Community workers patrol near a beach in Barcelona, Spain, July 27, 2020. (Barcelona City Hall/Handout via Xinhua)
-- Spanish flight makes emergency landing after passenger refuses to wear face mask;
-- New daily COVID-19 infections in Germany remain above 1,000;
-- Austria launches coronavirus "traffic-light" system to prevent second wave;
-- Preston becomes latest UK city put under local COVID-19 lockdown.
BRUSSELS, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.
MADRID -- An Air Europa flight on the route from the Grand Canary Island to Madrid was forced to make an emergency landing in Malaga, southern Spain, after a passenger refused to wear a protective face mask, Spanish TV networks RTVE and Antena 3 reported on Friday.
The plane was due to arrive in Madrid at 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Thursday, but was diverted to Malaga, after the passenger, who was described as "Ukrainian and under the effects of alcohol," refused the requests of cabin crew "on repeated occasions" to put on a mask and continued drinking.
His attitude led to the crew of the plane activating the appropriate protocol to divert the aircraft to the nearest airport, where he was arrested by Spanish Civil Guards upon landing before the aircraft continued its journey to Madrid.
People are seen at Berlin Central Train Station in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
BERLIN -- New COVID-19 infections in Germany increased by 1,147 within one day to 214,214, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Friday.
The threshold of 1,000 daily COVID-19 infections in Germany had last been exceeded in May before numbers started increasing again at the end of July. The peak in new infections was reached in early April with more than 6,000.
"At the moment, we are in any case still on a scale that the health care system and the public health service can cope with," Minister of Health Jens Spahn told German broadcaster ZDF on Thursday.
A cyclist passes a water spray on Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna, Austria, July 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)
VIENNA -- The Austrian government on Friday launched a four-color coronavirus "traffic-light" system to help avoid a second wave of the pandemic.
The system is intended to increase public health awareness and thus prevent a second wave in autumn, especially in view of the upcoming start of school, said Health Minister Rudolf Anschober at a press conference.
The colors green (low risk), yellow (medium risk), orange (high risk) and red (acute situation) will be used to indicate epidemiological situations down to the district level, he said.
A man cycles past a closed theatre in London, Britain on May 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
LONDON -- Restrictions banning different households from meeting indoors or in gardens are to be brought in for Preston in Lancashire in northwest England from midnight on Friday after a rise in COVID-19 cases, the British Department of Health and Social Care said.
The new restrictions for Preston came after it was designated an "area of intervention" by the British government.
Preston's new restrictions mean that from midnight Friday, residents cannot have others in their homes and gardens. They cannot visit other people's homes or gardens, even if they are in an unaffected area. They are also not permitted to mix with other household in indoor venues.■