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Paris has seen hundreds of miles of traffic jams as people tried to leave the city before France’s new national lockdown.
Crowded scenes ensued on the roads and railways as the World Health Organization warned that Europe has once again become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
The region accounted for almost half of the 2.8 million new COVID-19 cases reported worldwide last week, the WHO said.
Paris is empty as it enters lockdown early on Friday morning
Virus-related deaths were also up 35% from the previous week, said European regional director Dr. Hans Kluge.
“Hospitalizations have risen to levels not seen since the spring,” he said Thursday.
Europe has now confirmed more than 10 million coronavirus cases and 250,000 deaths since the beginning of the crisis, he added.
“We are at the epicenter of this pandemic once again. At the risk of sounding alarmist, I must express our real concern,” Dr. Kluge said in a statement.
France the confinement will last a month, with Germany announcing that it will bring similar measures.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country is “immersed in the second wave”, while President Emmanuel Macron said France has been “dominated” by a second phase of the virus.
Germany reports around 15,000 new cases a day, and Macron says France’s daily infection rate is between 40,000 and 50,000.
Paris is empty as it enters lockdown early on Friday morning
Within Europe, figures show that coronavirus cases are growing the fastest in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and the Czech Republic.
Spain has voted to extend its state of emergency until May and the regions of Catalonia and La Rioja have closed bars and restaurants.
But the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, criticized the blocking restrictions in the Lombardy region, which together with southern Campania has become the epicenter of Italysecond wave.
Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO European Regional Director
Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Thursday, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen warned of the dangers of “crown fatigue.”
She said: “This time we have two enemies. The coronavirus itself and corona fatigue – that’s the growing weariness when it comes to precautionary measures.”
