Venice gondolas are back on the canals, waiting for tourists

Designed to shield us from the health crisis, the number of masks and gloves discarded in public spaces are contributing to another epidemic: plastic pollution. France has just doubled fines for littering face masks from €68 to €135. This comes after disheartening underwater images of surgical masks and latex gloves on the Mediterranean seabed. Designed to shield us from the health crisis, the number of masks and gloves discarded in public spaces are contributing to another epidemic: plastic pollution. France has just doubled fines for littering face masks from €68 to €135. This comes after disheartening underwater images of surgical masks and latex gloves on the Mediterranean seabed.

US President Donald Trump has said the coronavirus outbreak will "get worse before it gets better." In a change of tune, Trump also encouraged Americans to wear face masks.

Shoppers must now wear a face covering when they are in stores and enclosed spaces in England and in Austria.

Parisians already had to cope with a heatwave, and now they have to wear masks in the capital's busiest areas, such as Rue Montorgueil, in order to stop the coronavirus from bouncing back.

A German secondary school sent home two students wearing mesh nets as face coverings. A court found that, though the students did not adhere to mask rules, the school breached their right to an education.

A top scientist at the WHO has expressed concern over some people not maintaining physical distancing, warning that masks alone cannot protect against the spread of coronavirus. Follow DW for the latest.

A French company that specialises in hemp canvas is marketing what it claims are the first 100% compostable masks in Europe. Costing 65 cents each, they have already been ordered in their hundreds of thousands by companies and local authorities across Europe.

Wearing a mask becomes mandatory in crowded areas and on public transport throughout Russia, after the country registered a record daily spike in virus deaths. Russia has the fourth-highest virus caseload in the world.

'Robovie' the robot works at a sports shop in the Japanese city of Osaka, where he usually directs shoppers to what they are looking for. But during the pandemic, he has a new task – reminding customers who are not wearing a mask to put one on, and asking people to keep their distance when queuing.

Japanese trend-setters can now protect against the coronavirus in luxurious style with opulent masks adorned with diamond and pearls for a cool million yen ($9,600) each.

Dozens of foreigners caught without masks to protect against the coronavirus on the Indonesian resort island of Bali have been subjected to an unusual punishment: push-ups in the street.

Young entrepreneur Juliet Namujju came up with an innovative idea to create masks made from upcycled waste, to allow hearing-impaired persons to lip-read and stay safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.