Some European Countries See Huge Coronavirus Spikes

Britain's closest neighbor on the mainland has seen 4,711 new cases in the past 24 hours.

France's latest figure is a new post-lockdown high, and it is the highest the country has seen since cases peaked at the end of March.

Spain continues to have the highest rate of cases at 60.6 per 100,000 people. It has reported 3,349 new cases in the past 24 hours, with more than 1,000 of those in the capital, Madrid, Sky News reported.

Some European countries, including Croatia, Slovenia, Malta, Austria, Hungary, France and Greece had increases of more than 70% during the week of 10-16 August compared with the week before, according to the latest weekly data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The most dramatic rise was in Croatia, with a 174% increase in the rate of infections, from 7.8 cases per 100,000 to 21.5, while Slovenia increased by 102.6% but from 3.7 to 7.4 cases per 100,000.

Denmark, Switzerland, Italy and Norway all had increases of between 46.9% and 59.4%.

Croatia and Austria were added to the UK's quarantine list on Thursday, along with Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, with the rule coming into effect from 4am on Saturday.

France, Malta and the Netherlands were placed on the list last week due to spikes.

Spain, which has been on the list since 26 July, only increased by 10.1% in those weeks, despite high numbers.

Italy was the worst-hit country in Europe in the earlier days of the pandemic but had managed to keep cases and deaths under control over the past two months.

However, stricter measures were recently imposed as it saw a 46.9% increase from 3.8 cases per 100,000 to 5.5 cases up to 16 August.

The country recorded 845 new cases on Thursday, the highest daily increase since lockdown was eased in early June.

On Thursday, Germany recorded 1,707 new cases, its highest increase in daily cases since 26 April.

In comparison, the UK had an increase of 13.6%, from 8.7 cases per 100,000 to 9.9 cases.