The COVID-19 disease pandemic is still infecting and killing large numbers of people across Europe and there is no sign yet that the peak of the region’s outbreak has been reached, the EU’s disease monitoring agency said on Wednesday.

A thump a second. That is the frequency of the human heartbeat. If you get excited – you become amused, fall in love, get angry – the number of beats doubles. The flat line is the scariest graphic in medicine.

Being overweight is a major risk for people infected with the new coronavirus, according to France’s chief epidemiologist. Prof Jean-François Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council that advises the government on the epidemic, said as many as 17 million French citizens were seriously at risk from the coronavirus because of age, pre-existing illness or obesity.

Croatia will need about 70 billion kuna (€9.2bn) in the next few months to finance the measures it undertakes to combat the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said on Wednesday cited by Reuters. The government has already introduced some measures to help the economy, including writing off tax obligations or deferring of tax payments over the next three months.

The coronavirus cases number in the Czech Republic has risen past 5,000, although a slower growth rate allowed the health minister to say he was confident the state had prevented an uncontrolled spread as it starts easing lockdown measures, news wires reported. 195 new cases were reported on Wednesday, compared to 235 on Tuesday.

European Research Council (ERC) president Mauro Ferrari resigned on Wednesday after only three months in the job, news wires reported.  In a statement he said had lost faith in the system after he failed to set up a special programme to fight coronavirus, and attacked the EU's scientific governance and political operations.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut US funding to the World Health Organisation, accusing it of bias toward China during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump told reporters he was "going to put a very powerful hold on" funding to WHO, the UN body whose biggest funding source is the United States.

The World Health Organisation has confirmed its position that wearing face masks in public may help reducing the spread of coronavirus in some regions, but as a whole there was no evidence that it is effectively preventing healthy people from picking up respiratory infections including Covid-19. According to the WTO, only sick people, those who care for them, and medical personnel should wear masks in all cases.

Londoners are known for flooding the parks on a typical Sunday afternoon when the sun is happening to be shining occasionally. Thousands of people are having picknicks, playing games or just enjoying the day with their friends and families. Greenwich park is full of tourists and locals per usual and everyone pretends things are fine.

Finland will start tracking the spread of the new coronavirus in its population with randomised antibody tests, its public health authority said on Tuesday cited by Reuters. The hospitals will mail invitation letters to randomly chosen citizens of all ages to be tested for the antibodies which patients suffering from COVID-19 develop, including those who have contracted the illness without showing any symptoms.