DUBLIN: Businesses closed across Ireland on Thursday for a second national coronavirus lockdown, as record infection surges in Germany and Italy helped spread gloom across the continent.

Most European governments have been reluctant to reimpose national stay-at-home orders after previous restrictions led to deep recessions and widespread bitterness. But Ireland's five million people have been ordered to stay at home for six weeks, with non-essential businesses told to shut up shop.

"It's just that kind of cloud of sadness again that the city is abandoned," Dubliner Sunniva O'Flynn told AFP during a muted morning rush hour on Thursday. Germany and Italy are both facing record surges, registering their highest one-day tallies since the pandemic began, and a slew of other European countries are voicing alarm at rapidly rising infections.

While German health experts said it was still possible to combat the outbreak by observing recently-toughened rules on distancing and gatherings, Italy ordered curfews in regions that cover the capital Rome and business hub Milan.

As Europe suffers, China - where the virus first emerged at the end of last year - continues to make strides back to normality, announcing it would allow 10,000 fans to watch the final of its Super League football competition. "It'd be that kind of ceiling because it's a big game for sure," Chinese Football Association secretary-general Liu Yi told AFP.

The virus has killed more than 1.1 million people and prompted a catastrophic economic downturn, with the International Monetary Fund predicting a 4.4 percent drop in global output for 2020.