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Several European countries are deciding more restrictions for the Christmas season and the end of the year, after the previous measures have not managed to reduce the cases of coronavirus infection that causes covid-19 and after an increase in cases that may be linked. Christmas celebrations or shopping. These countries range from Italy, the first country to suffer the pandemic in Europe, to Sweden, which has always been noted for an approach that has been called “soft confinement”, based on recommendations.
The first to make an announcement of expected measures this Monday was the Minister of Health of the UK, Matt Hancock: London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire will move to restriction level 3, the highest.
Restaurants and pubs They will be closed, operating only with outgoing deliveries, and only meetings between people who are not from the same household or “support bubble” (who care for dependents, for example) will be allowed outdoors and in public places.
Travel by people outside of this range to level 3 areas is also discouraged, Hancock said in response to a question about anyone wanting to shop on London’s Oxford Street. The measures go into effect on Wednesday.
In The Hague, Prime Minister Mark Rutte made a rare announcement to announce the second lockdown of the Netherlands– For at least five weeks, all non-essential schools and stores will close.
This means that the second lockdown is even stricter than the first, in which the schools remained open.
Meetings, even in the home, cannot include more than two people outside the home. There is only one exception at Christmas, when each home accommodates three adults.
The number of infections in the Netherlands dropped after bars and restaurants closed in mid-October. But it rose again, especially in recent days, when there were large increases (8,500 new cases on Sunday, 10,000 the day before), which are believed to be related to the celebration of Sinterklaas (São Nicolau), when traditionally they are exchanged gifts.
“The fewer contacts we have, the better,” Rutte said. “We have to do everything possible to get to a better situation. And yes, it will get better. “
Outside, there were demonstrations against the confinement.
In Italy, the authorities were scared not only by the numbers but also by the magnitude of the gatherings in the streets of various cities for Christmas shopping. And they faced dire numbers. On Sunday, the country ranked in the United Kingdom with the highest number of deaths from covid-19 in Europe, and this Monday it exceeded the total of more than 65 thousand deaths.
Meanwhile, during the weekend, many people went shopping for Christmas. What led the Minister for Regional Affairs, Francesco Boccia, to complain to the newspaper The Republic: “Crowds are unjustified, irrational, irresponsible.”
For all these reasons, the announcement that the entire country would be placed in the “red zone” and in confinement from Christmas Eve until January 2 was expected at all times to avoid an expected increase in infections during the holidays. Before, the government had already announced some restrictions, such as no rooster dough, but the new ones will go even further.
“We hope to have new measures very soon to avoid a third wave,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza told the public broadcaster RAI. A meeting between experts advising the government is still taking place, he explained.
As in Italy and the Netherlands, in Germany The soft lockdown didn’t work, and Chancellor Angela Merkel also referred to Christmas shopping as a factor in increasing contacts and outreach when she announced the new lockdown on Sunday. This will take effect this Wednesday and, in principle, will continue until January 10.
They will close all non-essential stores, schools, nurseries (parents can take paid vacations), and at the end of the year, rockets and fireworks will not be able to launch, it is an old tradition although increasingly questioned by pollution and danger (hospitals in big cities to reinforce ophthalmic surgery services for the wounded (which can be real field battles in certain areas).
From December 24 to 26 there is a slight relaxation of the rule that prevents meetings of more than five people from two different households during the days between December 24 and 26, a rule that does not include minors under 14 years of age, for so there may be small family gatherings. But they will always be small: only four more people outside their own homes, as long as they are also close relatives.
Meanwhile, Europe’s country of exception, the Sweden, where the strategy has to make recommendations and impose very few restrictions, Prime Minister Stefan Lövfen announced the recommendations for Christmas and the end of the year: contact with people who do not belong to the same household should be limited to people who belong to a “social bubble ”(People who have regular close contact) and never with a total of eight other people.
Meetings should be held, whenever possible, outdoors, Lövfen said. The use of public transportation and shopping trips should be avoided.
The recommendations are made when the increase in infections and patients is putting pressure on the health system, so “now the limit beyond which patients receive intensive care has been increased,” according to the newspaper. Aftonbladet. The effects are also felt in the postponement of surgeries, with 75% of scheduled pediatric surgeries having to be canceled.
After reports that Sweden might be about to turn to neighbors for help for intensive care patients, Finland and Norway said they would provide support if requested by the Swedish government.
