Italy is under a nationwide curfew from 10pm to 5am, with bars and restaurants closed at 6pm, while some areas face strict restrictions.
Residents of the “Red Zone” regions – Lombardy, Piedmont, Valle de Osta and Calabria – can leave home only for necessities, health or work. People living in the “orange zone” are prohibited from leaving their towns for work or health reasons – and bars and restaurants are closed except for delivery and withdrawal.
Italy reported 35,505 new cases and 445 deaths on Thursday, bringing the total to 824,879 and the death toll to 40,192, according to the health ministry.
Ginny Reza, director of the ministry’s prevention department, said the figures were “not a good sign.” “The virus is running and we have to stop it.”
In neighboring France, tougher measures were also announced in Paris as 58,046 new cases were reported in the country on Thursday, according to the French Health Agency. The country has the highest number of 1.6 million infections in Europe.
From Friday, food delivery, takeouts and the sale of alcohol are banned in Paris from 10pm to 6am, police said.
“The second wave is already upon us, and it is ruthless,” France’s health minister, Iv Livier, told a news conference on Thursday. If the virus continues to spread at this rate, he said, “the second wave could be worse and longer than the first” and it could take “until mid-December” to stabilize.
The groom urged people to respect the national lockdown, or face a “high saturation risk” of hospitals by mid-November.
Fresh lockdown as case spike
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Thursday that Greece would enter a three-week national lockdown from Saturday after registering about 10,000 new cases in five days.
People will need to text officials before leaving home and the high school will close.
Denmark also announced new restrictions in seven municipalities after scientists discovered a mutated strain of the coronavirus attached to the Mink population. According to the government, the mutated form of the virus has passed from small mammals back to humans.
The country’s Prime Minister Matt Frederickson said Wednesday that concerns over the mutation of the virus would kill all mink in the country.
Danish cafes and pubs will be closed from Saturday, as well as indoor sports venues, cultural centers and public transport, and people should avoid traveling outside their area.
Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary Dominique Raab and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lફfven are both in self-contagion after exposure to a potential coronavirus, it was revealed on Thursday.
A UK government adviser told CNN that Raben had “been informed that the person with whom he had been in close contact recently had tested positive,” as England entered another month-long national lockdown.
Lofven said a person close to him came in contact with someone with the Covid-19 but tested negative.
“Development is rapidly going in the wrong direction. More and more people are getting infected. More people are dying,” L’Faven wrote on Facebook.
Sweden announced earlier this week that it would tighten restrictions in three additional regions, including limiting gatherings in bars and restaurants to eight people.
Week Austria and Poland both filed record cases on Thursday as Austria entered its second national lockdown this week, from 8pm. Curfew and leisure facilities are closed at.
Norway, which has one of the lowest infection rates in Europe, has seen a “sharp increase” in cases, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Since Saturday, nationwide bans have been announced, urging people to stay home as much as possible, including closing bars and rest restaurants at midnight and more distance learning.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg warned of a “very serious” situation, saying “we must take action now to avoid a new shutdown like March.”
Norway’s health minister, Bent Hee, said that if current trends continue, “it will pose major challenges to our health care, as we see Europe becoming the next country.”
Reporting contributed by CNN’s Chris Liacos, Luke McGagi, James Frater, Henrik Patterson, Amy CC Sidi, Nina Avramva and Antonia Mortensen.
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