‘The situation is very dangerous’ … an extended curfew in France …

More than two-thirds of the French are forced to stay home at night, and Brussels is close to the time of the start of the night curfew, while the death toll in Germany has exceeded ten thousand, as a second wave of the Covid-19 epidemic hits Europe and pushes their countries to double the measures and restrictions to combat it.

In Belgium, the Brussels authorities decided to bring forward the start time of the curfew imposed in the country to 22:00, and ordered the closure of shops at 20:00 GMT, and prohibited cultural and sports activities as of Monday.

These strict measures go beyond the decisions taken by the government on Friday for the whole country, and follow the measures announced by the authorities of Wallonia, the French-speaking region of the country, where the epidemic is very prevalent.

“The situation is very dangerous”, warned the minister responsible for the region, Rudi Fairfort, during a press conference.

In France, the imposed curfew was extended from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., which meant basically 20 million people, to include, as of Saturday, 46 million people for six weeks, while the number of New coronavirus infections in this country exceeded one million cases, in between. Authorities warned of a second wave, “worse than the first.”

The Minister of Health, Olivier Ferrand, defended before the National Assembly the decision to extend the state of health emergency until February 16 to face “a stage that will be long and difficult.”

The number of new infections with the new Corona virus across the European continent is approaching 8.5 million, while more than 260,000 people have died as a result of the epidemic, including about 1,003 in Germany, which is directly affected by the second wave of the epidemic after he remained relatively immune to the virus.

And the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced today in her weekly podcast that “the schedule is as follows: limit communication and comply with the fewest possible numbers”, and emphasized that “our behavior greatly affects the speed of spread. of the virus “.

The epidemic has killed at least 1,145,847 people worldwide since the end of December, according to a toll compiled by Agence France-Presse on Saturday. The United States recorded about 80,000 new infections in 24 hours, the highest daily figure so far.

The Polish President was injured

Given the deterioration of the health situation, on Saturday new measures were approved in Eastern European countries, such as Poland, which has become completely classified as a “red zone”, after this classification was limited until now to the main cities and their surroundings.

These measures provided for the partial closure of restaurants and elementary schools, and that high school and university students could continue their studies remotely. Weddings have also been banned and the number of people who can be together in shops, public transport and churches has been reduced.

Today, the Minister of State of the Polish Presidency, Boaji Spikhalsky, announced that President Andrzej Duda had undergone a test showing that he had Covid-19, but confirmed in a tweet that he was “fine” and had no symptoms. and it continues to work remotely.

In neighboring Slovakia, a night curfew will take effect on Saturday and until November 1, while the Czech Republic, which has the highest number of deaths and injuries in Europe, imposed a partial home quarantine that will last until November. November 3rd.

A partial home quarantine is also imposed, starting on Saturday in Slovenia, where it was confirmed that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anze Lugar, was infected with the virus, which made it necessary for the foreign ministers of the three Baltic countries to Saturday demanded home quarantine after meeting with their counterparts from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

And in Italy, clashes broke out in Naples between the police and hundreds of young people protesting the curfew imposed on the region on Friday night. Protesters raised banners reading “If you close, pay the price,” to protest the economic consequences of the closure.

In addition to the Naples region, a curfew was imposed in the Lazio region, where Rome, and in the Lombardy region, where Milan (north).

The well-known doctor, Giorgio Parisi, said in an interview with the newspaper “La Repubblica” that “in mid-November there will be 500 deaths per day” if no new measures are taken, indicating that these estimates remain “optimistic”.

Greece also imposes a night curfew starting Saturday in Athens and Thessaloniki, the country’s two largest cities, and the wearing of masks will be mandatory both indoors and outdoors.

In Spain, which has officially crossed the million mark, new restrictions will take effect in Madrid on Saturday, while the government is considering declaring a state of emergency at the national level to allow local curfew measures to be imposed.

For its part, Denmark announced the tightening of restrictions on meetings and the extension of the obligation to wear masks, starting Monday.