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Tuesday, Mar 17, 2026

Several European countries to relax coronavirus lockdown measures as Asia tightens up amid new wave

The governments of Norway, Denmark, Austria and the Czech Republic have announced plans to ease lockdown restrictions put in place to slow the rapid spread of the coronavirus outbreak despite a second wave of infections hitting several countries in Asia. WHO warns countries against easing COVID-19 measures in order to avoid resurgence
The World Health Organization is warning countries against easing coronavirus measures too quickly as cases continue to tick up, especially in Europe and the U.S.

But in stark contrast to that advice,... the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic originated from in the first place,... the city-wide lockdown has been lifted for the first time in over two months.

The World Health Organization has a new warning about the coronavirus pandemic.

In a virtual briefing Tuesday, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said one of the most important things is to "not let go of measures too early" in order to avoid another wave of outbreaks.

This comes as the virus continues to claim more victims in Europe,... deaths in the UK rose by more than 800 in a day, the largest daily jump so far.
France's death toll topped 10-thousand,... after a spate of deaths at nursing homes.

Italy,... once deemed the epicenter of the pandemic, is showing a welcome downward trend, but still confirmed more than three-thousand new cases on Tuesday.

These numbers come as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who tested positive for COVID-19 a couple weeks ago,... was moved to intensive care on Monday after his symptoms worsened.

He was admitted to hospital after persistent symptoms just the day before - a move Downing Street said was a precautionary measure.
In the U.S.,... New York state on Tuesday recorded its biggest one-day increase in coronavirus deaths,... bringing the total to almost 5-and-a-half-thousand.

This accounts for nearly half of all deaths in the U.S.
Russia reported over a thousand new cases on Tuesday,... bringing the total number of confirmed cases to around 7-and-a-half-thousand.

But in a stark contrast to the rest of the world,... the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus had its origins,... business is back to normal from Wednesday,... as a months-long lockdown was ended for the first time since January.

That means road, train and other rail connections have now re-opened.

China reported zero deaths on Tuesday for the first time since it began releasing figures.
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