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Germany is extending its current lockdown to 18 April and shutting down almost completely over the Easter holiday from 1-5 April to slow down soaring infections. Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders had hoped to loosen the lockdown, but she said they had to “break the exponential growth of the third wave”. Over five days at Easter, only food shops can open for one day on Saturday 3 April and no more than five adults from two households can meet. The slogan is “We’re staying at home”. A further 7,485 infections and 250 deaths have been announced in the past 24 hours.

Spain’s ministry of health has approved extending the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to everyone up to the age of 65 after initially restricting it to under 55s including key workers such firefighters, police and teachers. AZ vaccinations are to resume in Spain tomorrow after a short suspension for safety checks. The jab will also be extended to over-65s if it’s backed by a national health panel.

While many European countries are seeing a third Covid wave, Denmark has escaped that and its political leaders have agreed a gradual plan to reopen the country. Schools and professions such as hairdressers will start opening up after Easter. A corona pass is being introduced to show whether you have been vaccinated or have a negative test.

The Czech death toll from the pandemic has passed 25,000. In a separate milestone, a million Czechs have now had at least one dose of vaccine, out of a population of 10.7 million.

French hospitals have admitted another 471 patients into intensive care in 24 hours, and another 15,792 cases have been reported. The total number in intensive care is over 4,500.

Bosnia has reported a record 73 daily coronavirus deaths. The capital Sarajevo and majority ethnic-Serb region, Republika Srpska, are both in lockdown.

Eritrea has condemned as "malicious" the European Union's decision to impose sanctions on its National Security Office (NSO) for alleged human rights abuses.

"The EU has no legal or moral prerogative for its decision and has merely invoked trumped-up charges to harass Eritrea for other ulterior motives," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The EU accused the NSO of extra-judicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests. It did not give further details about the sanctions.

The foreign ministry said the EU was trying to drive a wedge between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and was trying to bring back to power the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in Ethiopia's Tigray region.

Eritrean troops have been accused of carrying out widespread atrocities in Tigray since fighting broke out in the region in November. Eritrea reportedly deployed troops to help the Ethiopian military defeat the TPLF. It denies that any of its troops are in Tigray.

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The European Union (EU) has imposed sanctions on the Eritrean government's National Security Office (NSO), accusing it of serious human rights violations - including extra-judicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances.

The EU did not give details of what type of sanctions will be imposed or why now.

Reuters news agency reports that the NSO will face an asset freeze in the EU.

The NSO is headed by Major General Abraha Kassa and is under the supervision of President Isaias Afwerki's office, the EU said in a statement.

Eritrea is a one-party state led by President Isaias Afwerki since its independence in 1993.

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Eritrea was one of several states from around the world to be targeted by the EU for alleged human rights violations. Two Libyan militia leaders and a senior commander in South Sudan's army have also had sanctions imposed on them.