creil air base in oise and istres-le tubé air base in istres. on 14 february, an 80-year-old chinese tourist died in bichat–claude bernard hospital, paris, marking the first death from covid-19 in europe and france. according to regional council president jean rottner, the starting point for the first intense wave in alsace was the fasting meeting of the protestant free church of la porte ouverte in mulhouse, with more than 2500 visitors, in mid-february. on 12 march, french president emmanuel macron announced on public television that all schools and all universities would close from monday 16 march until further notice. the next day, the prime minister édouard philippe banned gatherings of more than 100 people, not including public transportation. the following day, the prime minister ordered the closure of all nonessential public places, including restaurants, cafés, cinemas, and discothèques, effective at midnight. as of 14 march, there had been 4,499 confirmed cases (a near-four-fold increase over the number 5 days previously), and 91 deaths in france. as of 20 march, the number of confirmed cases had risen to 12,612, while the number of deaths reached 450. as of 30 march, more than six hundred doctors and other medical workers are suing the former minister of health and the prime minister for "culpable negligence" in failing to prepare for the epidemic. until 1 april, the daily update of the number of deaths in france included only deaths in hospitals, with deaths in retirement homes or at home not included in the update. deaths in retirement homes were included in the reported figures from 2 april, causing totals to increase substantially. on 4 may, retroactive testing of samples in one french hospital showed a patient "who had covid-19 as early as dec. 27, nearly a month before the french government confirmed its first cases." according to the researchers who reported the discovery, this indicates that the virus was present in the population well before the first confirmed cases, a finding also echoed by us researchers. in july 2020, prime minister of france jean castex, announced that health care pay workers will see $9 billion in pay raises, as a result of their efforts during the coronavirus pandemic. germany main article: covid-19 pandemic in germany in germany, the first case of covid-19 was recorded in the state of bavaria on 27 january 2020. daily case numbers began to decrease after 8 april, but rose sharply again in october. as of 30 january 2021, 2,207,393 cases have been reported with 56,286 deaths and approximately 1,930,592 recoveries. the case fatality rate is 2.5%. the low preliminary fatality rate in germany, compared to italy and spain, has resulted in a discussion and explanations that cite among others the country's higher number of tests performed, absence of covid-19 analyses in autopsies and higher proportion of positive cases among younger people. hessian state finance minister thomas schäfer committed suicide on 28 march 2020. state premier volker bouffier said that schäfer had had considerable worries in particular over the economic burden that the covid-19 pandemic would place on the population. gibraltar main article: covid-19 pandemic in gibraltar first case was identified on 4 march 2020, only 187 cases to the end of july then increases with 100 added in august and the same in september. a contact app "beat covid gibraltar" was released on 18 june. greece main article: covid-19 pandemic in greece on 26 february, the first case in greece was confirmed, a 38-year-old woman from thessaloniki who had recently visited northern italy. the next day, the first patient's 9-year-old child and another 40-year-old woman, who had travelled to italy, also tested positive. subsequent cases is greece were mainly related to people who had travelled to italy and a group of pilgrims who had travelled to israel and egypt, as well as their contacts. health and state authorities issued precautionary guidelines and recommendations, while measures up to that point were taken locally and included the closure of schools and the suspension of cultural events in the affected areas (particularly ilia, achaea and zakynthos). the first confirmed death from covid-19 in greece was a 66-year-old man, who died on 12 march. by 27 july there were 4,227 confirmed cases in greece, some of which detected among tourists arriving to the country from mid-june onwards, 202 deaths and 3,562 recoveries. the greek national public health organization (npho), in collaboration with local authorities and doctors, is tracking and testing everyone who came in close contact with the patients. by 10 march, with 89 confirmed cases and no deaths in the country, the government decided to suspend the operation of educational institutions of all levels nationwide and then, on 13 march, to close down all cafes, bars, museums, shopping centres, sports facilities and restaurants in the country. on 16 march, all retail shops were also closed and all services in all areas of religious worship of any religion or dogma were suspended. on 18 and 19 march, the government announced a series of measures of more than 10 billion euros to support the economy, businesses and employees. on 22 march the greek authorities announced significant restrictions on all nonessential transport and movement across the country, starting from 6 a.m. on 23 march. starting from 4 may, greece has begun easing its lockdown restrictions after a 42-day lockdown, with the gradual lifting of movement restrictions and restart of business activity. guernsey main article: covid-19 pandemic in guernsey on 9 march, the first case in the crown dependency was confirmed. on 27 may it was announced that there were no known active cases in the bailiwick. there were no active cases for 129 days before an arrival from the uk tested positive on 6 september. hungary main article: covid-19 pandemic in hungary on 4 march prime minister viktor orbán announced that two iranian students had been infected with the virus. the students are asymptomatic and have been transported to saint ladislaus hospital in budapest. iceland main article: covid-19 pandemic in iceland the first case was confirmed in iceland on 28 february, an icelandic male in his forties who had been on a ski trip to andalo in northern italy