Berlin (CNN) – Europe now has more cases of coronavirus than the United States, Brazil and India, according to World Health Organization figures, with many governments closing pubs and bars or limiting their start-ups in hopes of avoiding massive lockdowns.
That’s bad news for drinkers from Brussels to Paris to Edinburgh, and haphazard hospitality will bring more pain. But will the strategy work?
In Berlin – the city famous for its nightlife – bars remain open but the new rules, which go into effect on Saturday, mean they will have to close at 11pm with restaurants and stores.
No more than five people will be allowed to gather in any group from 11 pm to 6 am and no more than 10 people will be allowed to participate in indoor gatherings at a time. The measures are expected to be in effect by at least the end of October.
For Stephen Zeno, a 1-year-old owner of two Berlin bars, one in the popular party district of Friedrichshain and the other in Prenzl અરrberg, the new sanctions are an unwelcome blow.
The former for-profit business, he says, is struggling to survive after the German lockout earlier this year, and could close completely without further state help.
“This is taking us 10 steps back,” he said. “Every month we have a minus on our books but we wanted to keep it going. Now, with these new restrictions we’re not sure if we can really do that. I think this curfew will last at least until March or April next year. .. ”
He is planning to open beforehand to get what he can do.
“Usually during the summer we open at eight o’clock at night and stay open until the last customer leaves. Normally in winter we open at evening, but now with the curfew on the spot, we are planning to open at evening so that the working people can get a drink from home. It’s a model that Australia already has, but I’m not sure if this will really work for a city like Berlin. ”
Zeno also doubts the sanctions will work.
“Human beings need to celebrate together. I don’t think people like to say what they can’t do – in my view they will continue to party. Restricting controlled parting won’t help! You can’t tell young people in their 20s and 30s to stop partying. I think the new law could have the opposite effect. People will then be able to get together for the party in private. ”
But Health Minister Jens Spahe warned on Thursday that now was not the time for Germany to leave its guard.
“Hardly any other country in Europe has managed this crisis. But we should not gamble on what we have got,” he said.
“The situation in Berlin here shows that careless and untimely behavior during this epidemic can change the situation for the worse.”
Brussels closes the bar for a month
Other nations are adopting tougher measures than trying to balance economic demand with increasing pressure on healthcare services.
Bars and cafes in the Belgian capital, Brussels, were ordered to close for a month on Thursday in an attempt to increase infection rates there.
Professional and amateur sports clubs must also keep their bars closed for a month and alcohol consumption in public places throughout the Brussels city area has been banned, its minister-president Rudy Verwart announced on Wednesday.
Brussels is now “the second most affected European capital between Madrid and Paris,” with 505 cases per 100,000 citizens, official Yves van Lethehen said during a coronavirus briefing.
The move comes a day after a strict ban was imposed on the country’s 11.5 million residents. People in Belgium must now limit their social contacts to three people per month, while private in-house gatherings are limited to four people. Outdoor gatherings are limited to four people, except for those in the same house. Cafes and rest restaurants cannot serve more than four people per rent table and must close their doors by 11 p.m.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Crow said restrictions were put in place to avoid a “normal lockdown” amid the “very worrying” evolution of the epidemic.
Bars and cafes in the capital, Paris, have been ordered to shut down for two weeks on Tuesday amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in neighboring France. The health ministry said restaurants there could only be open if they adhered to strict hygiene and social distance rules.
On September 23, people were drinking outside in a cafe in Soho, central London.
Tolga Ekman / AFP / Getty Images
People drink on the terrace of a bar in the French capital, Paris, on October 3, 2020.
Christoph Archembult / AFP / Getty Images
Four more cities – Lille, Lyon, Grenoble and Saint-Etienne – were asked to close their bars, gyms and sports centers from Saturday as 18,746 new infections were reported in France on Thursday. Health Minister Oliver Vera said the level of infection in Toulouse and Montpellier is “worrying” and they could be the next cities to come under new restrictions.
