Europe crosses 500,000 Covid-19 deaths as new variant spreads

Europe became the first region worldwide to cross 500,000 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, as a new variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain threatened the region’s prevention measures to curb the pandemic.

Reports of the mutated variant out of England prompted a pre-Christmas lockdown and have forced dozens of countries close their borders to British travellers this week.