and returned home on 22 february. iceland's department of civil protection and emergency management declared a state of emergency on 6 march after two cases of community transmission in iceland were confirmed, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 43. on 13 march, it was announced at an official press conference that a four-week ban on public gatherings of more than 100 persons would be put into effect as of monday 16 march. universities and secondary schools will be closed for four weeks. international airports and harbours will remain exempt from these measures. ireland main article: covid-19 pandemic in the republic of ireland covid-19 14-day rate per 100k population in ireland by county the national public health emergency team of ireland announced the first case in the republic of ireland on 29 february, involving a male student from the east of the country, who had arrived there from northern italy. on 3 march, a second case was confirmed of a female in the east of the country who had been to northern italy. response to the outbreak has included cancellation of st patrick's day parades and all festivals. on 11 march, an elderly patient in naas general hospital in county kildare became ireland's first fatality from the virus. on 12 march, taoiseach leo varadkar announced the closure of all schools, colleges and childcare facilities. on 20 march, an emergency legislation was signed into law by president michael d. higgins giving the state permission to detain people, restrict travel and keep people in their homes to help combat the spread of the pandemic. lockdown main article: covid-19 lockdowns § ireland on 12 march, taoiseach leo varadkar announced the closure of all schools, colleges and childcare facilities in ireland until the end of august. on 27 march, varadkar announced a national stay-at-home order for at least two weeks; the public were ordered to stay at home in all circumstances. all non-essential shops and services, including all pubs, bars, hotels and nightclubs closed and all public and private gatherings of any number of people was banned. the garda síochána (irish police) were given power to enforce the measures, which were repeatedly extended until 18 may. a roadmap to easing restrictions in ireland that included five stages was adopted by the government on 1 may 2020 and subsequently published online. the fourth and final phase of easing covid-19 restrictions in ireland was initially scheduled to take place on 20 july, but was repeatedly postponed until 31 august at the earliest. on 15 september, the government announced a medium-term plan for living with covid-19 that included five levels of restrictions. all non-essential businesses and services closed and all public and private gatherings of any number of people was banned again on 21 october following the government's announcement to move the entire country to level 5 lockdown restrictions for six weeks until 1 december. on 27 november, the government agreed to ease restrictions from 1 december. a third wave of covid-19 arrived in ireland on 21 december. the government acted swiftly and on 22 december, level 5 lockdown restrictions with a number of adjustments were announced, which came into effect from christmas eve until 12 january 2021 at the earliest. all non-essential businesses and services closed and all public and private gatherings of any number of people was banned again on 31 december (new year's eve) following the government's announcement to move the entire country to full level 5 lockdown restrictions from 30 december until 31 january 2021 at the earliest, in an attempt to get a third surge in cases of covid-19 under control. on 26 january, the government extended the level 5 lockdown restrictions until 5 march. on 23 february, the government extended the level 5 lockdown restrictions for another six weeks until 5 april (easter monday) at the earliest, while its new revised living with covid-19 plan was published. on 30 march, the government announced a phased easing of restrictions from monday 12 april. on 29 april, the government announced a reopening plan for the country throughout may and june from 10 may, with a further reopening planned announced on 31 august that would see all remaining covid-19 restrictions in ireland eased by 22 october. after a fourth wave of covid-19 arrived in ireland in october, the government published on 19 october a revised plan for the easing of restrictions, with nightclubs allowed to reopen, however the continued use of masks, vaccine certificates and social distancing measures would remain in place until at least february 2022. on 3 december, the government reintroduced a series of measures that would commence from 7 december amid concerns of the omicron variant, with nightclubs to close, indoor cultural and sporting events to operate at 50% capacity and a maximum of four households allowed to meet indoors. the omicron variant caused a fifth wave of covid-19 to arrive in late december and early january 2022, with record levels of cases reported over the christmas and new year period. as cases began to fall sharply, taoiseach micheál martin announced on 21 january the easing of almost all covid-19 restrictions, with the requirements of vaccine certificates and social distancing to end, restrictions on household visits and capacity limits for indoor and outdoor events to end, nightclubs to reopen and pubs and restaurants to resume normal trading times, while rules on isolation and the wearing of masks would remain. remaining covid-19 restrictions were agreed to be removed from 28 february, with mask wearing in schools, indoor retail settings and on public transport to be voluntary, restrictions in schools to end and testing to be scaled back. as of 21 february 2022, the department of health have confirmed 1,276,778 confirmed cases and 6,443 deaths. italy main article: covid-19 pandemic in italy paramedics carrying a patient under biocontainment, in cervia, emilia-romagna on 31 january, the first two cases were confirmed in rome. two chinese tourists, who arrived in milan on 23 january via milan malpensa airport and travelled to rome on a tourist bus, tested positive for and were hospitalised in lazzaro spallanzani national institute for infectious diseases. on 6 february, one of the italians