The two-week “firebreak” lockdown takes effect in Wales at 6pm local time on Friday, with everyone expected to be at home except the underlying critical workers.
The most difficult sanctions in Wales since the spring hit the United Kingdom badly in the first wave of the United Kingdom infection to succeed in Europe.
Curfews are also being introduced in Italy, France, Spain, Germany and other places to prevent spikes in cases.
On Thursday, Ireland became the first country in Europe to reuse the national lockdown.
Irish measures, which ban social gatherings and require people to work from home unless they provide essential services, will remain in place for six weeks.
‘Normal effort’
Welsh’s first prime minister, Mark Dreckford, has called for a two-week lockdown.
“The firefighting period is our best chance to gain control of the virus and avoid a longer and more damaging national lockdown,” Drackford said Monday. “This time, this is the moment to come together, to play our part in the common endeavor.”
Drakeford called the lockdown “sharp and cold” and said all non-essential industries must be closed from Friday evening to November 9. “The only exceptions would be complex workers and jobs where it is not possible to work from home,” he said.
Drakeford also said the lockdown would provide much-needed support to affected businesses but called on the UK government to provide more funding.
The new restrictions in the Greater Manchester area mean that its 8.8 million inhabitants are not allowed to live indoors with anyone they do not live with, or meet in private gardens. Outdoor social programs in places like parks are limited to groups of six people.
All pubs, bars, gyms and casinos that do not offer food must be closed. However, people can continue to visit restaurants and pubs that remain open as they serve “significant meals,” as long as they only eat with the people who live there. In addition, Mankunians have been told to avoid everything except the most essential travel outside of that area.
Curfew at night
France’s nighttime coronavirus curfew will be further extended in the country from Saturday, affecting 46 million French people, Prime Minister Jean Kastex announced on Thursday.
Kastex said 38 of the French divisions, or administrative areas, would be added to the curfew from 9pm to 9pm, bringing the total number of divisions under curfew to 54 out of 101 divisions. French Polynesia will also be under curfew, Kastex said.
Action is needed because “in France and in Europe, the second wave is upon us,” Kastex said, adding that the death toll would continue to rise.
France has set a new record of daily coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, with 41,622 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to numbers released by the French Health Agency on Thursday.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases in France to 999,043, according to government figures. More than 1 million cases and more than 34,000 deaths have been reported in France, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Limiting outdoor parties
A nighttime curfew will also be enforced in areas of Greece from Saturday, as the highest rates of infection will be seen and masks will be mandatory outside.
The major cities of Athens and Thessaloniki are considered high-risk areas in the country’s four-tier system, along with more than a dozen other regions, including Zante and Heraklion.
Announcing the new sanctions in a televised address to the nation on Thursday, Greek Prime Minister Kryakos Mitsotakis said Greece was in a better position than most European countries but warned that tough months ahead.
Mitsotakis said the purpose of the curfew from 12.30am to 5am is to limit outdoor parties and gatherings, with most cases among young people.
882 cases of the new coronavirus were reported in Greece on Thursday, with a daily record. He announced the deaths of 15 more people and 90 people are in the ICU.
According to Greece’s National Institute of Public Health, 28,216 cases have been reported in Greece and a total of 549 people have died.
CNN’s Chris Liacos, Alinda Labropolou, Vasco Kotovio, Maria Fleet, Barbara Vojazer and Gale Fornier contributed to the report.
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