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BRUSSELS/PARIS, April 13-- Europe remained the continent in the world hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, as nearly 900,000 people here had contracted the novel coronavirus and nearly 80,000 patients succumbed to the disease, according to a global tally. Two-faced progress in fighting the virus has led to different readings of results from anti-coronavirus measures among European countries. Hardest-hit countries like Italy, Spain, and France extended their coronavirus lockdowns, while fellow European Union members including Denmark and Austria are easing their restrictions. Worldwide, the death toll related to COVID-19 was more than 114,000, and the number of confirmed cases neared 1.9 million, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the COVID-19 spread in real-time. MORE SIGNS OF HOPE European countries, including those hardest-hit, have seen more signs of encouragement -- slowdown in daily new infections and new deaths, and a flattening virus curve. In Italy, 566 more COVID-19 patients had died in the past 24 hours, against Sunday's 431, taking the country's toll to 20,465. The number of total confirmed cases -- combining active infections, fatalities and recoveries -- rose to 159,516. In addition, 3,260 people are in intensive care as of Monday, down by 83. It was the tenth consecutive day that the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units showed a decreasing trend, said Italy's Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli. | 
