The institutions of the European Union have recorded a first death among its staff caused by the coronavirus.
The man, a 41-year-old Italian working as a contractor for the European Parliament's IT service, died on Sunday 22 March after being hospitalised earlier in the week. He had been living in Brussels for a long time.
Several political figures have tested positive for coronavirus since the beginning of the crisis, such as the EU's chief negotiator for future EU-UK relations, Michel Barnier (see EUROPE 12450/12).
For her part, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was tested (after her contacts with Mr Barnier) and found to be negative, confirmed her communication service. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also took an initial test, which proved negative, her spokesperson, Steffen Seibert, said on Monday.
Exponential curve. From Geneva, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has noted an acceleration in the spread of the virus. "It took 67 days to reach 100,000 infected people, 11 days to reach 200,000 and four days to reach 300,000", warned WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, calling for all efforts to be made to protect health workers. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)