Two mounted police patrol in Rome, Italy, April 11, 2020. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)

-- Italy reports 602 new deaths;

-- France records 6th consecutive daily fall in ICU patients;

-- Spain hands out 10 mln face masks to people returning to work;

-- Austria re-opens shops as first step towards "new normal".

BRUSSELS, April 14  -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

ROME -- The COVID-19 has claimed another 602 lives in locked-down Italy over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries to 162,488 since the pandemic began here in late February, the country's Civil Protection Department said Tuesday.

Speaking during a nightly televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli confirmed that there were 675 new active coronavirus infections compared to Monday, bringing the nationwide total to 104,291 cases.

Also on Tuesday, the country took its first tentative steps towards reopening its economy five weeks after the first national lockdown entered into force.