Italy's death toll is now at 2,503 as of Tuesday night after reporting new 345 deaths in the past 24 hours. The number is a 16% increase from what the country reported on March 16. There are now 31,506 cases of COVID-19 infections in the country that remains to be the worst-hit all across Europe.
Of the country's fatalities, there are about 10 priests. In Bergamo, about six priests had also died and 20 more are in the process of recovery. Reports are not immediately clear if the six priests in Bergamo are already included in the count of the 10 priests who died.
As Italy's health system continues to suffer from an overwhelming number of patients, leaders in the European region saw it right to shut external borders to prevent further spread of the virus. The borders shutdown will be in effect in 26 EU states, including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
In France, people are barred from going out of their homes unless they have secured a pass from their local government. The form should outline the reason for which they are going out. Only the people who are still required to work are free to go out, as well as a family member who is going to buy medicine and food for the whole family.
In the United Kingdom, people are barred from engaging in large groups. The UK government will also be releasing $400 billion in loans for companies. At the same time, mortgage payments are delayed for three months.
Spain, meanwhile, kept its 47 million inhabitants from roaming around through implementing partial lockdown. The government also released a $220 billion rescue package, particularly for the companies that may go bankrupt.
In Germany, religious services are stopped and people are banned from going to clubs and bars and other leisure destinations, including zoo and children's playgrounds. The local government is also preparing $550 billion in loans.
Meanwhile, here is the cumulative number of total cases, new cases, total deaths and new deaths in the European region as of March 17.
Spain (total cases 9191) (new cases 1438) (total deaths 309) (new deaths 21)
France 6573 -1193- 148 -21
Germany 6012- 1174 -13- 1
Switzerland 2200- 0 -14 -1
The United Kingdom 1547- 152- 55 -20
Netherlands 1413 -278 -24 -4
Norway 1169- 92- 3 -2
Austria 1132 -173 -3- 2
Belgium 1085 -0 -5- 0
Sweden 1059- 67- 3- 0
Denmark 960- 62- 4- 3
Czechia 383 -85- 0- 0
Greece 331- 0- 4- 0
Portugal 331- 86- 0- 0
Israel 250 -50- 0- 0
Finland 272- 5- 0- 0
Slovenia 253 -34- 0-0
Ireland 223- 54- 2- 0
Estonia 205 -0 -0 -0
Iceland 199- 19 -0- 0
Romania 158- 0 -0 -0
Poland 150 -0 -3 -0
San Marino 102- 10- 9- 4
Russian Federation 93- 30- 0- 0
Luxembourg 81 -43 -1- 0
Slovakia 72 -11 -0 -0
Bulgaria 67 -16- 2- 0
Serbia†† 70- 24- 0 -0
Croatia 56- 7- 0 -0
Armenia 52- 26- 0- 0
Albani a 51- 9 -1- 0
Hungary 50- 11 -1- 0
Turkey 47 -42 -0 -0
Belarus 36 -0 -0 -0
Latvia 36 -5 -0- 0
Cyprus 33- 0 -0- 0
Georgia 33- 0- 0- 0
Malta 30 -9- 0 -0
Republic of Moldova 29 -6- 0 -0
Azerbaijan 19- 0- 0- 0
Bosnia and Herzegovina 19- 0- 0- 0
North Macedonia 19- 6- 0- 0
Lithuania 17- 3- 0- 0
Andorra 14- 12- 0 -0
Monaco 9- 0- 0- 0
Liechtenstein 7 -0- 0- 0
Ukraine 7 -4 -1- 0
Kazakhstan 6- 0 -0 -0
Uzbekistan 4-0- 0 -0
Holy See 1- 0 -0 -0
