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8.09pm GMT
France registered 40,558 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, compared to 36,330 on Tuesday and a record of 52,518 on Monday, health ministry data showed.
The total number of cases increased to 1,543,321 but the ministry added that the number of new cases reported on Wednesday was a minimum number due to problems with data gathering.
7.46pm GMT
Italy’s latest restrictions to try to rein in the coronavirus include a partial lockdown of its richest and most populous region Lombardy around the financial capital Milan, the prime minister Giuseppe Conte said on Wednesday.
Earlier, the government published its new package of measures which toughen up nationwide curbs and divide the country into three zones – red, orange and yellow, according to the intensity of the epidemic.
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