AP National News

The Latest: Portugal backs away from mandatory tracing app

by Associated Press

LISBON, Portugal — Portugal’s prime minister is backing down from his plan to make the government’s COVID-19 tracing app mandatory.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa said in a television interview that the widely contested move, which was due to be voted on later this week in parliament, required further debate.

Portugal’s Stayaway COVID app has been downloaded 2.3 million times — just over one third of the government’s target.

Costa’s plan for compulsory use was widely criticized as unworkable. Among other complaints, police said the measure was unenforceable, and legal experts said it was

The Latest: UK to infect healthy volunteers to speed vaccine

by Associated Press

LONDON — U.K. researchers are preparing to begin a controversial experiment that will infect healthy volunteers with the new coronavirus to study the disease in hopes of speeding up development of a vaccine.

The approach, called a challenge study, is risky but proponents say it may produce results faster than standard research, which waits to see if volunteers who have been given an experimental treatment get sick.

Imperial College London said Tuesday that the study, involving healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 30, would be conducted in partnership with the Department for

The Latest: Slovenia is latest nation with overnight curfew

by Associated Press

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — Slovenia has become the latest European nation to introduce a nationwide overnight curfew to control the spread of coronavirus.

The curfew starting Tuesday will run daily from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Authorities on Monday also said gatherings will be limited to six people and movement among regions will be banned.

The government has formally declared an epidemic following a major surge in cases. Slovenia on Monday reported 537 new cases in 2,637 tests with the positivity rate exceeding 20% for the first time.

This is the first time that Slovenia has decided to impose a curfew

The Latest: Poland turns soccer stadium into virus hospital

by Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s government is transforming the National Stadium in Warsaw into a field hospital to handle the surging number of patients infecting with the coronavirus.

The stadium, with a seating capacity of over 58,500, was constructed to host matches for the Euro 2012 soccer championship.

Government spokesman Piotr Müller said Monday the stadium will have room for 500 patients and will be equipped with oxygen therapy.

“We can see that the number of cases is growing so fast that we need to secure places for hospitalization for those who need it,” Müller said, speaking on TVP

The Latest: Italy honors 179 doctors who died in pandemic

by Associated Press

MILAN — As the Italian government considers yet more restrictions to try to curb the resurgence of coronavirus, the 179 Italian doctors who have died in the COVID-19 crisis were remembered Sunday in a ceremony in the northern Italian town of Duno, north of Milan.

Their names were inscribed in marble at a sanctuary in the Lombardy region, which has been the hardest-hit area in the country. The names include Dr. Roberto Stella, the first-known Italian physician to die of COVID-19. His death at 67 on March 11 death shocked the Italian medical establishment and underlined the risk that the

The Latest: France’s virus curfew leaves Paris streets empty

by Associated Press

PARIS — The streets of Paris and eight other French cities were deserted on Saturday night on the first day of the government-imposed 9 p.m. curfew that is to last at least four weeks.

The measure was announced this week by French President Emmanuel Macron to curb the resurgent coronavirus as new daily infections peaked last week to over 30,000. Macron said the curfews were needed to stop hospitals from becoming overrun.

Many restaurant owners are up in arms about the move that is forcing them to close early, something that they say will devastate the industry.

In France, nearly 20 million

The Latest: Italy OKs $47 billion to counter pandemic’s blow

by Associated Press

MILAN — The Italian government has approved 40 billion euros ($47 billion) in new spending to counter the pandemic’s economic blow.

The stimulus package announced Sunday includes an additional 1 billion euros to the national health care system, plus funds to hire doctors and nurses to fill in during the emergency and money to pay for vaccines and other necessities to treat and combat the spread of COVID-19.

There is also money to extend short-term layoff schemes, to support families, to help the underdeveloped south and to make it cheaper to hire workers under 35 years of age.

Premier

The Latest: WHO: European cases rocket, strong limits needed

by Associated Press

LONDON — The exponential surge of coronavirus cases across Europe has warranted the restrictive measures being taken in numerous countries, making them “absolutely necessary,” the head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office says.

In a press briefing Thursday, Dr. Hans Kluge warned that even more drastic steps could be taken if the pandemic does not recede.

He called for countries to be “uncompromising” in their attempts to control the virus and said most of the COVID-19 spread is happening in homes, indoor spaces and communities not complying with protection measures.

“These

The Latest: UK eyes calling Manchester ”very high risk’

by Associated Press

LONDON — Millions of people in northern England are waiting to find out whether they will be placed under the government’s tightest COVID-19 restrictions as local leaders meet with senior government officials about efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

The mayor of the greater Manchester area, with 2.8 million people, says he expects to meet with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s team on Thursday for talks on whether the region will be classified as a “high risk” area. That’s the highest risk category in the government’s new three-tier regional COVID-19 strategy and would require restrictions

The Latest: Russia sets daily infection record: Over 14,230

by Associated Press

MOSCOW — Russian authorities have reported a record 14,000 new coronavirus cases , the latest daily spike in infections.

Russia, which has the world’s fourth-largest confirmed coronavirus caseload of more than 1.3 million, has been reporting over 10,000 new cases for 11 straight days, The 14,231 new infections on Wednesday is the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic.

Most of the virus restrictions in the county have been lifted over the summer. Despite the rapid resurgence of the outbreak, Russian authorities have dismissed suggestions of a second national lockdown.

In Moscow,