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PARIS / PRAGUE: France imposed curfews as other European nations are closing schools, canceling surgeries and recruiting medical students as overwhelmed authorities face the nightmare scenario of a COVID-19 resurgence at the start of winter.
With new cases reaching about 100,000 a day, Europe has vastly outperformed the United States, where more than 51,000 COVID-19 infections are reported on average every day.
As cases in France spiked rapidly, President Emmanuel Macron announced night curfews for four weeks starting Saturday in Paris and other major cities, affecting nearly a third of the country’s 67 million residents.
Macron said in an interview on national television that the curfews were going to temporarily paralyze “the parties, the moments of coexistence where there are 50 or 60 people, festive evenings because, unfortunately, these are vectors of the acceleration of the disease.”
“We will get out of this if we stick together,” he said.
Most European governments eased lockdowns over the summer to begin reviving economies already hit by the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the return to normal activity, from crowded restaurants to new college terms, fueled a sharp increase in cases across the continent.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she and the leaders of Germany’s 16 states agreed on tougher measures on Wednesday without detailing them. “We are already in a phase of exponential growth, the daily numbers show it,” he said.
Bars and pubs were among the first to close or face early closure in new closings, but now rising infection rates are also testing governments’ determination to keep schools and non-COVID healthcare.
Even Pope Francis was subject to the new coronavirus rules, keeping a safe distance from supporters at his weekly audience on Wednesday.
In Lisbon, soccer fans were not surprised after Portugal’s captain Cristiano Ronaldo tested positive for the virus, saying it simply showed everyone was at risk of infection.
The Czech Republic, with the worst per capita rate in Europe, has switched schools to distance education and plans to recruit thousands of medical students. Hospitals are cutting non-urgent medical procedures to free up beds.
“Sometimes we are on the verge of tears,” said Lenka Krejcova, head nurse at Slany hospital near Prague, as builders scrambled to convert a general ward into a COVID-19 department.
Poland is increasing the training of nurses and considering the creation of military field hospitals, Moscow is moving many students to online learning, and Northern Ireland is closing schools for two weeks and restaurants for four.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin described the increase in cases in Northern Ireland as “hugely concerning” and the government increased restrictions in three border counties, as well as almost all home visits across the country.
“We are on the brink of disaster,” said immunologist Pawel Grzesiowski in Poland, who reported a record 6,526 infections and 116 deaths on Wednesday.
Efforts to develop a vaccine have run into trouble in some areas, and Johnson & Johnson paused its trial after an unexplained illness in a study participant. AstraZeneca’s trial in the United States has been on hold for more than a month.
Russia, which saw a record daily increase in cases, has granted regulatory approval to a second vaccine.
IMPOSSIBLE OPTIONS
Germany, England and France have so far resisted pressure to close schools, but in Germany, politicians are debating whether to extend the Christmas-New Year school holidays to curb the contagion.
The Netherlands returned to the partial blockade, closed bars and restaurants, but kept schools open.
European infections have been occurring at an average of nearly 100,000 a day, about a third of the global total, forcing governments to tighten restrictions while trying to prevent the destruction of livelihoods.
The United Kingdom, France, Russia and Spain accounted for more than half of the new cases in Europe in the week to October 11, according to the World Health Organization.
READ: Better equipped but emotionally drained, Spain’s intensive care staff faces second wave of COVID-19
In the United States, with the highest number of confirmed infections in the world, 22 states have so far set records for the increase in new cases in October. But deaths are trending downward, averaging 700 a day for the past week.
FIELD HOSPITALS
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces calls from the opposition for another national shutdown in England, but has so far resisted. Hospital admissions, however, are on the rise and field hospitals built in the spring are getting ready once again.
London faces tighter restrictions in a few days, the Financial Times reported.
In Spain, the Catalan authorities ordered the closure of bars and restaurants for 15 days and limited the number of people allowed in stores.
In Belgium, with the second worst infection rate per capita in Europe, hospitals must now reserve a quarter of their beds for COVID-19 patients.
“Today we cannot see the end of the tunnel,” Renaud Mazy, managing director of the Saint-Luc University Clinics in Brussels, told La Premiere radio.
In Australia, one of the most successful countries in fighting the virus, groups have emerged in the two most populous states, prompting New South Wales to delay the relaxation of some restrictions.
And new restrictions have been imposed in Malaysia, where the royal palace postponed all meetings for two weeks.
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