The European Union (EU) will start vaccination for COVID-19 after Christmas, the bloc's executive chief Ursula von der Leyen announced on Thursday.

In times when a pandemic unleashes death and poverty, the concept of what is essential to keep society functioning in a lockdown is gripping Europe.

Coronavirus cases hit new daily highs this week in Russia, and Germany and the U.K. announced plans Tuesday to expand virus testing as European countries battled rapidly increasing COVID-19 infections and hospitalisations.

Europe is an epicenter of COVID-19 right now, but it can bring the transmission under control again, hopefully without going into national lockdowns, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

The exponential surge of coronavirus cases across Europe has warranted the restrictive measures being taken in numerous countries, making them “absolutely necessary,” the head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office says.

French government has announced night-time curfew from 21:00 to 06:00 in Paris and eight other cities to control the rapid spread of coronavirus second wave in the country.