EUROPEAN HEALTH SYSTEMS STRAINED WITH SURGING CORONAVIRUS CASES

Italy recorded a high of nearly 41,000 daily cases as hospitalisations and deaths rise in the country, according to Euronews.

Hospitals are crowded with few beds available and the car parks of the legendary Formula One race track of Monza were recently converted into a health facility.

The regions of Tuscany and Campania, where Naples is located, were added as the country's red zones. Piedmont and Lombardy are among the other regions that have already been designated "red zones" where nonessential stores have closed.

Rodolfo Punzi, head of the infectious disease department at Cotugno hospital in Naples said: "The current situation at the Cotugno hospital is that we almost have no more beds available.

"We are working intensively with sacrifice and taking great responsibility, particularly the workers and the nurses."

Another hospital in Naples was the subject of a viral video reportedly showing overcrowding in the emergency room and a dead man lying on the bathroom floor.

"We need restrictions immediately, we shouldn't have gotten to this point, people are dying," said Luigi Di Maio, the country's foreign affairs minister, who said the video was shocking but not surprising as hospitals fill up.

Italy's second wave came a bit later than other European countries, with the country reporting fewer daily cases than other countries such as Spain and France in August and September. European officials warn that restrictions could last through Christmas

Officials in many EU countries are warning that it is so far too early to lift restrictions, with many saying that there are still many months ahead of living with the virus.

Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany's Robert Koch Institute, said despite a slowdown of infections, the country cannot relax rules. He said that people would still have to live with the virus for the coming months.

German health minister Jens Spahn tweeted meanwhile: "The pandemic will continue to be a constraint - even at Christmas. Now is not the time for bigger company parties. We all want to celebrate Christmas in the family as normally as possible."

French Prime Minister Jean Castex also warned people they would not be able to host large gatherings at the new year, stating that it was too early to say whether people could book trains for Christmas.