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Sweden has told residents in the south of the country to severely limit their social interactions after an increase in the number of cases last week and warned that the situation is likely to get worse.
The Swedish public health agency already told residents of the northern Uppsala region last week to avoid public transport and not to meet people outside their home for a period of two weeks.
The same advisory has now been issued in the southernmost region of Scania, but for a period of three weeks.
Health officials also said that people should avoid gatherings and cultural events, and stay away from indoor spaces such as stores, museums, libraries and gyms.
While other countries struggling to contain a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic are introducing mandatory restrictions, the measures in Sweden are only recommendations and not legally binding.
“This is a tough fall and it will probably get worse before this is over,” state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said at a news conference.
“Last week, the number of new cases increased by 70% compared to the previous week, one of the largest increases that we have seen,” Tegnell said.
Discussions are underway with other local authorities on the possibility of extending the advice to other parts of the country, he added.
Sweden has rejected the kind of mandatory closures seen in other parts of Europe, preferring to appeal to people’s sense of responsibility.
The Swedish royal family attended the unveiling of Slussbron’s new ‘golden bridge’ in Stockholm earlier this week and no one in the crowd covered their faces.
Face covering is also not mandatory in public transport or indoors in Sweden.
The country of 10.3 million people has recorded a total of 115,785 Covid-19 cases and 5,918 deaths so far.
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Tighter restrictions are coming in France
French officials said stricter restrictions are looming to counter an alarming spike in Covid-19 cases, with doctors warning that many hospitals are only days away from being overrun by patients.
“We have to prepare for difficult decisions,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France Inter radio.
“At some point we have to make tough decisions … as our neighbors have,” he said, referring to tough new measures announced for Italy, Spain and other parts of Europe.
Authorities imposed a curfew this month that now requires around 46 million people, two-thirds of the population, to be home by 9 p.m. as the number of daily virus cases increased.
Media reports say that President Emmanuel Macron, who held a crisis meeting with ministers, could extend curfew hours, possibly with a complete lockdown on weekends, or order selective closures for the more regions. affected.
Another option could be to postpone the return of students from the fall break that ends this weekend, particularly to colleges and universities.
Prime Minister Jean Castex will meet with heads of political parties and union leaders, before another crisis meeting with Macron tomorrow.
“I would rather have local blockades now than a national blockade at Christmas,” Damien Abad, head of parliament for the right-wing opposition Republican party, told France Info radio.
France on Sunday recorded a record 52,010 coronavirus infections in 24 hours.
The number of patients in ICUs is 2,761, nearly half the country’s total capacity of 5,800, and some hospitals have been forced to start transferring patients to less crowded facilities.
“The outbreak is out of control,” infectious disease specialist Gilles Pialoux of the Tenon hospital in Paris told BFM television.
He urged the government to adopt “a drastic measure, call it a blockade” for the entire country, despite the economic cost.
“The economy can recover, but it does not recover if intensive care fails,” he said.
More than 34,000 people have died from Covid-19 in France.
Thousands of protesters angered by new restrictions announced to control the spread of Covid-19 in Italy have clashed with police as European governments toughen up their responses to the pandemic.
The scenes of riots came after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte ordered the closure of restaurants and bars starting at 6 p.m., while theaters, cinemas and gyms had to close for a month, much to the chagrin of businessmen, opposition politicians and even some scientists.
The violence in Italy, which imposed one of the harshest blocks in the first wave of infections in March and April, is likely to have repercussions in Europe, where governments are weighing the need for tougher measures against their fatigue and frustration. Many.
“There is no doubt that the European region is an epicenter of disease at the moment,” said World Health Organization emergency chief Michael Ryan.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical expert on the pandemic, also expressed concern about the situation in Europe and, in particular, about the increase in hospitalizations and the rapid filling of intensive care units.
“In many cities we are seeing beds filling up too quickly, and we see a lot of projections saying that ICU beds will reach full capacity in the coming days and weeks,” he said.
The Czech Republic said it would impose a night curfew, similar to measures already introduced in France and Spain, Slovenia imposed border closures, while Norway, with one of the lowest infection rates in Europe, tightened its rules on social gatherings. .
Covid-19 has claimed the lives of 1.1 million people and infected more than 43 million worldwide.
The German minister warns of 20,000 new daily cases of virus in a few days
The number of new coronavirus infections in Germany is likely to reach 20,000 a day by the end of the week, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said, as authorities prepare new restrictions to break the second wave of the pandemic.
“We are dealing with exponential growth,” Altmaier told a German-French virtual economic conference in Berlin. “In Germany, the number of new infections is increasing by 70-75% compared to the previous week.”
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose today by 11,409. That compares with 6,868 cases last Tuesday and a record 14,714 reported on Saturday.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said the surge in new infections was “very worrying” and that authorities had to quickly implement decisive steps to stop the second wave.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of Germany’s 16 states will hold talks tomorrow to decide on additional measures.
The Bild newspaper reported that Merkel is planning a “shutdown light” that would focus primarily on closing bars and restaurants, as well as restrictions on public events.
The German government expects Europe’s largest economy to contract 5.5% this year, a source told Reuters yesterday, a slightly more optimistic forecast than its previous guidance of a 5.8% drop in gross domestic product. .
Netherlands approves new Covid laws
Senators in the Netherlands today approved a new law to facilitate the country’s fight against rising coronavirus infections, opening the door to make the use of face masks mandatory.
They overwhelmingly voted in favor of temporary legislation giving parliament more control in the fight against Covid-19, so far done through emergency ordinances issued by the government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Dutch cabinet ministers met today in The Hague to discuss the growing coronavirus crisis.
The new law provides a legal basis for enforcing the use of face masks, something the ministers said they wanted to implement as soon as possible.
Until now, covering with a mask has not been compulsory in the Netherlands, except in public transport and in indoor public spaces such as municipal buildings, schools and hospitals.
First proposed in early summer, the law will go into effect on December 1.
The Netherlands went into partial lockdown two weeks ago when the country was hit by a second wave of the pandemic.
This included closing all cannabis pubs, restaurants and cafes for at least four weeks and banning the sale of alcohol after 8pm.
The country has reported a total of 311,889 cases of coronavirus infection with 7,142 deaths.
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