A couple on the streets of Amsterdam, October 14, 2020, the Netherlands.
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Paulo Amorim / Sipa USA / SIPA
Curfew in France, confinement in Ireland and Wales, contamination records in Germany… The situation is "serious" in Europe, the new epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hailed for its good management of the first epidemic wave in the spring, Germany (nearly 9,900 dead) recorded nearly 11,300 new cases in 24 hours, a record.
“The situation has become very serious overall,” said Thursday Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute for Public Health Surveillance (RKI), while the Minister of Health Jens Spahn is infected.
The authorities have issued assembly bans, a southern Alpine canton is almost confined and the mask compulsory in certain streets of Berlin.
The toughest measures in Ireland
In Ireland, to hope to "celebrate Christmas properly", according to Prime Minister Micheal Martin, the toughest measures in Europe came into force on Wednesday at midnight: the entire population is re-confined for six weeks, non-essential shops closed, but schools will remain open.
Wales will in turn be confined on Friday for two weeks.
In the rest of the United Kingdom, the most bereaved country in Europe (44,158 dead), more or less severe restrictions affect 28 million English people, including London, and pubs and restaurants are closed in Northern Ireland.
In France, the government extended the nighttime curfew on Thursday (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.), which will affect from Saturday 46 million people in Paris and in the main cities, i.e. two-thirds of the population, to six weeks.
"The coming weeks will be hard and our hospital services will be strained," Prime Minister Jean Castex warned.
"The whole of Europe is in the process of blazing", launched the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.
The head of Belgian diplomacy in intensive care
The Czech Republic, which has by far the highest number of new cases and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants over the last two weeks, sets up partial containment on Thursday until November 3: travel restrictions and contacts, closures of all stores and non-essential services.
In the Slovakian neighbor, where contaminations are also on the rise, the Prime Minister announced on Thursday the establishment of a partial curfew from 1 am to 5 am from Saturday.
During the day, travel will be restricted to certain special cases.
Belgium has opted for a nighttime curfew and the closure of cafes and restaurants for a month, the authorities speaking of a situation "much worse" than in the spring.
Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès is in intensive care.
Bulgaria "needs help"
In northern Italy, Lombardy, economic lung and the most affected region of the country, imposes a night curfew from Thursday for three weeks.
Campania, in the south, will follow on Friday.
In Greece, the two main cities, Athens and Thessaloniki, will also be subject to a nighttime curfew from Saturday.
The poorest country in the EU, Bulgaria decided on Thursday to make the mask compulsory in busy outdoor spaces.
The Minister of Health, Kostadin Anguelov, was alarmed by the situation of the medical staff: “They are all tired, a large part of them are contaminated, sick, some are in intensive care.
We need help ".
The situation also continues to worsen in Spain (34,366 dead), which has become the first EU country, and the sixth in the world, to exceed one million cases of coronavirus.
The Spanish authorities urgently imposed new restrictions, with the partial closure of a dozen new cities, including Zaragoza, and certain regions.
Three municipalities re-defined in Portugal
Other European countries on Thursday broke contamination records: Denmark (+760 new cases, for 6.8 million inhabitants), Croatia (+1.563) whose government is worried about a large number of " micro-hearths ”, Bosnia (+999)… Record of contaminations also in Portugal where three municipalities in the North, that is to say 150,000 people, will have to be completely reconfigured this Friday, and travel between municipalities will be prohibited throughout the country for All Saints' Day, from October 30 to November 3.
Slovenia announced Thursday a week of new restrictions from Saturday: shopping centers, restaurants and hotels in particular will be closed and only a third of public transport will operate.
"The measures will be similar to those in force in the spring," Prime Minister Janez Jansa told reporters.
The continent is facing a rapid rise in the epidemic, which surpassed eight million cases and 256,000 deaths on Thursday.
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