EU leaders to hold video call October 29 on virus surge

EU leaders will hold a video summit on October 29 to discuss the sudden rise in Covid-19 cases across their continent, European sources said on Wednesday.

The meeting is expected to be the first in a series of regular video calls, the sources said, with European leaders eager to improve coordination to slow the spread of the coronavirus and fix the pandemic-hit economy.

Hit by the second wave of the pandemic, Europe is increasing restrictions.

On Wednesday, Ireland became the first EU country to reconfine its entire population, and the signals are also in the danger zone in Italy, France, Belgium and Spain.

The pandemic has killed at least 1,126,465 people worldwide since the end of December, including more than 254,300 in Europe, according to AFP data on Wednesday.