Evening roundupWednesday's key coronavirus developments in Luxembourg and abroad

In Luxembourg

• Luxembourg counted four new confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, with 53 active infections remaining.

• Gyms, swimming pools and cultural centres remain closed in Luxembourg City for several more weeks at least.

• It’s been more than two months since the start of the health crisis and thousands of cross-border workers still have the possibility to work from home (“télétravail”). But until when? Our colleagues from 5minutes tried to find answers.

• More than 100 people were slapped with fines last week for not wearing their face mask.

• Belgium will reopen its borders to travellers from the EU, Britain and members of Europe’s passport-free travel zone on 15 June, the prime minister said Wednesday. This includes Luxembourg, of course.

• At restaurants and terraces, when do you need to wear a face mask? Is it possible to have more than 4 people sit at the same table? Can you still order something, even if you are not sitting down? Here a brief summary of the police’s answers to these questions.

• According to Minister for the Environment Carole Dieschbourg, crises could also be used as an incentive to more selectively invest in research and innovation.

• Thanks to cooperation between China and Luxembourg, researchers in Luxembourg were able to gain access to blood samples from severely ill Covid-19 patients relatively quickly.

Rest of the world

• Thousands of people protesting at close quarters, shouting demands and coughing violently when hit by tear gas: experts fear demonstrations roiling the US could reignite the spread of the coronavirus.

• Brazil surpassed 30,000 deaths on Tuesday as the disease continued to rip through South America’s worst-hit country.

• South Korea on Wednesday issued an emergency authorisation for the anti-viral drug remdesivir to be used to treat coronavirus patients, paving the way for imports.

• Italy reopened to travellers from Europe on Wednesday, three months after the country went into coronavirus lockdown, with all hopes pinned on reviving the key tourism industry as the summer season begins.

• The head of the global vaccine alliance has warned “nobody is safe unless everybody is safe” from coronavirus, urging international solidarity ahead of a fundraising summit as the pandemic threatens to trigger a resurgence of preventable diseases.

• Germany will lift its blanket travel warning for European nations from June 15, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Wednesday, as the continent looks to further ease restrictions.

• Sweden’s top epidemiologist said Wednesday there was room for improvement in the country’s controversial softer approach to curbing the spread of COVID-19, but maintained he still had faith in the strategy.

• And ahead of summer, Britain confirmed Tuesday it was looking at establishing “air bridges” with countries with low rates of coronavirus, exempting them from controversial quarantine measures.