ROME, Sept 19, 2021 (BSS/XINHUA)- The main coronavirus indicators are

improving across Europe, even though individual countries use different
strategies to confront the spread of the pandemic.

  According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC),
there were nearly 380,000 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases in the 30-
nation European Economic Area (EEA), which includes 27 countries that make up
the European Union, plus Norway, Iceland, and Lichtenstein, in its latest
weekly report, which closed Sept. 17.

  That is the sixth consecutive week that the weekly figure dropped.

  The EEA's weekly total cases are far below the 2021 peak of more than 1.1
million new cases recorded from March 28 to April 3, and the all-time peak of
more than 1.4 million new cases in November 2020.

  That improvement has come despite wide variations in the vaccination rate
among EEA states. Less than half of adult populations in Bulgaria, Croatia,
Latvia, and Romania are fully vaccinated, while in Denmark, Iceland, Ireland,
Malta, and Portugal the equivalent rate is above 85 percent each, according
to data from the ECDC.

  Health rules against the pandemic also differ significantly from each
other.

  This week, Italy, for example, became the first European country to require
the "green pass" for health for all workers in both public and private
sectors, which will become effective in mid-October. The "green pass" shows
proof of vaccination, recovery from the virus, or a recent negative
coronavirus test.

  Lithuania this week passed only slightly less restrictive measures,
requiring the country's "opportunity pass" for anyone to access any shops
selling non-essential products, beauty salons, or gyms.

  Slovenia this week unveiled similar measures, requiring proof of
vaccination, recovery from the virus, or a negative test to dine in
restaurants, visit most non-essential shops, or attend public events.

  France, meanwhile, which has recorded nearly 7 million coronavirus cases
since the start of the pandemic, more than any other country in the EEA, said
it will maintain its current coronavirus health restrictions despite a
reduction in cases since recent peaks a month ago.

  The Netherlands recently announced it would drop mandatory 1.5-meter social
distancing rules, which will be effective from Sept. 25.

  Sweden, meanwhile, said it will lift most coronavirus health restrictions
at the end of this month, though it will continue to urge those showing
symptoms of Covid-19 to stay at home.

  Neighboring Finland said this month it would stop testing vaccinated
residents for the coronavirus and lift restrictions completely once 80
percent of the population aged 12 and over are fully vaccinated. As of Sept.
14, about 57 percent of the relevant population were fully vaccinated in
Finland.

  And in Malta, the government announced on Wednesday that most citizens
returning to the country from high-risk areas can quarantine at home rather
than in specially designated hotels.

  Britain, which is not part of the EEA, this week outlined a multi-part plan
that would see health restrictions loosened in the fall and winter unless
there is a new spike in infections strong enough to put the health system
under "unsustainable pressure." If that happens, stricter rules involving
mandatory mask use and heightened testing and isolation rules, would enter
into effect, the British government said.