More than 500,000 people have officially died of Covid-19 in the European Union, according to a tally compiled by AFP as of Wednesday, with the situation appearing to improve in the worst-hit countries.
The grim milestone was reached late on Tuesday; by midday on Wednesday the death toll stood at 501,531 from 20,548,666 cases.
The European Union includes some of the world's worst-hit countries in the pandemic that broke out in the region early last year - in Italy.
But recent trends point to improvements across the 27-member bloc. During the seven-day period of 3-9 February, the EU as a whole recorded an average daily number of 103,250 new infections, which was 16% down on the previous week.