LONDON – France has placed cities on “maximum alert” and ordered many to close all bars, gyms and sports centers on Saturday. Italy and Poland have made masks mandatory in public. The Czech Republic has declared a state of emergency, and German officials fear the new outbreak will soon overtake control of their wanted testing and tracing.
Across Europe and beyond, the Covid-19 is roaring back, and like last spring’s Tuni, authorities are demanding a ban on trying and suppressing it. But this time is different.
Avoiding the economic, emotional and physical impact of a nationwide lockdown that deserves the continents to be virtually stable, government officials are finding that a second time may not be so consistent in public.
In some places new sanctions are accepted, albeit strictly, but the alternative – the new nationwide lockdown – will only get worse. But even among the people there, the fear of moving forward with such drastic measures is growing.
Instead, As fatigue and frustration set in by epidemic controls, governments are trying to draw a narrow course between what the public and economists will tolerate to prevent the virus. This is especially true in democracies, where governments are ultimately accountable to the electorate.
“It’s going to be very difficult at the moment,” said Hersenberg-Professor Hersenberg at the University of Erfurt in Germany, “epidemic fatigue.”
As the crisis deepens, many countries are showing signs of fracturing a one-time solid consent to join the fight against the virus. The new rules are challenged in court. National and local leaders are fighting.
In Spain, the government on Friday ordered a state of emergency in the Madrid area. The move drew objections from the heads of the Supreme Regional Courts and local politicians, and within hours the country’s main opposition leader called on the prime minister to appear in parliament to justify it.
The intense strife in Spain reflects the widespread political resistance facing national leaders around the world.
Business groups are wary of warning that entire industries could collapse if sanctions go too far. Sporadic protests have, as usual, erupted, albeit limited to the political frontier. The government’s failure to deliver on grand promises of measures such as contact tracing, testing and other measures has fueled public skepticism in many countries.
Possible signs that people may be confused or that guidance is being heard include places where new measures have already been announced.
Portugal ordered new bans last month, but on Thursday, for the first time since April, more than 1,000 infections were reported daily. In northern England, where the new rules came and went and came again, very tangible consequences, not slowing down the infection, have created confusion. Officials are now warning that hospitals could face a bigger flood of patients than the height of the epidemic in April.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday announced a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases. Europe, as a region, now reports more cases than India, Brazil or the United States.
The difficulty of imposing strict new measures has already been seen in Israel, the only country to have ordered a second lockdown across the country. It has led to chaos and rampant opposition.
“People think the decision is political, not health-based,” said Isaac Hadass, an Israeli protester who said the risk of masked outdoor gatherings was low. “The main problem is the lack of public trust.”
In Europe, especially compared to the United States, the politics surrounding the issue of wearing masks and other prudent measures is much less, while the prospect of winter under tight sanctions or even lockouts fuels new frustrations and divides political parties.
With Britain expecting even more successful action on Monday, with many focusing on banning drinking and driving, opposition Labor Party leader Sir Kerr Starr has challenged the government to present any scientific evidence that slows down the initial pub closure. Helps in transmission. .
Even those responsible for advising the British government cannot sustain and it hurts to explain some of the measures.
“People are very confused,” said Robert West, a professor of health psychology at University College London College London. Mr. West is a member of the SAG’s subcommittee, which advises the government on policy.
“I can put my hand on my heart and say I know what the rules are.”
In a detailed study conducted by the WHO team, in part of the eurozone region, about half the population is experiencing epidemic fatigue, Batesesh said. These people wanted less information about the virus, less concern about the risks, and less desire to follow recommended behavior.
Slowing the spread of the virus, which thrives on human exposure, depends on individuals changing their behavior.
“The only option is to shut us down again,” he and a friend, Friendsesca del Gaudio, 24, said as they passed through Piazza Trilosa in Rome on Thursday, the first day of Italy’s extended move. “And we don’t want that.”
But if people choose not to listen to guidance, it remains to be seen if harsh punishment will punish them. Violators in Italy will now face a 1,000-euro fine.
Surveys of countries across Europe reviewed by health officials show that a clear majority of people are willing to follow the rules if they are well-explained and easy to follow.
Even if they fill hospitals and see an increase in deaths, people may be more willing to accept the new restrictions, Batesesh said.
But Europe’s regulatory landscape is changing so fast that governments risk undermining basic guidance in their outlines to avoid further lockouts. Some steps just seem unintentional.
In Spain, restaurants in Madrid were ordered to stop serving after 10pm and close until 11pm – when many people are considering sitting down to eat.
“Everyone knows we’ve dined in Spain more than any other country, so not being open until midnight is pure economic nonsense,” said Florentino Perez del Barસાa, the restoration of Madrid.
While public attention is always focused on those who shout loudly – such as outside Berlin’s Rextag and thousands of people in London’s Trafalgar Square who protested, as if the epidemic was a hoax and a government-run conspiracy – they just Represents 10 percent of the people. , According to a study from Germany.
Probably about 20 percent of people are against the rules for personal, emotional and economic reasons.
But Ms. Bates, who is working with the WHO research group, said the biggest concern is about half the population – “fence seats.”
It’s open to rules, but they need to be listened to and educated, he said, and new government policies that only exacerbate frustration.
The choices against national governments are overwhelming.
The French government, anxiously watching the hospital bedfellows, extended its maximum warning “red zone” to many large metropolitan areas, including Paris, Marseille and X-en-Provence, Grenoble, Lille and Saint-Etienne. . On Friday, Toulouse residents protested that their city would be included.
Xavier Lenku, an engineering student who lined up for a coronavirus test near Les Hales in central Paris, said more people around him respected measures such as wearing a mask unlike spring.
But he worries that tougher measures will push people beyond their limits.
“It could get worse if we had a new lockdown, because people wouldn’t respect it.” He said.
Jeram Forquette, a political analyst at France’s IFOP poll, said managing the economy and the epidemic was like “stealing a circle”, so now “our pay room is not what it was last March.”
He said the French government now has lower costs to grow businesses and people are less likely to accept any new sanctions.
Even for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, fears that another lockdown will be wiped out have increased pressure on citizens and companies due to the fragile economic recovery.
Ms. Merkel said this week that she “does not want to repeat herself in a spring-like situation” – which means another lockdown – and warned on Friday that the next 10 days would be crucial.
But the country’s mass-circulation build newspaper reflected the sentiments of many Germans in its main editorial on Friday, warning that the lockdown would “lead to mass unemployment, bankruptcy and never-ending strain on families and children.”
“It’s not a case of what Merkel wants, though – she should work with states and towns and cities to prevent another lockdown!” Build editors warned. “In a free country the majority cannot be paid for the behavior of a few idiots.”
In Germany, as in other countries, the focus is on changing the behavior of young people.
“Isn’t it worth having a little patience now?” Ms. Merkel urged them. “Everything will come back – partying, going out, having fun without Coro’s rules. But right now, something else is important, keeping each other in mind and sticking together. ”
But patience in public, in Germany and elsewhere, is certainly what is happening.
It is important to follow rules such as wearing a mask and washing hands, he said. June Nosin, 32, a Belgian-born physician, sits on the terrace of a Parisian caf. But there was a limit to what people could take.
“If everything is banned,” she said, “people will go crazy.”
Reporting was given by Rafael Minder of Spain, Christopher Schutz and Melissa Eddy of Berlin, Adam Nossiter of France, urelein Briden and Antonella Francini, Isabel Kerschner of Jerusalem, and Elizabeth Povolado and Emma from Italy.
