He pointed out that Israel continues to have thousands of new cases per day, not dozens or even hundreds, although the number of new daily cases is on the decline and on average less than 4% of people screened are testing positive. On Wednesday, only 2.9% of people tested positive, the Health Ministry showed. Last month, Israel had days where 10% of people tested positive.

Italy has imposed tough new restrictions for most of the country, as a 'third wave' of Covid takes hold. From Monday, schools, restaurants, shops and museums across most regions will close in an effort to halt the surging coronavirus infections.

Italy’s tiered system of red, orange, yellow and white zones remains in place, while local authorities are also able to declare ‘mini red zones’ or other additional restrictions in case of a spike in infections, meaning some coronavirus restrictions vary around the country. Based on the latest announcements, there will be no yellow zones from Monday.
People in Italy are urged to stay at home whenever possible and to avoid unnecessary contact with anyone they do not live with. Masks must be worn at all times in public. There is a 10pm-5am curfew in place, and a ban on non-essential travel between all regions.

A national ‘red zone’ is in place for Easter, with some changes to restrictions for April 3-5th.

EU closes ranks over Covid surge and vaccine delays
- A few weeks ago there was talk of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen possibly having to resign over the fact that contracts signed with vaccine producers came late and weren't tight enough to guarantee delivery. European politicians and voters alike wanted to know why the UK was able to get all its vaccines but the EU wasn't. But the EU mood has shifted slowly since. Ursula von der Leyen (belatedly) admitted that mistakes were made and EU governments privately acknowledge they share some of the blame as they were consulted by Brussels before it negotiated the vaccine contracts on their behalf. –

- By now though, there's a growing feeling in the EU that they're "all in it together", bearing in mind the single market and the open-border Schengen Agreement. This was the opinion of one European politician I spoke to on condition of anonymity. "We're not protected at all if we're not all vaccinated at a European level," he told me. "Going it alone could never have really been an option, even for the rich countries. So the pan-EU plan is really an investment in each of us."

That said, the European Commission is hardly off the hook. On Friday, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz accused it of presiding over a vaccine "bazaar" and failing to distribute jabs according to each country's population size, despite an agreement to do so. A charge the Commission denies. And the European medical body the EMA consistently comes under fire for being "slow" to approve vaccines. –

- While some in the EU favour a much tougher stance on exports, as long as pharma companies fail to deliver to the bloc, others I speak to think that would be a terrible idea, affecting the EU's image abroad. "Just look at the soft power Russia and China are exerting by bestowing their vaccines around the world," one of the diplomats I spoke to said to me. "The EU has to step up and honour its commitments to those less fortunate than ourselves. It's a moral and political imperative. At the moment these vaccine rows are a stupid competition between rich, privileged nations. I hope we can co-ordinate our international obligations at the upcoming EU leaders' summit." –

Germany is extending its lockdown until April 18 and calling on citizens to stay at home for five days over the Easter holidays to try to break a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chancellor Angela Merkel said early on Tuesday.In talks that ran deep into the night, Merkel pushed the leaders of Germany's 16 states to take a tougher stance to fight the pandemic, reversing plans for a gradual re-opening of the economy agreed earlier this month after a sharp rise in the infection rate.

"We are now basically in a new pandemic. The British mutation has become dominant," Merkel told a news conference.

"Fundamentally, we face a new virus of the same kind but with very different characteristics. More deadly, more infectious, and infectious for longer."

Coronavirus: Germany's Merkel reverses plans for Easter lockdown
- It had been widely criticised by business leaders and scientists. The head of Mrs Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, Armin Laschet, told a regional parliament meeting on Wednesday that the lockdown was "not enforceable in this form".

"This mistake is mine alone," Mrs Merkel told reporters in Berlin. "The whole process has caused additional uncertainty, for which I ask all citizens to forgive me." "There were good reasons for it but it could not be implemented well enough in this short time," she added. –

- This was an extraordinary statement. Chancellor Merkel said she alone bore responsibility for the plan to extend what is usually a three-day Easter holiday to a five-day shut down. The German leader will be conscious that - as case numbers soar exponentially - public trust in her government's pandemic response is wavering. She was seen as a safe pair of hands who brought the country through the first wave of infections. But - as regional leaders bicker over lockdown measures - Germany's response is becoming increasingly chaotic. Mrs Merkel appears to be struggling to keep the country together. –

The Italian government is to introduce a mandatory five-day quarantine for EU travellers amid a third wave of infections in a number of countries.

Previously, only arrivals from outside the bloc had to self-isolate.

Tuesday's decision comes as new rules requiring all air passengers to Germany to provide a negative coronavirus test come into effect