Evening roundupThursday's key coronavirus developments

In Luxembourg

• The latest figures from the Ministry of Health show that 98 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the last 24 hours. This brings the total number of cases to 5,952. One person passed away in the last 24 hours. 375,256 tests have been carried out in Luxembourg since the start of the outbreak, a rise of 8,928 since yesterday.

• Dr Térèse Staub discussed which drugs are currently used in Luxembourg’s hospitals to treat virus patients. She stressed that the country “will face a difficult time” if infections numbers continue to climb. Two patients under 40 are currently in intensive care.
• The ministry is advising businesses to provide employees with Covid-19 tests prior to international business trips. These tests are free.

• [block type="summary”]The Chamber of Deputies passed three adaptations to the Covid-19 bill on Wednesday to further support businesses during the crisis. The initiative, entitled “fund of revitalisation and solidarity”, aims at supporting businesses from the tourism industry, event management, and the hospitality sector.

  • The iconic Marie-Astrid boat will no longer head to Trier and Bernkastel in Germany.

  In international news

  • The Swedish unemployment rate jumped to its highest level since 1998 in June, at nearly 10 percent, due to the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus, Statistics Sweden said Thursday.

  • [block type="summary”]Belgium on Thursday tightened its rules on wearing facemasks, making them compulsory in outdoor markets and busy shopping areas, as fears of a resurgence of coronavirus grow.

    • The migrant rescue ship Ocean Viking was detained on Wednesday over technical irregularities, Italy’s coastguard said, a move blasted as “harassment” by the charity that runs the vessel. The ship had been allowed to disembark at a Sicilian port on July 7, with 180 rescued migrants onboard transferred to another boat for a two-week coronavirus quarantine.