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The measures taken in recent months in Europe to contain the coronavirus epidemic appear to be working and although the situation remains very serious, things are looking up. In many countries there is debate about the possible relaxation of the measures around the Christmas season, although as he wrote on Sunday in Financial times this time governments seem to want to avoid the word “reopening”, limiting the risks of further deterioration.
In almost all European countries, in recent weeks the number of new cases registered daily has begun to decline, a sign that the restrictions imposed are giving their first results.
By the end of October, more than 1,300 new cases per million inhabitants had been registered for several days in Belgium (in Italy they never exceeded 600) and the situation was one of the most serious in Europe. The closure decided by the government, with limitations similar to those imposed during the first wave, however, seems to have worked: new infections have been declining for weeks and today they return to values similar to those of other European countries.
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In France, on October 28, President Emmanuel Macron announced a new national shutdown, with movement restrictions, closures of bars, restaurants and non-essential goods stores. France arrived after a month of constant and rapid growth in the number of infections, with an increase in the occupation of intensive care positions faster than expected by the government. Since then, the number of new cases has started to decline and is now significantly lower than in Italy.
In Spain, Austria and the Netherlands, the contagion curve has improved significantly in recent weeks; in Germany, the increase in new cases has been steady and controlled for several weeks and in Portugal there are signs of a possible slowdown in the epidemic. Even in Italy for a few days there has been more optimism about the evolution of the epidemic situation, despite the fact that the stabilization of data on new infections continues to correspond to a situation of serious difficulty in hospitals and the health system.
These positive figures have prompted many governments to address a possible relaxation of restrictive measures, with the aim of not unduly damaging the economy during the profitable Christmas season and allowing those who want to celebrate Christmas to some extent. In almost all countries, however, possible reopening in the coming weeks will be limited and treated with more caution than last summer, when in just a few weeks, almost everywhere, social and economic life had returned to be very similar to the previous one. the pandemic.
In France there is talk of reopening in three phases, between December and January, depending on the data on the epidemic, but the government explained on Sunday that most of the restrictions will remain in force. In Germany, where less stringent restrictions have been imposed than in other countries and the situation is less dire, the measures are likely to be in place for a few weeks to avoid further deterioration around the Christmas holidays. In Italy, a possible limited reopening of business activities before Christmas is being discussed, but also new restrictive measures to prevent the holidays from causing a further increase in infections. According to the newspapers, France, Germany and Italy are also studying common measures to limit or ban the ski season.
While the rise in infections has stabilized or is declining, in fact, in many countries the situation in hospitals remains very dire and employment levels in wards are high and worrying. Unsurprisingly, after the worst moment of the rise in infections, the number of new hospitalizations and deaths remained significantly high, which in some countries – such as Italy, France and Germany – has been growing for weeks.
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