Paris (AFP)
Faced with the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic, European countries further tightened their protection measures on Wednesday, in France in particular where several large cities including Paris, or nearly 20 million inhabitants, will be subject from Saturday to a nighttime curfew.
Strong restrictions were also put in place in Northern Ireland, Catalonia and the Netherlands.
"We must react" to Covid-19 because "the situation is worrying" with the "second wave" of contamination that has arrived, said President Emmanuel Macron in a television interview.
Also, from Saturday at midnight, the inhabitants of Paris and its region, as well as eight other large metropolises including Aix-Marseille (south) and Lyon (center-east), will have to stay at home from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Restaurants, bars, theaters and cinema will therefore have to close.
Covid-10 indicators continue to worsen Wednesday in France with more than 100 deaths over 24 hours, bringing the total toll since the start of the epidemic to at least 33,037 people.
And hospital pressure continues to increase.
The caregivers are "very tired" and there are "no beds (resuscitation, editor's note) in reserve", underlined Mr. Macron.
- "This is going to hurt" -
Elsewhere in Europe, Northern Ireland has announced the most restrictive measures in the UK for a month, and pressure is mounting on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take similar decisions in England.
Pubs and restaurants will have to close from Friday, school holidays will be extended to two weeks, businesses will no longer be able to sell alcohol from 8:00 p.m. and gatherings of more than 15 people, apart from authorized sporting events, will be prohibited. .
Northern Ireland faces "a very worrying increase in the number of cases and hospitalizations", said Prime Minister Arlene Foster, with 6,286 new cases in the past seven days.
Bars and restaurants will also close for 15 days in Catalonia.
The announcement of this drastic measure in the northeastern region of Spain comes after the partial closure of Madrid and other restrictions taken in Andalusia, Navarre or Galicia to combat the rise in contamination in Spain, where the pandemic has killed more than 33,000 people.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel also wants to impose new restrictions, including an expanded obligation to wear a mask, in the face of the continued rise in new cases.
Closing times for bars and restaurants should also be imposed when the incidence rate reaches 35 new daily infections per 100,000 people for seven consecutive days, according to a draft agreement negotiated on Wednesday by the Chancellor and the leaders of Germany's 16 regional states. .
Germany had 334,585 officially declared cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, with 5,132 new cases declared in 24 hours, the largest increase in six months, according to the Robert Koch health institute.
The Netherlands, hitherto less strict than their European neighbors, are setting up from Wednesday a "partial confinement", in the words of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, including in particular the closure of bars and restaurants.
In addition to the compulsory wearing of a mask in confined spaces for over 13s, the sale of alcohol is now prohibited from 8:00 p.m.
"It will hurt, but it is the only solution. We have to be stricter," said Mr Rutte.
- The Pope greets from afar -
In the Vatican, Pope Francis avoided close contact with the faithful during his public audience on Wednesday, greeting them from a distance and calling on them to be cautious to "end the pandemic".
"I would like, as I usually do, approach you and greet you, but (...) it is better to keep the distance", declared the Pope, who himself never wears mask during its public or private hearings.
Italy, where the pandemic has killed 36,000, announced new restrictions on Tuesday.
The decree, signed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for 30 days, prohibits bars and restaurants from serving non-seated customers after 9 p.m.
It also bans parties and celebrations outside and in closed places and limits the number of guests at home to six.
The pandemic has killed more than 1.087 million people worldwide since the end of December, according to an AFP report on Wednesday.
The United States has the most deaths (215,914), ahead of Brazil (150,998), India (110,586), Mexico (84,420) and the United Kingdom (43,018).
According to a study published Wednesday, the first wave of the pandemic is responsible on average for 20% more deaths, directly and indirectly, than the official figures for about twenty Western countries.
Nineteen European nations, Australia and New Zealand recorded a total of "around 206,000 more deaths than expected if the Covid-19 pandemic had not occurred" between mid-February and the end of May, reported this mathematical modeling study, published in the journal Nature Medicine.
burs-slb-cls / fjb
© 2020 AFP