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The prime ministers of France and the Netherlands have issued harsh warnings about their coronavirus figures, while in Spain, the western European country most affected by the virus, authorities in Madrid have rejected the central government’s call for the closure of the capital.
Santé Publique France, the French public health authority, recorded a record 16,096 new infections in the previous 24 hours on Thursday night.
In Paris, declared a “heightened alert” zone on Wednesday, regional hospital authorities warned that 20% of surgical operations should be postponed from this weekend because hospitals were “approaching saturation” with coronavirus cases.
On Thursday, French Prime Minister Jean Castex appeared on television to warn the country that the situation was deteriorating and the population should adhere to health and protection measures to avoid a return to the worst days of the epidemic in the spring.
In its weekly report, Santé Publique France said that in week 38, from September 14 to 20, there was a 25% increase in new deaths attributed to Covid-19 in hospitals and nursing homes. The number of new hospital admissions increased by 34% and new intensive care admissions by 40%.
In mainland France, 45 departments are above the number of confirmed cases of 50 per 100,000 inhabitants and 16 are above 100 / 100,000. In Paris, the number of confirmed infections reached 217 / 100,000.
There was an increase in the virus among the 65+ age group, while an examination of the Covid-19 groups showed that the majority were in workplaces, followed by schools and universities and public and private meetings and events.
All the indicators in the report showed that the curves rose again.
Despite the worsening of the situation, the government’s decision to order the closure of bars and restaurants in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, considered a “maximum alert” area, since Saturday continues to draw the ire of local officials, owners of bars and restaurants. .
Bars in Paris and other big cities where the virus circulates and hospitals are under increasing pressure, they have been ordered to close at 10 pm starting Monday.
The start of the French Open tennis tournament will be brought forward on Sunday, but the number of spectators will be limited to 1,000, in accordance with Covid rules on other sporting events and public gatherings.
The number of deaths in France attributed to Covid-19 is now 31,511, an increase from 52 in the previous 24 hours, according to official figures.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also raised the alarm for a second wave of infections in the Netherlands. Rutte spoke after another daily case record, which increased by 2,777 in the past 24 hours.
“The figures look frankly terrible … In short, the situation is very worrying and will force us to take additional measures,” he told reporters at a weekly press conference. He hopes to announce the measures next week.
In Spain, which has already registered almost 720,000 cases, there has been more disunity and contradictory messages from the central government and the regional government of Madrid.
Despite committing to work together to improve the dire situation in and around the capital, national and regional governments are in favor of different strategies to address the increase in Madrid, which accounts for around a third of all cases and deaths in Spain.
On Friday, the regional government rejected the central government’s calls for a return to the city-wide blockade, instead announcing that eight other areas in the region would be put into the partial blockade that is already in effect in 37 zones.
When the order takes effect next Monday, more than a million people in the region will only be able to enter and leave their home areas for work, educational, legal or medical reasons. Public and private gatherings have been limited to six people and parks closed. The restrictions are being applied, among other considerations, to areas where there are more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
But in a parallel press conference, Spain’s health minister urged more drastic measures, saying cities with more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents should be blocked. On Friday night, the Community of Madrid had registered 721.73 cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the previous fortnight.
The minister, Salvador Illa, also recommended the end of all unnecessary movement through the city, the prohibition of eating and drinking at the counters of bars and restaurants and that the capacity on the outdoor terraces be reduced to 50%.
On Thursday, Illa warned that “difficult weeks” are ahead for Madrid and that a concerted effort is needed to halt the spread of the virus in the worst affected region of Spain. Spain has registered 716,481 cases of Covid to date – 132,749 of them diagnosed in the last two weeks – and 31,232 deaths.
In an article published in The Lancet this week, a team of experts compared the blocking exit strategies of nine different countries and found that Spain, like the United Kingdom, had struggled to implement an effective “search, test , tracking, isolation and support “. before lockdown restrictions were relaxed during the summer.
