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The number of cases of coronavirus contagion continues to grow throughout Europe in the so-called “second wave” and several countries have approved, or are approving, increasingly restrictive measures to try to slow the spread of the virus and relieve pressure on hospital systems . . On March 28, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron announced new planned restrictions in Germany starting Monday, November 2, and in France starting Friday, October 30.
Germany
Merkel, during a press conference, said that until the end of November bars and restaurants will be limited to take out food service, and cinemas, theaters, gyms and swimming pools will be closed. Working from home will be encouraged for companies of all sectors, while private meetings will only be allowed in public spaces and up to a maximum of 10 people, provided they belong to a maximum of two families. Schools, shops and places of worship will remain open.
In Germany, the number of cases suddenly rose again after months of progressive decline, as in the rest of Europe: on Wednesday, the new cases identified in the last 24 hours were 14,964, a figure never before reached. “The situation is very serious and we must act now if we want to avoid a serious health emergency at the national level,” Merkel added, illustrating the new restrictions. Merkel hinted that the healthcare system is in trouble in various areas of the country, and that even in some states contact tracing facilities, which in Germany have always worked quite well, can no longer identify new outbreaks. . “On average, nationally, we cannot understand where 75 percent of new cases are coming from,” Merkel explained.
France
Macron, on the other hand, in a message to the nation, announced what is in fact a new blockade, the first by a large European country in the “second wave.” The new rules to limit the spread of the coronavirus will be in effect until at least December 1. Macron explained that you can only leave home to go to work – for those who cannot do it from home – and to care for a vulnerable person, as well as to take a walk a short distance from home. Bars and restaurants will be closed, as will stores that do not sell basic products. Both private gatherings and public gatherings of any size will be prohibited. Movement between regions will not be allowed, except those to return home.
Unlike the first closure, the schools will remain open – with which Macron has defined more stringent security protocols than the current ones – and the borders with the countries of the European Union, while connections with non-European countries will be closed. The announcement of the measures was preceded by a long speech in which Macron explained that the second wave runs the risk of being “more deadly” than the first, and that regardless of the measures announced today, ICU beds will be filled in the next. days of COVID-19 patients, risking approaching the maximum capacity of about 10,000 seats nationwide.
Macron added that the second wave is affecting all European countries regardless of the preparations they have adopted in the summer: “we had created favorable conditions but it was not enough,” he said about France, “and the fact that in Europe there are situations of saturation gives us no hope. ”In recent days, the French government had passed several partial restrictions, such as an extended night curfew, to try to limit the spread of the infection, without much success. In recent days, France has exceeded 50,000 new cases per day and in the last 24 hours has registered 523 deaths, a figure similar to the peak days of the first wave.
United Kingdom
In the UK, restrictions imposed by the UK central government directly apply only to England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are responsible for their own public health policies and autonomously decide what action to take in the event of a health emergency.
In England, the restrictions decided by the British government on October 12 remain in force to try to control the spread of infections after the large daily increase in cases in the previous days. England has been divided into three areas according to the risk of contagion, which can be classified as medium, high and very high. In areas where contagion levels are relatively low, the measures decided by the government on September 22 remain in force, namely, the “rule of 6” (the prohibition of meeting with more than six people from different family groups, both outdoors and indoors (closed), the closure of restaurants and pubs at 10pm, the obligation to wear masks even in taxis and to respect physical distances.
In areas that are considered high risk, it is also forbidden for people from different family groups to meet either at home or in bars and restaurants. For high-risk areas, in addition to complying with the rules established for lower-risk areas, bars, pubs, gyms and game rooms will be closed, while restaurants must close at 10 pm. In these areas, residents are also prohibited to have social interactions with people who are not part of their home.
In Northern Ireland, since October 16, pubs and restaurants have been closed for four weeks, except those that do home delivery and take away. Since Monday the 19th, all schools have also been closed for two weeks (extending the traditional school recess at the end of October by one week). Supermarkets and stores cannot sell alcohol after 8pm.
