Lockdown restrictions in the UK will continue for "at least" another three weeks as it tackles the coronavirus outbreak, Dominic Raab has said.

The foreign secretary told the daily No 10 briefing that a review had concluded relaxing the measures now would risk harming public health and the economy, reports BBC.

"We still don't have the infection rate down as far as we need to," he said.

It comes as the UK recorded another 861 coronavirus deaths in hospital, taking the total to 13,729.

Ministers are required by law to assess whether the rules are working, based on expert advice, every three weeks.

Mr Raab, deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers from the illness, said: "There is light at the end of the tunnel but we are now at both a delicate and a dangerous stage in this pandemic.

"If we rush to relax the measures that we have in place we would risk wasting all the sacrifices and all the progress that has been made.

"That would risk a quick return to another lockdown with all the threat to life that a second peak to the virus would bring and all the economic damage that a second lockdown would carry."

Mr Raab said the review concluded that the measures were working, but there was evidence the infection was spreading in hospitals and care homes.

He said five conditions needed to be met before the lockdown was eased:

* Making sure the NHS could cope

* A "sustained and consistent" fall in the daily death rate

* Reliable data showing the rate of infection was decreasing to "manageable levels"

* Ensuring the supply of tests and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) could meet future demand

* Being confident any adjustments would not risk a second peak

He said he could not provide a definitive timeline, but said the prime minister's warning at the outset of the epidemic that it would take about three months to come through the peak still applied.

"We know it is rough going. Every time I come to this lectern and read out the grim toll, I walk away and think of their sons and daughters going through this right now, their brothers, sisters, grandchildren, all those left behind," Mr Raab said.

"It makes this government focus even harder on what we must do and I know together, united, we must keep up this national effort."

It isn't a surprise. But it is hugely significant for every single person in this country. The lockdown measures will go on for at least another three weeks.

Ministers from devolved administrations across the UK have agreed that as a united way forward. The PM's deputy, Dominic Raab, said that we've sacrificed too much to ease up now.

And while ministers in Westminster have been very reluctant to talk about a future exit strategy - for fear it could distract from its core "stay at home" message - the foreign secretary did nod to how we could, in future, see measures relaxed in some areas while potentially strengthening them in others.

That may not sound like a lot of detail but it is possible to start tentatively piecing this exit strategy puzzle together. It's important to say things could change as more information comes to light.

But, as things stand, it seems that the route out of this will be staggered, gradual and cautious.

The government's clear and ongoing priority will be to avoid overwhelming the NHS. Increased testing will be an essential part of tackling the infection. And meanwhile the country, and indeed the world, waits for what appears to be the ultimate way out - a vaccine.

The coronavirus claimed 20,465 lives in locked-down Italy as of Monday, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries to 159,516, according released by its Civil Protection Department.

Addressing a televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli explained that there were 566 new fatalities, compared with 431 registered on Sunday.

Active infections increased by 1,363 from Sunday to a tally of 103,616.

Meanwhile, there were 1,224 new recoveries, bringing the total of recoveries to 35,435 since the pandemic broke out in the northern regions on Feb. 21.

Of those infected, 28,023 people are currently hospitalized, 176 more from the previous day; 3,260 are in intensive care, down by 83; and 72,333, or about 70 percent, are isolated at home.

It was the tenth consecutive day that the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units showed a decreasing trend, according to Borrelli.

This trend helped alleviating the pressure on Italy's hospitals, and especially on the most affected regions, which remained northern Lombardy, with 31,935 active infections; Emilia Romagna, with 13,818; Piedmont, with 12,765; Veneto, with 10,766; and central Tuscany, with 6,257, according to latest data.

After days on a similar downward trend, Sunday's number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in normal wards rose again.

