People walk past a Santa Claus model wearing a face mask outside a supermarket in Paris, France, Nov. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

-- France's COVID-19 data improve;

-- Italy's infections plateau;

-- Germany to extend partial lockdown;

-- England reveals three-tier anti-virus system.

BRUSSELS, Nov. 26  -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

PARIS -- France's new COVID-19 infections slowed to 13,563 on Thursday, while hospital admissions continued to fall as the government is unwinding restrictions and planning the vaccination campaign, official data showed.

Thursday's count took France's total number of infections since the outbreak to 2,183,660. The daily tally was down by 2,719 from a day before. Another 339 people died from the coronavirus, bringing the toll to 50,957.

As of Thursday, some 29,310 people were hospitalized, 662 fewer than the previous day, while some 4,018 required life support, down by 130.

Early Thursday, Prime Minister Jean Castex told reporters that pressure from the epidemic is weakening more in France than in other European nations.

The virus reproduction rate, the "R" rate, is now at 0.65 countrywide, the same level France had reached when it emerged from a three-month confinement in mid-May, he added.