Covid-19: in Europe, reconfinements in dispersed order

On the streets of Salzburg, Austria on October 21, 2020. REUTERS / Leonhard Foeger

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European countries are taking increasingly strict measures to try to contain the new outbreak of Covid-19, and are moving towards a new containment of their populations.

Austria and England announced on Saturday a new confinement for a month, while Portugal will be partially reconfined.

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• Austria, curfew and closed bars

Austria

is taking very restrictive measures to deal with the second wave that is hitting hard this country of less than 9 million inhabitants, which on Saturday 31 October recorded more than 5,300 new coronavirus infections.

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced this Saturday what he himself calls a "second confinement".

From next Tuesday at midnight, bars and restaurants but also cultural and sporting institutions will therefore have to close, specifies our correspondent in Vienna,

.

The hotels will no longer be able to accommodate tourists but only business customers.

On the other hand, shops and hairdressers will be able to remain open, as will schools which welcome pupils up to the age of 14.

For others, distance education will be the rule.

Austrians will not be able to leave their homes between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., except for certain specific reasons, such as professional reasons.

• England is reconfiguring itself, but schools remain open

England will reconfine from Thursday until December 2.

Cafes, pubs and restaurants will display closed doors unless they offer take-out or delivery.

Residents are called to work from home and only have to leave their homes for specific reasons such as exercising, going to a medical appointment or shopping for essential groceries.

The schools will remain open.

Wales' more than three million people are the first Britons to be re-confined on October 23, at least until November 9.

Unlike the lockdown last spring, schools remain open.

On October 22, Ireland was

to reconfine its entire population.

The five million Irish are under house arrest for six weeks, but schools remain open.

Non-essential businesses are closed and Irish people can only leave their homes to exercise within a three-mile radius.

• In Belgium, “

  non-essential

  ”

  shops

  closed

Belgium has announced " 

 " for six weeks for its 11.5 million inhabitants.

The measures that will come into force on Monday include in particular the closure of "non-essential" businesses, the limitation of home invitations to one person and, for businesses, the obligation of telework where it is possible.

• In Spain, almost all of the cordoned regions

A closure has been decreed by almost all of the Spanish regions in order to limit travel before the weekend of All Saints, in the hope of avoiding a new confinement.

With the exception of Extremadura, which is sparsely populated, all the regions of mainland Spain have closed their territory or, as in Galicia, that of certain municipalities, in order to limit travel.

The majority of these closures will last two weeks.

In Madrid, however, the measure will only apply this weekend and the next, both extended.

• Reconfinement in France

France

since Friday.

This confinement, which must last

until December 1, is not quite identical to the very strict one experienced in the spring for two months.

Nurseries, schools, colleges and high schools remain open with a reinforced health protocol.

You can only " 

 " for a maximum of one hour and within a radius of one kilometer from your home.

The use of teleworking becomes the rule, but the work on site can continue.

“Non-essential” businesses are closed again, as are theaters and theaters.

• Portugal is partially reconfiguring

Portugal will be subject from Wednesday to a new partial confinement, which will affect around 70% of its population and will be less strict than in the spring.

The measures already in force for ten days in three municipalities in the north of the country will be extended from next Wednesday to 121 municipalities out of a total of 308. Some 7.1 million inhabitants, representing 70%, of the Portuguese population are concerned.

The people concerned will be called upon to respect a " 

 ", but will be able to leave their residence to go to work, if telework is impossible, or to take their children to school.

Shops will have to close no later than 10 p.m. and businesses will have to institute staggered working hours.

• In Greece, a nighttime curfew

Authorities announced partial containment from Tuesday, with a nighttime curfew and the month-long closure of bars, restaurants and gyms in Athens and other cities across the country.

Traffic will be prohibited after midnight and until 5 a.m.

Schools and retail stores will remain open.

• Germany does not go to reconfinement

On October 28, the German authorities also announced a new turn of the screw to curb the epidemic, but without going as far as re-containment.

Citizens are advised to avoid unnecessary travel and tourist stays at the hotel will be prohibited from Monday.

Restaurants, bars, sports, cultural and leisure facilities will be closed.

Schools will remain open, as will all stores, with stricter rules.

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• Coronavirus

• Austria

• UK

• France

• Portugal

• Germany

• Belgium

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