A man wearing a face mask walks in Milan, Italy, on April 18, 2020. (Xinhua)

-- Total active COVID-19 infections in Italy drop for first time;

-- France's COVID-19 deaths top 20,000;

-- Coronavirus cases in Spain top 200,000;

-- Portugal creates Biobank to study COVID-19.

BRUSSELS, April 20  -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

ROME -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 24,114 lives in locked-down Italy as total active infections fell for the first time since the pandemic broke out in the northern regions on Feb. 21, according to the latest data released Monday by the country's Civil Protection Department.

Addressing a televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli said 454 new fatalities were registered over the past 24 hours.

At the same time, a positive signal came from statistics of active infections, which decreased by 20 cases on Monday compared to the previous day, and totalled 108,237 nationwide.