Italian region worst hit by first wave sees highest infections since pandemic began; Czech Republic limits movement to essential trips * 300,000 excess US deaths recorded as Cathay Pacific cuts 5,900 jobs * Spain poised to become first European country with over 1m cases * New Zealand records 25 Covid cases amid arrival of foreign fishing crews * UK coronavirus updates – live 3.52pm BST The King and Queen of the Netherlands have made a two minute video apologising to the Dutch public for taking a holiday to Greece at a time when the new partial lockdown rules had come into force. The royal couple and their daughters had to return just 24 hours into their break in response to public outrage at the holiday to Athens. At the time the public had been told to remain at home and travel as little as possible. Sitting by his wife, Maxima, on a sofa at the family home, King Willem-Alexander said he was sorry for the decision, adding that the couple were not “infallible”. “It hurts to have betrayed your trust in us,’ he said. “Even though the trip was in line with the regulations, it was very unwise not to take into account the impact of the new restrictions on our society.’ The Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte has already apologised for his misjudgement in allowing the trip to go ahead. In a letter to parliament, Rutte said that he had “realised too late” that the holiday “could no longer be reconciled with the increasing infections and the stricter measures. “This should have prompted me to reconsider the intended holiday. I bear full ministerial responsibility,” he wrote. 3.37pm BST The SWISS health minister has warned of the prospect of overburdened hospitals as coronavirus case counts and hospitalisations were doubling every week. Switzerland has gone from one of the least-affected countries in Europe to one of the worst-hit in just three weeks, AP reports. Alain Berset made the comments after the country reported a record 5,583 new cases over the latest 24 hours. “The situation is worsening, and worsening fast,” Berset told a news conference in Bern, the capital. Continue reading...
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