France and the UK are preparing to extend their lockdown deadlines beyond next week as the deaths to coronavirus continue to mount.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron is expected to discuss the extension in a television address on Monday, the Elysée Palace has said.
It comes after authorities recorded another 541 deaths over a 24-hour period on Wednesday, bringing the total to 10,869 deaths since the outbreak.
Another 7,000 people are currently being treated in intensive care units in hospital.
Meanwhile, the UK reached a grim milestone as it recorded an increase of 938 coronavirus-related deaths in a single day on Wednesday.
It brings the country’s total to 7,097 deaths, while a further 60,733 people have been confirmed to have contracted the illness.
Like France, the British government is also expected to extend its three-week lockdown past Monday; however, little is known how long this extension will be – or when it will be announced – as Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in an intensive care unit being treated for COVID-19.
He has spent three nights in the critical care unit at St Thomas’ Hospital in London and his condition is said to be “improving”.
At the daily televised conference from Downing Street on Wednesday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said Johnson had been sitting up in bed and “engaging positively” with doctors.
(EURONEWS)
