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Deaths from coronavirus almost doubled in Italy today and at least nine European nations recorded a record of new cases.
Financial markets fell on Thursday as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland posted their highest daily records of infections.
Increased testing capabilities mean that it is impossible to compare these figures with the first wave of spring, but the continent is seeing an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
Italy recorded another 83 deaths, an increase of nearly double from Wednesday’s 43 deaths, though still far less than at the height of the pandemic, when a daily peak of more than 900 deaths was reached.
Civil protection personnel prepare field hospital beds for potential COVID-19 patients in Turin, Italy, on Thursday
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland recorded their highest number of daily infections on Thursday.
Deaths from the virus have also started to rise, although they are still well below their first wave peak, as better tests uncover milder cases and better treatment improves survival rates.
Coronavirus cases have risen across Europe and are now above the peak of the first wave in most countries. The Netherlands and the Czech Republic have become the continent’s new infection hotspots, with lockdown-free Germany, Italy and Sweden doing better
Germany’s main index, the DAX, fell well below two percent on Thursday.
The CAC 40 in Paris was rocked by developments on the continent today
London’s FTSE 100 index took a similar hit on Thursday amid rising coronavirus infections
Germany, which recorded a record 6,638 cases, reported 33 new deaths on Thursday, three times the number recorded a week ago, though still fewer than its European neighbors.
France has reported more than 100 deaths per day on average this week, the UK 110 and Spain 160.
Major European stock indexes fell well below 2 percent on fear of what the new locks would bring.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany’s 16 state governors, who are responsible for imposing and lifting the restrictions, agreed on Wednesday night to toughen mask-wearing rules, make bars close early and limit the number of people who can meet in areas where infection rates are high. But those decisions “will probably not be enough,” Merkel chief of staff Helge Braun told ARD television.
“We must stop this exponential increase, the faster the better,” Merkel said, noting that neighboring European countries are having to take “very drastic measures.”
This week the Netherlands has closed bars and restaurants, and the Czech Republic has closed schools.
The Czech Health Ministry confirmed more than 9,500 new virus cases on Wednesday, more than 900 more than the previous record for days.
The government announced Thursday that the military will install a virus hospital at the Prague exhibition center.
Angela Merkel has announced new restrictions in places where infections are above 35 per 100,000 and stricter rules in places above 50 infections per 100,000
The Czech Republic has the highest infection rates in Europe, with comparable figures in the worst affected regions of Great Britain, France and Spain.
“We have to create additional capacity as soon as possible,” said Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. ‘We do not have time. The forecast is not good. ‘
The governor of the German state of Bavaria said his region received a request to treat Czech patients with COVID-19.
In France, which reported more than 22,000 new infections on Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron placed 18 million residents in nine regions, including Paris, under a curfew at 9 p.m. starting Saturday.
France will deploy 12,000 police officers to enforce the curfew and will spend an additional € 1 billion ($ 1.2 billion) to help businesses affected by the new restrictions.
“Our compatriots thought that this health crisis was behind us,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said. “But we cannot go back to living normally while the virus is here.”
Daily cases in the Czech Republic hit a record 9,544 today after the country’s relative success in the spring gave way to a second massive wave in the fall.
The Czech Republic has registered 66 new deaths today and, unlike most of Western Europe, the daily death rate is higher than during the first wave of the pandemic.
Just as the Macron government addresses the resurgence of infections, French police on Thursday searched the homes of a former prime minister, current and former health ministers and other senior officials in an investigation into the government’s response to the pandemic.
It was sparked by dozens of complaints in recent months, particularly over a shortage of masks and other gear.
Aurelien Rousseau, director of the Paris region’s public health agency, said that nearly half of its intensive care beds are now occupied by coronavirus patients, with other hospital beds filling up quickly as well.
“It’s kind of a spring tide that affects everyone simultaneously,” Rousseau said. “We had a blind spot in our follow-up policies. It was the private sphere, the festive events.
Poland registered a record of almost 9,000 new cases on Thursday. Masks have been required outdoors since Saturday and strict limits have been placed on the size of gatherings.
Portugal took steps to restrict social gatherings to a maximum of five people, as it prepares to make masks mandatory outdoors and to impose fines on those who break the rules.
Even Sweden, which has taken a much-debated approach of keeping large sections of society open, raised the possibility of stricter restrictions.
“Too many are not following the rules,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said. “If there is no correction here, we must take more drastic measures.” He did not elaborate.
In Germany, the outspoken governor of Bavaria, Markus Soeder, stressed the importance of acting now, arguing that “everything that comes later will cost more.”
“I will even go so far as to say that the prosperity of Europe is at stake,” he said.
