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On Saturday, state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell warned that a third wave of the spread of the infection could hit Europe. In several European countries, the curves are turning up and governments are taking tough new measures to slow the spread of the infection, during the last shaky months before the vaccine can help stop the pandemic.
During the so-called second wave of autumn, Sweden followed, with a delay of a few weeks, the development in much of the rest of Europe. Anders Tegnell now fears that the increasing spread of the infection in other European countries will again give a preview of what to expect in Sweden.
This is the situation in some of the countries where the spread has gained new momentum.
UK
On Sunday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “reconciled” with the idea that new stricter restrictions might need to be introduced in the coming weeks. Above all, Johnson is referring to England, which has the worst spread of infection in the kingdom.
– We may need to take tougher measures in the coming weeks. “I have fully accepted it, and I think the whole country has accepted it,” Boris Johnson told the Sunday News.
The widespread perception that a growing proportion of those hospitalized in the country are children has increased pressure on the government to close primary schools. Boris Johnson has said that a school closure is not relevant and on Saturday several experts came out in a joint statement and denied that children are the hardest hit.
Boris Johnson is determined to keep the nation’s schools open.
Photo: Maureen McLean / Shutterstock
“I think it’s important for everyone who works in childcare to make it very clear that we don’t see a nationwide wave of childhood illnesses as a result of COVID-19,” said Damian Roland, a pediatrician at the University Hospital of Leicester, at a statement issued by the Royal College. pediatrics and child health.
Around the month of November, December, the decline in infection rates gave the British population new hope and the government promised exceptions to the restrictions until Christmas. Before the holidays, however, the trend had changed and was on the rise. Christmas exemptions were tightened and stricter packages of measures were introduced in some parts of the country.
On Sunday, 64,990 cases and 454 new covid-related deaths were reported. The 24-hour report in recent days has included the highest number of recently confirmed cases in the country. The death toll during the final days of 2020 was nearly 1,000 a day, making it nearly the same level as in April, according to the Worldometer statistics page. However, the daily reports may change due to delays.
The increased spread of the infection in the UK, especially in England, is attributed in part to a new mutation in the coronavirus that is feared to be more contagious. However, research on the new virus is still preliminary and it is not clear what properties it has.
And in other countries, too, the spread of the infection is beginning to pick up.
France
New restrictions went into effect in France on Saturday. In several ministries, especially in the eastern parts of the country, the night curfew has been extended and now starts at 6:00 p.m. instead of 8:00 p.m.
The French government is trying to stop the further increase in cases and has set a goal that the daily number of reported covid-19 cases will be less than 5,000. Over the past week, the number of confirmed cases per day has fluctuated between just under 3,000 and nearly 26,500, according to the Worldometer.
French man vaccinated against covid-19.
Photo: SAMEER AL-DOUMY
Despite this, the government is determined not to initiate a new shutdown like those that were imposed in the country for two periods in the fall and spring of 2020.
– We exclude the idea of a shutdown in the current situation, both nationally and locally, said Health Minister Olivier Véran on French television 2 on December 29.
At the same time that the development of the spread of the infection is going in the wrong direction, the French authorities have been criticized for the fact that vaccination in the country has been too slow. By the end of December, 352 people had received a dose of the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine, compared to 131,626 in Germany and 944,539 in the UK, according to Le Parisien.
The government has promised that vaccination will be speeded up, saying that health professionals over the age of 50 began receiving the vaccine this weekend.
Germany
Germany survived relatively mildly in the spring, but had a greater spread of the infection in the fall. As in the United Kingdom, a downward trend in the spread of the infection was felt in late November. However, the decline was short-lived and since early December, the number of cases per day has continued to increase.
The current measures, which the German government and local leaders agreed to before Christmas, and which have been called “light closure”, will expire on January 10. On Wednesday, the country’s Health Minister Jens Spahn said he cannot imagine that the restrictions will be eased at the appointed time, and that he currently cannot imagine an end to the restrictions, according to Deutsche Welle.
1,129 deaths, the highest daily death toll to date, were reported in Germany on Wednesday, according to the Robert Koch Institute.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn.
Photo: MICHAEL SOHN
Norway
On Sunday evening, the Norwegian government introduced new restrictions in the country, including a two-week national total ban on serving alcohol, a recommendation not to invite someone who doesn’t live in the same household, and a five-person limit for gatherings. private outside the home.
“Unfortunately, we see several signs that a new wave of infection is on the way, and we have not yet seen the full effect of the Christmas and New Year celebrations, where many have gathered,” Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said at the Sunday press conference.
Erna Solberg on Sunday.
Photo: Fredrik Hagen / TT
Throughout the pandemic, Norway has had a lower spread of infection than much of Europe. But the country has seen a spike in the fall and December 30 saw the country’s highest daily infection rate so far – 732 cases nationwide, according to the Worldometer.
– We have had a growing trend of infection in recent weeks, with several outbreaks in many municipalities. Also, we have been through the Christmas celebrations and fear the importation of mutated viruses from the UK. This makes it necessary to toughen up before losing control, Espen Rostrup Nakstad, deputy director of the Norwegian Directorate of Health and Social Affairs, told Dagbladet on Sunday.
According to Espen Rostrup Nakstad, Norway’s R number is 1.3.
– This means that the pandemic is expected to grow significantly in Norway, he told the newspaper.
Denmark
Pressure on healthcare is strong in Denmark, as a result of covid-19. On Sunday, 937 covid patients were treated in hospitals in Denmark, which is slightly less than the day before, when the number was the highest so far in the country during the pandemic and 944 received hospital care. Of these, 136 are receiving intensive care and 87 are on a respirator, according to Danish radio.
In addition, 1,170 new cases of covid-19 were confirmed and 29 deaths were reported.
Denmark had its first spike of infection in the spring, but then managed to control the spread of infection relatively quickly. However, during the late summer and fall, the number of confirmed cases has gradually increased.
Before Christmas, the Danish capital region and the Zeeland region turned to the southern region of Denmark for help in handling the pressure of care. Cancer patients have now been transferred to southern Denmark for timely care. Staff in their home regions have relocated to deal with the large number of covids.
Dorte Crüger, medical director in the capital region, believes that the number of hospital admissions has stagnated and that many more patients will not need to be relocated.
– We think we can stay at this level for a few weeks, and then hopefully it will drop so that we can treat our cancer patients ourselves. That’s what we want the most, so that people don’t have to travel so far, he says, on Danish radio.
Italy
Ski resorts in Italy will not open as planned on January 7. Not before 18, economically important ski resorts can start over, the country’s Health Ministry announced, according to Reuters.
In the spring, Italy was one of the most affected countries in the world, and even in autumn, the country experienced a wave of contagion that meant many serious illnesses and deaths. Since mid-November, the daily infection rate has fallen from around 40,000 to just over 20,000, but in recent days there has been an increasing trend and hundreds of people continue to die every day in the country.
