New York closes schools as virus deaths rise in Europe

New York announced Wednesday it would close schools to combat a surge in coronavirus infections as the death rate in Europe soared and protests against the restrictions turned violent.

The tightening of measures in the most populous city in the United States came despite the fact that the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer raised hopes of a possible end to the pandemic by announcing better results for its vaccine.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York’s 1,800 public schools would return to remote learning starting Thursday after the city posted a seven-day average positivity rate of three percent.

“We must fight the second wave of Covid-19,” he said.

US states and cities are imposing a number of new restrictions, including home confinement, indoor food closings and a limit on gatherings as cases rise across the country.

Europe remains the most affected region, with 46% of new global cases and 49% of deaths last week, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

While infection rates in Europe have slowed, the WHO said Wednesday that the death rate rose 18 percent last week from the previous week.

The figures showed that the only region where cases and deaths declined last week was Southeast Asia.

Worldwide, more than 1.3 million people have died from Covid-19 and more than 55 million have been infected with the virus since it first appeared in China late last year, according to a count from official sources. compiled by AFP.

In Switzerland, one of the most affected countries in Europe, the Swiss Society of Intensive Care Medicine (SSMI) warned that intensive care units “are practically full.”

More beds have been added and the Swiss army has been called in to support efforts in various areas.

– Water cannon fired in Berlin –

Many European countries are imposing heavy restrictions on daily life in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

A French government spokesman said authorities are unlikely to lift a partial shutdown anytime soon as the Portuguese government prepares to extend the measures for two more weeks.

In Hungary, the state of emergency that allows partial lockdown measures has been extended until February.

In Berlin, police fired water cannons to disperse thousands of unmasked protesters who were demonstrating against the tightening of restrictions.

The protesters, who have equated the restrictions with Nazi-era rules, responded by shouting “Shame! Shame!”

The protest came a day after clashes with police at a similar rally in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, which was attended by thousands of far-right supporters.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin voiced alarm over his country’s rising death rate, but fell short of introducing tough measures seen in many European countries.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he would impose “severe restrictions” in many areas of his country starting Saturday.

– ‘Going in the right direction’ –

There was more encouraging news from Belgium, which has had one of the highest death rates in Europe since the start of the pandemic, where authorities said a month-long semi-lockdown was starting to work.

“For the first time in weeks, or even for several months, all the indicators are going in the right direction, which means that they are all going down: the number of infections, hospitalizations and, for the first time, the number of deaths,” said El Covid-19 Crisis Center spokesman Yves Van Laethem.

Although less affected, other parts of the world have continued to feel the impact of the virus.

South Australia on Wednesday announced a six-day “circuit breaker” lockout for its nearly two million people to contain an outbreak that ended a streak of months without infections.

Schools, shops, pubs, factories and even take-out restaurants were told to close and stay-at-home orders were issued for residents.

– Vaccine race –

Pfizer offered some relief, saying that a full study of its experimental vaccine showed it to be 95 percent effective.

The announcement came after another US firm involved in the vaccine race, Moderna, said this week that its own candidate was 94.5 percent effective.

Russia has also announced a vaccine that it claims is more than 90 percent effective.

Stock markets rose mostly after the Pfizer news, but optimism was tempered by the EU’s struggle to adopt its € 1.8 trillion budget and coronavirus recovery plan, with Poland and Hungary vetoing approval. before a summit on Thursday.

Global hopes of getting back to normal next year extended to the world of cricket, whose calendar has been hit hard this year along with many other sports.

The Cricket Board for England and Wales said it hoped that spectators would be able to return to matches as they announced a full schedule for 2021 that would culminate in a five-event series at home in India.