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Germany and France are preparing to face new lockdowns, as the governments of the countries seek to stem a rising tide of coronavirus cases sweeping Europe.
The World Health Organization says the European region, which by its definition includes Russia, Turkey, Israel and Central Asia, accounted for nearly half of the 2.8 million new coronavirus cases reported globally last week. The UN health agency said virus-related deaths were also on the rise in Europe, with an increase of around 35 percent from the previous week, and that hospitalizations and ICU occupancy due to Covid-19 they were increasing.
“We are immersed in the second wave,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels. “I think Christmas this year will be a different Christmas.”
The European Union, Great Britain, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland alone accounted for 1.1 million cases over the past seven days, he said, “and we expect this number to continue to rise in the next two to three weeks, and rapidly.”
In France, more than half of the country’s intensive care units are already occupied by Covid-19 patients. French military and commercial aircraft are transporting seriously ill virus patients to other regions as hospitals fill up and French doctors have called on the government to impose a new nationwide lockdown.
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* Covid-19: UK at ‘tipping point’ as Covid-19 resurfaces and restrictions are reintroduced in Europe
French President Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to deliver a televised address to the nation in the evening on Wednesday (local time).
France reported 288 new virus-related deaths in hospitals in 24 hours on Tuesday and 235 deaths in nursing homes during the previous four days. Both figures marked the largest such increase since May.
Thibault Camus / AP
French President Emmanuel Macron is considering taking decisive action to combat the growing cases of Covid-19.
Overall, Europe has seen more than 250,000 virus-related deaths since the outbreak began, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Great Britain and the Czech Republic have also seen an increase in new cases in the past 14 days, while infection rates in Germany were lower but steadily rising.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel lobbied the governors of the country’s 16 states on Wednesday to quickly agree to a partial closure that could include more restrictions on public gatherings and the closure of bars and restaurants.
Arne Dedert / AP
Germany is also considering lockdown style restrictions to combat emerging cases.
Germany’s health minister said now is the time to flatten the infection curve again.
“Once the intensive care rooms are full, it is too late,” Jens Spahn told SWR public radio.
The plan has caused distress in Germany’s hotel industry, with thousands of place owners staging a protest Wednesday at Berlin’s historic Brandenburg Gate to demand more financial support from the government.
The loud but peaceful demonstration contrasted with the angry scenes of recent days, when anti-mask protesters clashed with police in the German capital, in several Italian cities and in the Czech Republic.
Markus Schreiber / AP
A woman holds up a sign that reads “culture dies” while attending a protest by people working in the entertainment industry and events against the economic policies of the German government to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala spoke out on Wednesday against a shutdown in the Lombardy capital, the epicenter of the new virus’s resurgence in Italy.
Von der Leyen, the head of the EU, acknowledged the increasing price that the continuing crisis is taking.
“This time we have two enemies,” he said. “The coronavirus itself and the fatigue of the corona, that’s the growing fatigue when it comes to precautionary measures.”
Von der Leyen insisted, however, that “now is not the time to relax.”
Alessandra Tarantino / AP
Cooks and restaurant owners protest against government restriction measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, closing restaurants at night, in the Piazza del Pantheon in Rome in Italy.
In Prague, protesters wearing terror masks marched against virus restrictions on Wednesday despite the Czech Republic holding the grim European record of nearly 1,450 cases per 100,000 people in the past fortnight, closely followed by Belgium, according to the Center. European for Disease Prevention and Control.
The Czech Health Ministry said the daily increase in new infections in the country reached a record 15,663 on Tuesday, more than was reported on Wednesday in Germany, which has eight times the population.
The Czech government has further tightened its regulations, imposing a nationwide curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. that began on Wednesday. Previously, it restricted free movement, closed shops, schools and restaurants, forced the use of masks indoors and outdoors, and banned sports competitions, but the number of infections has continued to rise.
While Germany has fared better than many European countries during the pandemic, officials warn that it is also beginning to lose control of the situation, citing the explosion of cases in the Czech Republic as a reason for earlier closures.
Petr David Josek / AP
Anti-Covid measures have sparked protests across Europe.
Economists said the additional restrictions must be carefully calibrated to avoid dealing a second severe blow to companies.
“A national lockdown, as we have seen in, devastates an economy and would add significant complications to the ongoing economic recovery,” said Fiona Cincotta, an analyst at online trading firm GAIN Capital.
But Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at the VP Bank Group of Liechtenstein, said a temporary lockdown could be less damaging than a prolonged drop in consumer spending, as infection levels remain stubbornly high.
“You don’t have to be a virologist to conclude that, without further restriction, the number of new daily infections is likely to increase,” Gitzel said, adding that a short, tight block could be effective. “The strict containment measures in March and April laid the foundation for an economically successful summer.”
Virginia Mayo / AP
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, says that this is not the time for Europe to relax.
In France, there was some understanding about the difficult choice facing the government.
“I do not blame the government for reflecting before making decisions that will have serious consequences in many areas such as health, education and the economy,” said Parisian Gilles Weinzaepflen.
“Those are not easy decisions to make,” he added. “I am more dissatisfied with the political controversies, because I think this is not the time for this, it is a time to be united and seek solutions that are less painful. for the people.”
