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IN RECENT weeks, Ireland and other European countries have seen a considerable increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths compared to the previous months.
Last week, the Irish government rejected the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) to enter the country under strict Level 5 lockdown restrictions.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told RTÉ on October 5 that this ‘circuit breaker’ of a short and abrupt attempt to stop the transmission of the coronavirus in its tracks had not been tested anywhere else in Europe.
However, in the week that followed, several European countries have announced additional measures for a period of a few weeks in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus, including a strict curfew in nine French cities announced last night by President Emmanuel Macron.
Let’s take a look at some of these countries and determine how they decided to enforce their Covid-19 restrictions.
Spain
An already almost empty restaurant in Barcelona before new restrictions are imposed in the Spanish region of Catalonia.
Source: SIPA USA / PA Images
Spain has registered the highest number of Covid-19 cases within the EU with almost 900,000 cases since the start of the pandemic.
The bars and restaurants in the Catalonia region will close from tonight in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus, the regional government has announced.
The measures will remain in effect for 15 days.
Although restrictions were relaxed in Spain after the outbreak was brought under control earlier this year, the number of infections has risen again considerably in recent days.
In Madrid, the Spanish newspaper El País reported yesterday on the continuing tensions between the central government and the regional administration in Madrid.
Madrid’s regional leaders were locked in a political showdown with the central government over the imposition of a partial blockade on the capital and eight surrounding cities to curb the rampant spread of cases.
The restrictions, according to which some 4.5 million people cannot leave the city limits and bars and restaurants must respect the curfew at 11:00 p.m., initially went into effect on October 2.
They were briefly suspended by the courts, prompting the central government to intervene and override the regional opposition.
Last Friday, the government imposed a state of emergency in Madrid to enforce these measures in the Spanish capital and its surroundings.
Madrid’s right-wing authorities have opposed the partial shutdown on the grounds that it will cause great damage to the region’s economy.
The head of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, affirmed that the central government “wants to destroy our economy and stop our recovery,” reported El País.
Faced with this type of accusation, the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, said that “you cannot play with public health.”
The 14-day contagion rate in the Community of Madrid stood at 490 cases per 100,000 inhabitants yesterday, compared to only 263 in Catalonia
France
People on the stairs of La Grande Arche in France last month.
Source: Fourmy Mario / ABACA
To decide on the implementation of certain coronavirus restrictions, officials in France look at the 14-day incidence rate of the virus within regions.
The virus positivity rate and detection rate are also part of the considerations.
Last night, based on these considerations, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that nine cities, including Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse, would impose a strict curfew. Eighteen million people live in the nine cities.
Residents of cities cannot be outdoors between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., except for essential reasons, starting this Saturday and with a minimum duration of four weeks.
The measure is designed to prevent people from visiting restaurants, pubs and private homes in the late afternoon and evening.
“We have to act. We need to stop the spread of the virus, ”Macron said in a televised speech.
“We will not leave the restaurant after 9 pm,” he said. “We are not going to party with friends because we know that is where the risk of contamination is greatest.”
He also restored the state of health emergency for the country, which had ended three months ago.
Covid-19 patients occupy a third of intensive care units across the country right now.
The country has had 798,000 confirmed cases and nearly 33,000 deaths.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said recently that a “solidarity fund” to protect jobs and businesses will be expanded to include some 75,000 businesses that suffer the side effects of constraints on tourism, culture and sports activities, such as car rental companies, florists and travel insurance. .
“We have to learn to live with the virus. It’s here. It won’t disappear overnight, ”Le Maire said.
“We need to protect ourselves … but we also have to keep working, producing, protecting our jobs, preparing the economy of the France of tomorrow.”
Santé Publique France (the government public health agency) publishes regular updates on the virus situation. On Tuesday, he said the virus continued to circulate at a high level in mainland France.
“The number of confirmed cases, positive sample rates, especially in people with symptoms, are increasing,” the agency said.
He said the number of intensive care hospitalizations and admissions is increasing and that the number of groups remains high and “certainly” underestimated.
The Netherlands
Police near a restaurant in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Tuesday.
Source: Utrecht Robin / ABACA
The Netherlands has imposed a partial blockade to slow the spread of the virus. All bars, cafes and restaurants have been closed and it is mandatory to cover your face in all interior spaces for people over 13 years old.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the nation needed to take another step towards a total lockdown because few other countries in Europe have seen an increase in cases like the Netherlands.
In the week ending Tuesday, new cases totaled 43,903 in the nation of 17.3 million people. This represents a 60% increase over the previous week’s figures.
The Amsterdam and Rotterdam regions are the current pockets of the virus in the Netherlands.
The sale of alcohol and cannabis will also be banned after 8 p.m. in an attempt to reduce social contacts that have led to the increase in Covid-19 cases, Rutte said.
The measures went into effect last night and will remain in effect for an initial period of two weeks, after which the government will review whether the spread of the virus has been halted.
After long refusing to make the wearing of masks mandatory, Rutte finally ordered that people over the age of 13 must also wear non-medical face coverings in all interior spaces.
“We are going to enter a partial blockade. It hurts but it’s the only way, we have to be more strict, “said Rutte.
“If we do all of this, we can quickly return to a more normal life.”
The Dutch government for months opted for what Rutte called a “smart lockdown” policy that was much more relaxed than many other countries.
However, he has struggled to control the second wave of the disease.
Various regions of the Netherlands have seven-day incidence rates above 300 per 100,000 people, and the Amsterdam-Amstelland area has a rate of 410 infections per 100,000 people according to a Health Ministry report on Tuesday.
Every week, health officials examine whether the situation with the virus is developing positively or negatively.
Then the government and other official groups assess the situation together. The Minister of Health determines the level of risk in which a region is.
There are four levels within the country and the level is determined by the situation in one region, that of the surrounding regions, and the situation in the rest of the country based on information on the spread of the virus.
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Italy
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte wearing a face mask speaking during a press conference this week.
Source: Xinhua News Agency / PA Images
In Italy, fears are mounting that the country is in its second wave of coronavirus.
The country, once the epicenter of the pandemic in Europe, has seen thousands of new infections every day in recent weeks.
Lazio, the region that is home to the capital city of Rome, has performed particularly poorly, along with Campania in the south and Lombardy in the north, where the pandemic broke out in Italy in February.
The country imposed new and stricter rules earlier this week, including ending parties, amateur soccer games and late-night bar snacks.
It is mandatory to keep at least one meter away from others and it is also mandatory to wear a face shield in closed spaces accessible to the public and in outdoor spaces in most circumstances.
The Italian Association of Hospital Anesthesiologists said last Friday that hospitals in the south, where infrastructure is weakest, were unprepared for a growing crisis, despite efforts to increase the number of beds and staff.
Campania regional president Vincenzo De Luca said he thought “we have reached the point where it is necessary to make dramatic decisions.”
He said he could not rule out a new blockade of the region.
Regional Affairs Minister Francesco Boccia said last Friday that if the upward trend continued, the movement of people between regions could be temporarily prohibited.
“An increase in the number of infections was predictable. The intensive care units have been reinforced, ”he said.
“However, I cannot rule out limits to movement. Nothing can be ruled out at the moment, ”he said.
With a report from AFP and the Press Association
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