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France recorded 508 new deaths on Monday, as the country entered its third week with restaurants, shops, cinemas and other entertainment venues banned. That includes two weeks in October when bars and restaurants were forced to close at 9 p.m.
After this month of severe restrictions, including outdoor mouth protection requirements, a slowdown is beginning to be felt in the second wave.
“We are in a phase where the pandemic is losing steam, although the spread of the infection remains high,” Olivier Verán told French news channel BFM.
In French hospitals, however, the situation remains dire, with around 33,500 people treated for covid-19. That’s 1,500 more than at the height of the epidemic this spring.
What has changed is fthat the number of new registered cases has begun to decrease, or at least to stabilize. It’s also noticeable in hospitals, where the number of newly admitted COVID-19 patients was 2,065 on Monday, compared with 2,670 on Monday of the previous week.
At the same time, many business and small business owners in France are warning that they could go bankrupt if they are not allowed to stay open in the Christmas trade, despite the special support promised by the government. Right-wing extremist Marine Le Pen is among the opponents demanding that small shops be allowed to open.
The French government is discussing going to the meeting of merchants and launching a “downsizing”, but the Minister of Health, See, does not want to promise anything.
– What we see now does not mean that we have defeated the virus, warns Verán, who believes that the epidemic may accelerate again if the restrictions are eased too quickly.
It is not yet certain whether it is really those restrictions (and if so which ones) or something else that has led to the slowdown. But even in Spain the statistics are beginning to slow down.
There, the regional government of Catalonia took over on Tuesday, the decision to begin phasing out the restrictions from Monday next week. Then restaurants and cafes can be open again until 5 p.m., with a maximum of 30 percent of the seats in the room used.
Several other regions are considering doing the same, as the spread of the infection is currently declining throughout Spain, with the exception of Cantabria and Asturias.
Positive signals also come from Belgium, which with 14,600 deaths since the start of the pandemic has been hit hard per capita. On Monday, 4,659 new confirmed infections were reported in Belgium, a significant decrease compared to the nearly 24,000 recorded on October 30.
In countries like Italy and Poland, the situation is less clear. There were 504 deaths in Italy as of Monday, while the number of new cases dropped to 27,354, compared to 40,902 on Friday.
“We must be careful, but our analysts believe that the infection curve has stabilized,” said Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza.
There are some ambiguities still in the statistics. Rapid tests now sold in pharmacies in many countries, for example, carry the risk that new cases will not be properly registered.
In several countries, development also continues in the wrong direction. In Scotland, stricter restrictions were announced in several places on Tuesday. At the same time, Germany’s Angela Merkel said the danger was far from over.
– Infection rates no longer increase exponentially, but they are too high. Therefore, we must further reduce our contacts between us, said the German chancellor.
Read more:
Curfews and school closures: this is how European countries are dealing with the further spread of the infection
