Europe is significantly tightening measures against coronavirus: the EU

France covered two-thirds of its population last night, and the Belgian foreign minister was placed in the intensive care unit with COVID-19, while the second wave of the coronavirus is sweeping Europe, Reuters reported. The afternoon time announced last week by French Prime Minister Jean Castex for Paris and eight other cities will be expanded to another 38 departments, covering 46 million of the 67 million inhabitants. People are obliged not to leave the house between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Shortly after Castex announced the measures, French health authorities reported a record 41,622 confirmed cases, bringing the total to 999,043.

According to Reuters, Wednesday saw the largest increase in new cases in one day worldwide: 422,835.

In Spain, which last week became the first European country to cross the threshold of one million cases, the Minister of Health, Salvador Oia, warned that the epidemic is already “out of control” in many regions.

Germany, which for the first time recorded more than 10,000 cases a day, has issued warnings not to travel to Switzerland, Ireland, Poland, most of Austria and Italy, including Rome.

A new disturbing jump of those infected by COVID-19 in our country

According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, more than 5.3 million people in the Old Continent have been infected with COVID-19 and more than 204,000 have died. For comparison, the cases in the US are 8.3 million and in India, 7.7 million.

Italy recorded a record 16,079 coronavirus cases per day

Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes was taken to the intensive care unit yesterday, a day after German Health Minister Jens Spahn tested positive.

The escalation of the pandemic in recent weeks contrasts with several countries in Asia, from China to South Korea, as well as New Zealand, where draconian measures and strict monitoring have helped control the disease.