RESTRICTIONS WIDELY RESPECTED IN HOLIDAYS

Meanwhile, strengthened police controls ordered for Easter holidays continued through Monday, "also with police using helicopters and drones," the Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

Restrictions seemed to have been mostly respected. On Easter Sunday, some 213,565 people and 60,435 business activities were checked. 13,756 people were fined for not observing restrictive rules, including 19 coronavirus positive people who defied the absolute ban on leaving their home isolation, according to official data.

Still on Easter, some 121 commercial activities were sanctioned, while another 47 were shut down for major breaches.

Overall, law enforcement forces have checked 6,976,423 people and 2,831,550 activities between March 11, the day after the nationwide lockdown effectively entered into force, and April 12, the data found.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT MOVEMENTS MAY CHANGE

On Monday, in an interview with state-run RAI Radio 1 broadcaster, Transport Minister Paola De Micheli said the possible shift to the "Phase 2" of emergency -- meaning a gradual and partial restoration of economic and social activities -- would imply "a different way for people to use public transport."

"We will have to imagine a society where not everyone goes to work and back at the same time, but rather at flexible hours, and especially for public offices," De Micheli said.

The minister also explained that a little less than 15 percent of Italy's regional and high-speed trains are currently running, while the percentage is higher for flights since the government chose "to leave open some air traffic routes in order to bring home Italians studying abroad or those who had a job but have lost it."

Any decision on whether to shift to this second phase would be up to the central government, on the base of the recommendations of a technical and scientific committee of experts.

Italy has declared a six-month national state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic on Jan. 31.

The government imposed a nationwide lockdown that went into effect on March 10. One month later, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the lockdown would continue until May 3.

The following are the latest developments of the coronavirus pandemic in European countries.

ROME -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 20,465 lives in locked-down Italy as of Monday, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries so far to 159,516, according to latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department.

Addressing a televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli explained that there were 566 new fatalities, compared with 431 registered on Sunday.

Active infections increased by 1,363 from Sunday to a tally of 103,616.

Meanwhile, there were 1,224 new recoveries, bringing the total of recoveries to 35,435 since the pandemic broke out in the northern regions on Feb. 21.

Of those infected, 28,023 people are currently hospitalized, 176 more from the previous day; 3,260 are in intensive care, down by 83; and 72,333, or about 70 percent, are isolated at home.

It was the tenth consecutive day that the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units showed a decreasing trend, according to Borrelli.

LONDON -- The death toll of those hospitalized in Britain who tested positive for the novel coronavirus reached 11,329 as of Sunday afternoon, marking a daily increase of 717, the Department of Health and Social Care said Monday.

As of Monday morning, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Britain hit 88,621, said the department, adding that 367,667 tests have concluded, with 14,506 tests on Sunday.

Chairing Monday's Downing Street daily press briefing, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, also First Secretary of State, said the government does not expect to relax or lift the coronavirus lockdown later this week.

"We are still not past the peak," even though there are some "positive signs" from the data that show "we are starting to win this struggle", said Raab.

"We don't expect to make any changes to the measures currently in place at that point and we won't until we're confident -- as confident as we realistically can be -- that any such changes can be safely made," he said.

Photo taken on April 11, 2020 shows the empty Piazza del Popolo in Rome, Italy. Xinhua Photo

PARIS --French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the country's coronavirus lockdown will be extended till May 11.

"The confinement... the strictest... will pursue till Monday May the 11th," Macron said in his televised address to the nation, as four weeks of lockdown in the country has produced some positive effects in containing the spread of coronavirus.

He said May 11 will mark the start of a new phase in France. From then on, nurseries and schools will reopen progressively; restaurants, cafes, hotels will remain closed; all people showing COVID-19 symptoms will be tested.

"The hope is reborn but nothing is won," Macron noted, adding "In the Grand Est (region in northeast France) as in the Paris region, the (health) system is under pressure. The epidemic is still not controlled,"

"We should therefore pursue with our efforts and continue to apply the rules," he said.

MADRID -- The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths in a 24-hour period both fell in Spain, according to the data collected by the Spanish Ministry for Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services by 2100 hours on Sunday and made public on Monday.

