Italy, Greece and France have all placed curfews amid the pandemic.

Unlike the first lockdown, this time, schools will stay open and essential services such as construction are allowed to continue.

In response to the new surge, Premier Giuseppe Conte's government twice tightened nationwide restrictions inside a week.

The jobless rate increased to 8.1 per cent in the 19 countries that use the euro currency, from eight per cent in July, official statistics showed Thursday.

The growing push to reimpose tough new measures in Europe to beat back a scourge that was seemingly under control in the spring contributed to a sharp drop on Wall Street in the morning.

"To say that this is frustrating and confusing is to put it mildly," travel writer Fionn Davenport said.

Virus or no virus, European authorities are determined to put children back into classrooms.

In addition to clubs and alcohol-fueled street parties, large family gatherings – usually abounding with hugs and kisses – have been cited as a source of new outbreaks in several European countries.

European countries started opening up to each other's tourists in mid-June, but recent events have shown that the new freedom to travel is subject to unpredictable setbacks.

The bitter marathon of negotiations, which are taking place amid the unprecedented crisis of the coronavirus pandemic, have underscored the deep fissures within the 27-nation bloc