coronavirus in Europe

Scientists are watching how Portugal and other highly vaccinated countries are faring against the coronavirus' new omicron variant.

From France to Germany to The Netherlands, citizens are venting frustration over the pace of the mass vaccination program.

The coronavirus variant is sweeping through the United Kingdom and prompting travel restrictions in other countries. France's first confirmed case is in a citizen who recently returned from London.

Prostitution is legal in the country, but lawmakers have banned it to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Sex workers say that has put them at risk, and they want to work legally again.

Couples discuss how travel restrictions have kept them oceans apart for months. While they lobby governments to allow them to see each other, some have had to delay weddings or even miss a childbirth.

Protesters gathered hours after an announcement that a curfew would be reinstated. Now President Aleksandar Vučić says it "probably" won't happen — despite an "alarming" surge in cases.

One museumgoer says it's a "much more comfortable experience" to view the Mona Lisa without the mobs of tourists. The Louvre put in place mask-wearing, one-way paths and other distancing measures.

Staff in over 400 call centers in Germany work around the clock to notify people if they've been exposed to a positive coronavirus case. The country aims to have one contact tracer per 4,000 people.

Italy's prime minister, health and interior ministers faced hours of questioning in Rome as prosecutors opened an investigation into possible mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis.

NPR received a letter from a government spokesman late Tuesday saying "Hungary has been subjected to a barrage of attacks" and requesting an apology from American news organizations and think tanks.

The public face of Sweden's uniquely relaxed response, Anders Tegnell, says Wednesday he'd urge stricter rules if the country could do it all again. But broadly he stood by the controversial approach.

Oxford research has found conspiracy theories about the virus gaining ground.