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DUBLIN: Several European countries took urgent new action on Monday (October 19) to combat a second wave of coronavirus infections, as the World Health Organization blamed the increase in cases worldwide, now more than 40 million , to the lack of quarantine of the countries. infected people correctly.
Ireland and Wales became the first countries on the continent to re-enter lockdown as the number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Europe exceeded 250,000, according to an AFP tally.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin issued a national “stay home” order starting at midnight Wednesday, with all non-essential retail businesses to close and bars and restaurants limited to take-out service, though schools will remain. open.
Wales also announced “firebreak” lockdown measures for two weeks, ordering the territory’s three million residents to stay home except for very limited purposes like exercise or work, and forbidding people to mingle indoors or out.
WHO emergency director Michael Ryan blamed rising transmission rates in the Northern Hemisphere on a lack of rigorous enforcement of quarantines.
Speaking at a virtual press conference from WHO headquarters in Geneva, Ryan said that the fact that self-isolation measures were not being consistently applied was “a good part of the reason we are seeing such high numbers.”
In recent months, authorities in Australia, China, Japan and South Korea had reduced the spread by detecting cases, isolating them and quarantining contacts, he said.
Their populations had shown “higher levels of trust” in their governments, which had maintained the measures for longer.
“In other words, they ran through the finish line and beyond and kept running, because they knew the race was not over, that finish line was false. Too many countries have set an imaginary finish line and when they cross it they can having slowed down some of their activities, “Ryan said.
“In my opinion, the countries in Asia, South Asia and the Western Pacific that have been successful have really continued to carry out those key activities,” he added.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged authorities to persevere in the fight against the virus.
“I know there is fatigue, but the virus has shown that when we let our guard down, it can reappear at breakneck speed and threaten hospitals and healthcare systems,” Tedros said.
Many European nations are battling a new wave of coronavirus infections. (Photo: AFP / Abdulmonam Eassa)
Many governments seek to avoid the costly large-scale lockdowns imposed in the first wave while struggling to keep their economies running.
But in some countries, people are irritated by new restrictions on daily life, and protests against masks, judicial challenges, and battles between central and local governments are on the rise.
Belgium, where hospitalizations increased 100 percent in the last week alone, closed bars and restaurants on Monday for a month and tightened the curfew overnight.
Italy, the initial epicenter of the Europe outbreak, also announced new restrictions, including previous closures of bars and restaurants and a push to increase work from home.
In Poland, where around half of the country is now designated as a coronavirus “red zone”, the government said the national stadium would also function as a field hospital to help ease tension on overwhelmed health facilities.
‘THE SECOND WAVE IS HERE’
Meanwhile, Switzerland made wearing masks mandatory in indoor public spaces and limited public gatherings after infections doubled in the past week.
“The second wave is here, earlier and stronger than we expected, but we are ready,” said Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset.
France imposed its own overnight curfew from the weekend in nine cities, including Paris, which affected 20 million people, with a record 32,400 new infections reported on Saturday.
Slovenia did the same, with its roughly two million inhabitants forced to stay home between 9:00 p.m. M. And 6:00 a. M. As of Tuesday, non-essential travel is prohibited.
While European nations imposed new restrictions, Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, eased its closure on Monday, as residents flocked to reopened beauty salons and golf courses that had been closed for more than 100 days. .
Melbourne residents quickly returned to the reopened golf courses and salons. (Photo: AFP / William West)
Only four cases were recorded on Monday in the state of Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital.
VACCINE HOPES
Iran, the Middle Eastern country hardest hit by the pandemic, announced a daily record of 337 deaths from coronavirus.
On the contrary, Israel lifted restrictions that prohibited people from traveling more than one kilometer from their home and closed kindergartens, beaches and national parks.
Saudi Arabia also further eased its own virus restrictions when it allowed worshipers to re-enter the Great Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, to pray on Sunday for the first time since March.
Numerous political figures have contracted the virus in recent days, including veteran Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, who is in a “critical” condition and in a medically induced coma, the Jerusalem hospital that treats him said.
South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said he tested positive for COVID-19 just two days after diagnosed cases in the country surpassed 700,000.
A vaccine remains the best hope to end the cycle of imposing and lifting blockades around the world, and the United Nations said on Monday it would store 1 billion syringes worldwide by the end of 2021 for that purpose.
“Vaccinating the world against COVID-19 will be one of the greatest mass undertakings in human history,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
In the United States, President Donald Trump persecuted prominent government scientist Anthony Fauci, suggesting that the highly respected and popular doctor was an “idiot.”
Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, has increasingly become a focus of frustration for the president as he attempts to shape the message about the much-criticized federal response to the pandemic.
But according to various US media outlets, Trump told his campaign team: “People are tired of COVID. People are saying, ‘Whatever, leave us alone.’ They are tired of it. People are tired of it. to listen to Fauci and all those idiots. “
The pandemic has killed nearly 220,000 people in the United States.
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