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Meanwhile, Thursday’s G7 meeting unfolded as most of its members faced an array of formidable challenges in their fight against the virus.

Italy is the worst hit G7 country after the United States, and while the virus is showing signs of declining there, the Italian health-care system is facing crushing demands.

Italy’s ambassador to Canada, Claudio Taffuri, has appealed to Canadians to help his country by giving money to the Canadian Red Cross in a special program that will funnel funds to the Italian Red Cross.

Taffuri wrote that he was appealing to Canadians who were “inspired by the love that you feel for Italy, by the solidarity we have for those on the front lines of this battle, by the human bond we share with those men and women who are exposed to the disease and its fatal consequences, for the part of them that is in each of us, in support of all human lives.”

The death rate from the virus continued to rise in Britain as the government was expected to announce an extension of its countrywide lockdown by several more weeks. Britain is also coping with the recent week-long hospitalization of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to treat his COVID-19 infection.

Earlier Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared an expanded state of emergency covering the entire country, expanding on a previous order that covered only Tokyo and six other regions that were deemed to have the highest infection rates.

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, announced this week that while it will still adhere to strict physical distancing measures, it will let some stores open next week and will reopen schools in May. While the outbreak has slowed in recent weeks, Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany must move in “small steps” and achieved only a “fragile intermediate success” containing the virus.

France was dealing with COVID-19 fallout on various fronts this week. A French court ruled Amazon wasn’t doing enough to protect its workers, so the company said it was temporarily suspending operations. The iconic Tour de France cycling race was postponed to late August and early September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2020.

— with files from the Associated Press