The number of weekly coronavirus cases in Europe topped 300,000 last week – higher than during the first peak in March – triggering grave warnings from health experts.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, the World Health Organisation's European director Dr Hans Kluge warned that Europe was facing a “very serious” situation and advised against "even a slight reduction in the length of the quarantine".

Dr Kluge said more than half of European countries had registered a rise in infections greater than 10 per cent in the past two weeks.

It is the first time the number of weekly recorded cases in the region has topped 300,000.