国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Less festive Easter observed across Europe despite signs of hope in anti-virus ba_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Less festive Easter observed across Europe despite signs of hope in anti-virus ba

BRUSSELS, April 12 -- Europeans observed a less festive Easter Sunday, as their attention is still grabbed by the coronavirus, which, according to the data from the World Health Organization, has infected 839,257 people across Europe.

BLEAK EASTER

Watching religious services online, ordering Easter meal deliveries, Italian residents are settling into the "new normal" under the rules of the national lockdown during what may be Italy's biggest religious holiday.

"Easter 2020 will be remembered due to the closure of over 95 percent of hotels across Italy and ... a loss of turnover of 300 million euros (328 million U.S. dollars) between Saturday and Monday," the National Federation of the Travel and Tourism Industry (Federturismo) said in its recent forecast for the holiday weekend.

To encourage the nation as it spent this major holiday in a less festive way, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte posted a message on Facebook wishing a happy Easter to all Italians.

"We miss the smiles of our relatives, the hugs of our friends, the beautiful traditions of our towns ... The sacrifices each of us are making on this important Sunday are a gesture of authentic attachment to what really matters and what we will soon recover," said Conte.

British people are not in a very festive mood for Easter either, as the coronavirus-related death toll in their country surpassed the grim 10,000-mark.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said during a daily press conference at Downing Street that Britain had joined the ranks of the United States, Spain, Italy and France, which "have seen more than 10,000 deaths related to coronavirus."