The bar in Marseille, off the Mediterranean coast of France, was already ordered closed last month due to an increase in case rates.
Strict anti-coronavirus bans were also imposed last Friday in the Spanish capital, Madrid, and surrounding cities. The new restrictions require people to stay in the classroom, take exams, meet legal obligations or stay home in extreme circumstances, except to go to work.
Rents of shops, bars and rest restaurants should reduce their capacity by 50%, provide table service only and close earlier. Bars and restaurants should close at 11pm, with last entry one hour before closing.
Infections are also on the rise in Iceland, which is close to eradicating the virus during the summer. On Monday, it ordered the closure of two weeks across the country, as well as nightclubs, fitness centers and gaming centers and gatherings limited to 20 people.
Peter Drobebe, a global health expert and director of the School Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Xford University’s Saad Business School, told CNN that European governments are trying to strike a balance between banning social interaction and keeping businesses alive.
He said bars, nightclubs and rest restaurants are “clear candidates” for what is known about the transmission of rants virus.
“It tends to happen, and most of the important clusters we’ve seen come in closed and indoor spaces that are crowded and keep people in contact for a long time.” People who talk, laugh and drink alcohol are at increased risk of transmission, he said.
“We have to think about social value and social costs because we have to think about what we want to keep open and what we want to close. It involves some really tough trade, but, if you choose between keeping bars or schools open. If so, most people will choose schools. “
Bar The terrace of a bar at Parvis de Saint-Giles in Brussels closes on October 7.
Hatim Kagat / Belga Mug / AFP / Getty Images
Security Security guards take customers’ temperatures at a bar in Liverpool, north-west England, on October 2.
Olly Scarf / AFP / Getty Images
Scottish pubs do not have alcohol inside the house
Scotland is the second country to impose strict restrictions on the consumption of alcoholic beverages since Friday, as it fights rising rates of infection.
Pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants will be banned from serving alcohol indoors for 16 days, Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced Wednesday. In addition to hotel restaurants serving residents, they will also need to close at 6 p.m.
In some parts of the country, licensed locations will still be allowed to drink alcohol outside until the current curfew of 10 p.m. However, in the central parts of Scotland, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, all licensed locations will be closed from Friday, with the exception of hotel restaurants serving residents.
Sturgeon said the sanctions were “intended to be a short-term and intensive course of action to arrest a worrying increase in infection.” But the Scottish-licensed trade association warned of confusion in a tweet on Friday describing the guidelines as “shambles”.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson may also decide to crack down on infections in some parts of England, especially in the north.
Honorary Associate Professor of Respiratory Sciences at the University of Leicester. Julian Tang told the UK’s Science Media Center that while some restrictions, such as the 10pm curfew, seemed arbitrary, the issue was to reduce the amount of contact between people. .
“That’s not to say that the virus stops spreading after 10pm, it works to disperse people first to reduce the number of people who can spread it,” Tange said.
“But to be effective, people need to maintain the spirit of curfew after they leave the pub – and people go to supermarkets and other people’s homes not for constant drinking (or) socialization, but for socially peaceful homes. To stop the virus from transmitting.” The way of distance. “
Tang added that it is important to give the sanctions time to work, and that it takes about three to four weeks before a proper assessment of its effectiveness can be made. However, it could be too little, too late, he warned.
“Cowid-1 cases are now growing rapidly across the population. Such limited restrictions are not enough to reduce further transmission of the virus in such a short period of time – and unfortunately, stronger action may now be needed.”
Drobeb also warned that a very cautious, step-by-step approach could backfire.
“Early action is usually the way to go because you can’t go beyond lethal growth.” “In cases with large-scale growth, the longer we tinker with smaller steps, the harder it is to control.”
CNN’s Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported Nadine Schmidt from London and Berlin. CNN’s Niam Kennedy, Simon Cullen, Amy Cassidy, Frederick Platzen, Gale Fournier, Fanny Bobbili, Scams Ms. Alvazer and Arnaud Siad contributed to this report.
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