Europe Coronavirus Updates: UK deaths top 36,000, Italy's death toll at 32,486

People sit around a fountain at Trafalgar Square in London, Britain, on May 17, 2020. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)

-- UK COVID-19 deaths top 36,000 as gov't vows to deliver virus trace system;

-- Italy's death toll from coronavirus up by 156 to 32,486;

-- France's coronavirus-linked deaths at 28,215;

-- Spain's daily numbers of deaths, infections decrease further.

BRUSSELS, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

LONDON -- Another 338 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain as of Wednesday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 36,042, the Department of Health and Social Care said Thursday.

The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

As of Thursday morning, 250,908 people in Britain have tested positive, said the department.

Visitors line up to enter Galleria Borghese in Rome, Italy, May 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Tingting)

ROME -- A further 156 COVID-19 patients had died in the past 24 hours in Italy, bringing the country's toll to 32,486, out of total infection cases of 228,006, according to fresh figures on Thursday.

Nationwide, the number of active infections dropped by 1,792 to 60,960 cases, according to the Civil Protection Department.

Of those who tested positive for the new coronavirus, 640 are in intensive care, 36 fewer compared to Wednesday, and 9,269 are hospitalized with symptoms, down by 355 from Wednesday.

People enjoy leisure on the banks of the Seine in Paris, France, on May 17, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

PARIS -- France on Thursday saw the death toll from the coronavirus increasing to 28,215 with 83 new deaths in the last 24 hours, lower than Wednesday's 110, according to figures released by the country's Health Ministry.

Fatalities recorded in hospitals rose by 58 to 17,870, while 25 succumbed to COVID-19 at nursing homes, bringing the total to 10,345.

In a sign that pressure on the French hospital system continued to ease, the number of people hospitalized with coronavirus infection declined by 358 to 17,583. Some 1,745 patients were in critical condition requiring life support, down by 49 in the last 24 hours.

An operator modifies the circulation of vehicles to widen the sidewalks and ensure social distancing on pedestrians in Barcelona, Spain, May 19, 2020.(Barcelona City Hall/Handout via Xinhua)

MADRID -- Spanish health authorities on Thursday confirmed further decreases in the numbers of new deaths and cases of COVID-19 infection.

Forty-eight people had died of COVID-19 in the 24-hour period from midnight on Tuesday to midnight on Wednesday, down from the 95 deaths reported in the previous 24-hour span, taking the death toll in Spain to 27,940.

It is the fifth consecutive day that the daily death toll has been below 100. It was also the lowest daily reading since the State of Alarm was introduced in Spain on March 15, but the figure has to be viewed with caution as it doesn't include Catalonia, due to problems of validating data in the region.