France enters lockdown on Friday, Germany on Monday. How are the new restrictions and which European states are still preparing to toughen anti-COVID measures | News, Foreign News Freedom

The second wave of the COVID pandemic in Europe has reached a point where it can no longer be controlled, and the number of cases is skyrocketing in several countries, including France, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia and Luxembourg.

Doctors in these countries have announced that hospitals are overworked and the capacity of intensive care units is nearing the limit. In Belgium, the situation is so dramatic that infected but asymptomatic medical personnel have agreed to continue their work.

The European authorities are now trying to establish as flexible a blockade as possible, in the hope of controlling the epidemic. Ireland and Wales have already taken this step.

European officials hope that the flexibility will provide a breath of fresh air to the already hard-hit economy, and at the same time save weary citizens from restrictive measures.

In Italy or Poland, but also in the United Kingdom, there have already been several demonstrations against the new wave of restrictions.

Germany: an easy blockade

In Germany, a meeting of Chancellor Angela Merkel with the leaders of the Länder established the establishment of a new national blockade for a month, starting on Monday, November 2, the tabloid Bild revealed on Wednesday evening.

Angela Merkel later confirmed the decision and the form of the restrictions. It will be a “mild” lockdown, softer than in spring, which practically closed the economy.

Schools and kindergartens will remain open, but restaurants and bars will close. Public gatherings will be prohibited and travel will be discouraged.

Theaters, cinemas, swimming pools, gyms and saunas will also be closed. And the stay in hotels will be prohibited, with some exceptions.

All Germans who can work from home are advised to do so.

And in public it will be possible to meet a maximum of two families, with 10 people in total.

“We are in a serious situation,” Merkel warned Wednesday night. “We must act now to avoid an acute state of emergency,” the foreign minister said.

Authorities have confirmed more than 14,000 cases of contagion in the last 24 hours, and figures show that only 25% of the country’s intensive care beds are still available.

France enters the confinement on Friday at midnight

Emmanuel Macron announced this Wednesday night that “we are overwhelmed by a second wave, which will be more deadly than the first” and specified that, as of Friday, France will enter the closure – at the national level, not only zonal, as he had speculated.

“If we don’t put the brakes on, our hospitals will be overwhelmed very quickly. In this context, my responsibility is to protect all French people. Despite the controversy, I will take it up tonight. We are one of the countries in Europe that is testing the most. , but we must admit that we are overwhelmed by the epidemic, “added the French president.

Macron announced the measures that will come into effect: “Nurseries, schools and secondary schools will remain open, public services will continue to operate, nursing homes will remain open. But you won’t be able to leave one region to another. “

“As in the spring, you will be able to go out to work, see a doctor, help a loved one, go shopping or get some air at home. Bars and restaurants will be closed (…) Employees and employers who will not be able to work, will continue to benefit from partial unemployment. Telework will be applied on a large scale, “Macron also announced.

Our internal borders with the European area will remain open and, with certain exceptions, the external borders will remain closed. Of course, French living abroad will be free to return to the territory.

The President of France:

The new restrictions will be valid from Friday, November 30 through December 1.

Currently, in France, 58% of ATI beds are occupied by COVID patients.

In the past 24 hours, the number of confirmed deaths was 523, the highest level since April.

And the authorities confirm, every day, tens of thousands of new cases of infection.

The new blockade goes into effect in the Czech Republic on Wednesday

In the Czech Republic, one of the countries most affected by the second pandemic wave, the new blockade comes into effect on Wednesday night.

Czechs will have to stay at home between 9:00 PM and 5:00 AM.

Non-essential schools and businesses have already closed. Now, grocery stores will also have restrictions. They will be closed on Sundays.

People are encouraged to go shopping twice a week, in order to minimize contact with other people, notes Czech Radio.

In an interview with the public radio station, Chancellor Tomáš Petříček revealed that the authorities were left without possible alternatives to control the epidemic and stressed that a total blockade is not ruled out.

Cases of COVID infection and deaths exploded this fall, after the Czech Republic had passed the first pandemic wave in the spring.

A third of the 2,201 COVID deaths in the Czech Republic were recorded in the last week alone.

Dramatic situation in Belgium

In Belgium, the federal government will decide until this weekend whether to return to a new national lockdown, at a time when the country is facing a second wave of very aggressive epidemics, writes Reuters.

Elio Di Rupo, prime minister of the Walloon government, the French-speaking region of the country, stressed that he is in favor of tough restrictions.

“We believe that stricter measures are needed in the coming days, measures that will lead to a blockade,” Di Rupo told the Walloon parliament, according to the daily Le Soir.

The last few days have brought very high balances, with more than 10,000 cases of contagion, a lot for a country of 11 million inhabitants.

The record was reached on October 20, when more than 18,000 new cases were confirmed.

Doctors have warned that all beds in the Intensive Care Unit will be occupied within two weeks, if the infection rate continues.

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