crisis continues to escalate in the country.

A police officer with a facial shield questions a driver during an awareness-raising operation to people just leaving home for essential reasons as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 in Cascais, Portugal on March 29, 2020. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)

LISBON -- A total of 24,815 cultural events scheduled between March 8 and May 31 have been canceled, postponed or suspended in Portugal due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Association of Promoters and Shows, Festivals and Events (APEFE) said on Friday.

The pandemic has been especially devastating to culture, art and shows in Portugal, the APEFE said, adding that the situation will get even worse, because "these numbers can only increase exponentially in the coming weeks."

A state of emergency, the first of its kind in Portuguese history, was declared on March 18 by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. It has now been extended until April 17.