Negotiations between the European Union and Britain over new trade arrangements from next year are at an impasse due to disagreements and the coronavirus crisis, diplomats and officials in Brussels told Reuters. Halted when the epidemic started, the EU’s tortuous Brexit talks with PM Boris Johnson’s government were renewed a week ago but have quickly hit snags, the sources said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to Downing Street in London late on Sunday, following his recovery from Covid-19, a government spokesperson confirmed to dpa. Johnson will resume work at the official London residence of the premier on Monday. He had been recuperating at Chequers, the prime minister's residence outside London, after being released from hospital on 12 April.

Pope Francis on Wednesday prayed for European unity ahead of a big EU summit on the bloc's response to the economic earthquake caused by the coronavirus emergency, ANSA reported.

Britain extended its nationwide lockdown on Thursday as stand-in leader Dominic Raab ordered Britons to stay at home for at least another three weeks to prevent the spread of a coronavirus outbreak which has already claimed over 138,000 lives globally. “We have just come too far, we’ve lost too many loved ones, we’ve already sacrificed far too much to ease up now, especially when we are beginning to see the evidence that our efforts are starting to pay off,” he told reporters.

Britain is expected to announce a three-week extension of its near-lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus late on Thursday, after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was too early to lift restrictions.

Iceland has provided a textbook example of how to get out ahead of a looming pandemic. Per capita it has tested more people for coronavirus than any other country and it got started a month before the first case was even confirmed in the tiny Nordic island nation. As a result by mid-April there are 1,727 confirmed cases, with 1,077 recovered, 8 in critical condition, and merely 8 lethal cases.

Switzerland’s government is due to unveil on Thursday how it plans to relax the country’s shutdown put in place to halt the spread of the new coronavirus epidemic, Swiss media reported. Health Minister Alain Berset will outline a three-stage plan to start a gradual opening of businesses and schools which have been shuttered for a month.

Nearly one in 10 coronavirus-related deaths in England and Wales happened outside hospitals in the week ending 3 April, according to the Office for National Statistics cited by British media. The 406 deaths were not included in the daily NHS and Department of Health figures, which only count hospital deaths. The number is made up of 217 deaths in care homes, 33 in hospices, 136 in private homes, three in other communal establishments, and 17 elsewhere.