Europe Coronavirus Updates: COVID-19 new deaths further drop in Italy, France and Spain; Italian PM announces plan to ease coronavirus lockdown

　　A woman looks out from a window in Rome, Italy, on April 23, 2020. (Xinhua)

-- Italy registers lowest one-day deaths in six weeks, PM announces plan to ease coronavirus lockdown;

-- Spain's daily coronavirus death toll drops to 288;

-- France sees COVID-19 deaths up by 242 to 22,856, lowest daily increase in a week;

-- Belgium's COVID-19 death toll exceeds 7,000.

BRUSSELS, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

ROME -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 26,644 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries to 197,675 as of Sunday, according to latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department.

Meanwhile, the number of new deaths, new infections and of patients in intensive care keeps declining.

A total of 260 people died from the disease caused by the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the lowest one-day death toll since March 15. The number of new cases also fell with 2,324 reported over the last 24 hours, 33 fewer than on Saturday. The figure is the lowest in six days.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units (ICUs) continued to decline, a trend that started three weeks ago. On Sunday, 2,009 patients were in ICUs, down from 2,102 a day earlier.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Sunday that beginning on May 4, the manufacturing, construction, and wholesale sectors can go back to work. They will be followed by retailers, museums, galleries, and libraries on May 18 and by bars, restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons on June 1.

A nurse gives a book and a rose to a patient at a hospital during Saint George's Day in Barcelona, Spain, April 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Francisco Avia)

MADRID -- Spanish health authorities confirmed on Sunday that 23,190 people in the country have lost their lives because of the coronavirus, after reporting 288 new deaths in the 24-hour period until 2100 hours local time on Saturday.

The daily figure is 90 fewer than the 378 deaths reported a day earlier. It is also the first time the daily death toll has fallen below 300 since the height of the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services.

The ministry also confirmed 1,729 new cases via PCR tests (polymerase chain reaction) -- which check if the coronavirus is active in the body, taking the total detected by such tests to 207,634.

The daily figure is considerably lower than the 2,915 new infections reported on Saturday, representing a daily increase of less than one percent.

Meanwhile, the number of patients who have recovered rose by 3,024 to 98,732.

Volunteers make protective masks at the Lille town hall in Lille, northern France, April 23, 2020. (Photo by Sebastien Courdji/Xinhua)

PARIS -- France saw COVID-19 deaths rose by 242 to 22,856 as of Sunday, the lowest daily increase this week, bringing relief to the health system of the country which is planning to lift the lockdown on May 11, data from the Health Ministry showed.

The daily increase of deaths dropped to 1 percent, slower than 1.65 percent on Saturday, 1.8 percent on Friday, 2.4 percent on Thursday, 2.6 percent on Wednesday and Tuesday, and 2.77 percent on Monday.

Some 28,217 people who caught the respiratory disease were receiving treatment in hospitals. The number of critically-ill patients dropped by 43 to 4,682. However, admissions to the intensive care units, all causes combined, were still above the country's capacity of 5,000 hospital beds equipped with ventilators, the ministry said.

The total of positive cases now stands at 124,575, up by 461 in the last 24 hours, while 44,903 patients have recovered and returned home, it added in a statement.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced on Sunday in a Twitter message that he would present the government's strategy for lockdown exit to parliament on April 28. Lawmakers will then vote on the de-confinement measures.

A poster to remind people to stay safe is seen at a bus stop in Brussels, Belgium, April 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

BRUSSELS -- The COVID-19 death toll in Belgium passed the 7,000 mark on Sunday, according to a statement on the Federal Public Health Service website.

The country registered 178 new deaths over the past day, bringing the total number of COVID-19 victims to 7,094.

Meanwhile, 809 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 46,134.

The decline trend continued in the country's hospitals. In the last 24 hours, 204 people were admitted to hospital while 368 patients were able to return home.

The total number of patients currently in hospital stood at 3,959, the lowest level since March 28.

Belgium is still in confinement. The government earlier this week announced gradual de-confinement measures in three phases starting from May 4.