Wales has banned people living in areas considered higher risk of contagion in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland since October 14 from entering the country. On October 17, a strict closure was decided from October 23 to November 9, with the closure of all non-essential activities and the request to citizens to stay at home. The Welsh Prime Minister, Mark Drakefors, has expected the 15-day confinement to be a “short but intense” shock to curb the increase in positives, more than 9,000 from October 4 to 17.
On October 28, the WHO, World Health Organization, included the United Kingdom as one of the countries where the epidemic situation is most worrying. In the UK, new cases have increased by 30 per cent in the last week. Despite the lockdown, Wales remains concerned, where pressure on hospital staff has increased. In England, the WHO also records a sharp increase in the number of intensive care hospitalizations among those over 65. On Wednesday in the United Kingdom 22,885 new cases of contagion were registered. On October 22, the largest increase in daily cases since the beginning of the epidemic was recorded: 26,687.
Spain
The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, signed on October 25 a state of emergency for all of Spain to contain the coronavirus infection: it will remain in force until November 10. It establishes a national curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. and that meetings do not exceed six people who do not live together. The government guarantees the regions a certain autonomy: they can postpone or advance the curfew by one hour and close regional borders or other areas of their territory in case of need. The curfew does not apply to the Canary Islands, where the situation is under control and where tourism is expected to keep alive.
In the last hours Sánchez and the governors Isabel Natividad Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, Emiliano García Page, president of Castilla-La Mancha, and Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, president of Castilla y León, discuss a new possible closure of the borders regional regarding the bridges of Todos Los Santos this weekend and that of La Almudena, planned only for Madrid, on November 9. While Page and Mañueco announced the closure of the borders until November 9, Ayuso, when the agreement seemed to have been finalized, said that he will ask the government that interregional closures be limited to single days, confirming the desire for autonomy expressed throughout the whole country. course of the epidemic. The communities of Navarra, La Rioja, Aragon, Asturias, the Basque Country and Murcia had already decided to close the borders. Andalusia and Cantabria will decide in the next few hours.
According to what you write The country, in Spain the second wave started in July, and has not stopped since then, getting worse in recent weeks. During the last week, the Navarra region has registered a rate of cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days of more than 1,000, with an increase of 60 percent in the last two weeks. Above 500 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants also Aragón (the weekly figure increases 160%), La Rioja (100%) and Castilla y León (80%). Cantabria (190%), Asturias (130%), Basque Country (110%), Andalusia (110%), Catalonia (100%), Extremadura (80%), Galicia (70%) and Valencian Community (60%). Although the number of daily deaths is significantly lower than that of the first wave, the Ministry of Health has announced that since July 6 thousand people who had fallen ill from Covid-19 have died; Ine, the National Institute of Statistics, equivalent to the Italian Istat, registered a difference of 13 thousand more deaths in that period compared to the same period in 2019.
Belgium
According to the daily count of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Belgium, with 1,390.9 cases on average per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days, is the European country most affected by the “second wave “from coronavirus. In the last week, an average of 13,052 new infections were recorded daily and the average weekly increase is 38 percent. Covid-19 hospitalizations in Belgium have increased at a weekly rate of 88 percent, averaging 502 per day.
On October 19, Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said the country was in danger of being overwhelmed by a “tsunami” of infections and had called the country’s situation “the worst in Europe”. Vandenbroucke had said that the government was able to control the evolution of infections “with great difficulty” and that if the number of hospitalizations for Covid-19 continued to increase, Belgian hospitals would have to postpone treatment for patients with other diseases. On the same day, a night curfew was introduced across the country. The government of Alexander de Croo has said it will wait until the last restrictions, decided ten days ago, expire to see if a new generalized blockade like last spring will be necessary.
Czech Republic
Also according to ECDC data, the Czech Republic follows Belgium as cases on average per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days: 1,379.8. On October 28 there was a daily increase in cases of 12,977. From October 13 to November 3 in the Czech Republic, schools and bars must be closed, while restaurants can only sell take-out until 8:00 p.m. The consumption of alcohol in public is prohibited. The university residences are also closed and the lessons of all school classes are held remotely. The use of the mask, already mandatory in shops and public transport, had also spread to tram stops and train tracks. In the Czech Republic, both indoors and outdoors, the “rule of 6” applies as in England, that is, the prohibition of meeting with more than six people from different family groups.
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