The total number of people who have lost their lives from the virus rose to 17,489, a daily increase of 517, compared with the 619 deaths in the previous 24-hour period.

This was accompanied by a fall in the number of new cases: 3,477 new cases reported compared to 4,167 on Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 169,496.

BRUSSELS -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Belgium has increased from 29,647 to 30,589 by Monday morning with 3,903 deaths, according to the latest figures from Belgian health authorities.

Belgium registered 942 new cases and 303 new deaths in the past 24 hours, announced the public health institute Sciensano.

Furthermore, in the past 24 hours, 310 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized while 239 left the hospital. Between March 15 and April 12, over 11,400 patients entered the hospital, while 6,707 were discharged.

Figures show a stabilization in the number of hospital admissions in recent days and a slight drop in intensive care patients.

THE HAGUE -- The number of reported COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours reached its lowest point in over two weeks in The Netherlands, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced on Monday.

The 86 reported deaths from the disease since Sunday resulted in a death toll of 2,823. The last time the death toll was that low was on March 26, when 78 patients were reported dead. On Sunday the number of reported daily deaths was 94 and on Saturday it was 132.

The number of people who are or were admitted to hospital rose by 147 to a total of 8,729, and that of people who tested positive for COVID-19 since Sunday grew by 964 to a total of 26,551.

BUDAPEST -- New arrival of medical protective equipment from China has landed in Budapest, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto announced on Monday.

"In the early morning hours on Monday, six planes landed in Budapest, carrying 5.3 million face masks, 6 million pairs of gloves and 86,000 protective gowns from Beijing and Shanghai," the minister said on his Facebook page.

"The virus does not take into account our holidays, therefore the China-Hungary air bridge must also operate at Easter, for the safe supply of medical protective equipment for hospitals, clinics and police and military units," he added.

On Sunday morning, a plane from southern China's Shenzhen landed in Budapest, carrying 1,365,000 protective masks.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday extended the country's national coronavirus lockdown to "at least" May 3.

"The national quarantine will be extended to at least May 3," Conte said at his address. "The decision was not an easy one, but it was what the situation required."

The prime minister's announcement came about one month after the first decree went into force. Since then, Conte has periodically strengthened the terms of the lockdown and extended its length.

Before this extension, the measures were scheduled to be lifted Monday, though reports began circulating on Thursday that it would be extended into May after Conte held a conference call with trade union leaders.

Italy was the first country in Europe to issue a national lockdown as a way to curb the spread of the virus.

The extension means that for an additional 20 days, residents in Italy will not be able to leave their homes except for "vital" reasons, such as food shopping or medical visits.

Conte said that he wanted to loosen the terms of the lockdown "as soon as possible", and that if changes were warranted they cold be loosened before May 3.

He said some activities -- notably stores that sell goods for small children -- would be allowed to re-open starting April 14.

Italy remains one of the countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 19,000 deaths and nearly 150,000 infections.

More than 350,000 people tuned into Conte's address, which was aired on the social media platform Facebook.

A huge bridge section has collapsed in Tuscany, the latest case of Italy’s infrastructure crumbling after years of neglect.

Police and fire crews roped off the access road to the bridge over the Magra River in Albiano Magra in the province of Massa Carrara, according to Carabinieri footage of the scene Wednesday.

Given Italy’s nationwide coronavirus lockdown, there were only two trucks on the provincial road at the time. Italian news reports said one of the drivers was hospitalized.

The Anas road agency had sent inspectors to the bridge last year after a crack developed following heavy rains. The section was cleared for further use, Italian agency ANSA said.

The mayor of Aulla, Roberto Vallettini, had written to Anas flagging that heavy trucks were repeatedly using the two-lane bridge because of nearby road closures.

The bridge collapse comes as Italy is still working to rebuild the heavily used Morandi Bridge in Genoa, which collapsed in 2018 during a rainstorm, killing 43 people