People wearing protective masks queue up to go in a garden store in Munich, Germany, April 20, 2020. Smaller stores across Germany were allowed to reopen after a month-long shutdown. (MATTHIAS SCHRADER / AP)

With the number of coronavirus deaths seemingly plateauing in many of the hardest-hit European countries and even falling in others, some nations have tentatively relaxed curbs.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Europe had registered 1,073,947 COVID-19 cases and 103,989 deaths as of Tuesday

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Europe had registered 1,073,947 COVID-19 cases and 103,989 deaths as of Tuesday.

In Italy, the virus had infected 183,957 people and claimed 24,648 lives as of Tuesday, according to the Civil Protection Department. The number of hospitalized and ICU patients has continued to drop.

The country entered into a national lockdown on March 10. The lockdown, which is expected to last until May 3, will be followed by a so-called Phase Two, involving "the gradual resumption of social, economic and productive activities".

A key weapon during this phase is contact-tracing via a government-commissioned app to be downloaded onto mobile phones on a voluntary basis, Extraordinary Commissioner Domenico Arcuri said on Tuesday.

Spain will allow children to go outside for walks from next weekend in a loosening of the country's strict lockdown, Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Tuesday, amid mounting criticism that the government's restrictions unfairly penalize the very young.

The change came hours after the government first announced that young children, who are currently banned from leaving home under any circumstances, would be allowed to accompany their parents on essential trips such as to buy food or medicine.

Spain had 21,717 deaths from 208,389 cases as of Wednesday, the health ministry said.

In France, which plans to unwind some restriction measures from May 11, registered 531 more deaths on Tuesday. Hospitals and nursing homes numbers showed that combined deaths rose to 20,796, health authorities said.

Wearing masks

In Germany, many states including the state government of Berlin announced on Tuesday that they would make wearing face masks a mandatory measure.

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On Tuesday, the federal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Berlin, Hesse, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Saxony-Anhalt announced some form of obligation to wear a protective face mask in certain public areas. Thuringia, Bavaria and Mecklenburg Western Pomerania had earlier announced the requirement for masks.

In the United Kingdom, a starker picture emerged on the number of deaths in England and Wales, indicated by data from a non-ministerial government department, the Office for National Statistics.

The latest ONS figures show that, in the week ending April 10, deaths were at a 20-year high, with 18,500 fatalities occurring during a week that would normally see around 8,000. More than 6,200 of those additional fatalities were linked to the virus, and five out of every six virus-linked deaths happened in hospital.

The agency's data is far more complete than the COVID-19 death toll released by the government because that number only includes those in hospital.

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UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock sought to downplay the ONS figures on Tuesday, saying that there are differences in how the government and the ONS measure the death toll. He was speaking as COVID-19 deaths in hospital rose by 828 on Tuesday, to 17,337.

Earle Gale in London, Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.