Europe closes again to contain "Corona" and demonstrations condemning the tightening of restrictions

The European countries that have once again become the epicenter of the "Covid-19" epidemic are intensifying restrictions or closures, angering their citizens, who are increasingly expressing their impatience, as happened in Spain, where there are frequent confrontations with the security forces.

And in all parts of Europe, the number of additional injuries recorded an increase of 41% within a week, which is half of the cases recorded in the past seven days in the world.

This increase in cases may exhaust the hospital’s capacity and push governments to once again restrict the freedom of movement of their citizens and close entire sectors of the economy, especially culture and trade.

In the face of these restrictions, demonstrations took place on Saturday evening for the second consecutive night in several Spanish cities, followed by confrontations with the police and acts of sabotage and looting.

The biggest unrest occurred in Madrid, where many protesters chanted "Freedom!"

They set fire to garbage containers and set up roadblocks in the Gran Via, in the center of the capital, according to photos posted on social media.

Clashes also took place in the Italian capital on Saturday evening between the security forces and hundreds of demonstrators rejecting the new measures, after similar incidents a day earlier in Florence and other major cities in recent days.

And in France, where a closure was imposed for a month on Friday until December 1, owners of small stores that are considered non-essential and are therefore forced to close are increasingly angry, denouncing unfair competition by larger stores that are allowed to remain open or online shopping platforms such as Amazon.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced Sunday that the government may decide to close major stores "whose products are not considered essential."

In Britain, the country most affected by the epidemic in Europe with 46,555 deaths, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the re-closure of England from Thursday until the second of December, to limit the widespread spread of the new Corona virus, while Wales had previously announced the closure while Ireland adopts Northern partially closed.

According to British Minister Michael Gove on Sunday, the closure could be extended beyond this date, which worries the economic community.

The director general of the British Retail Consortium, Helen Dickinson, said the shutdown was a nightmare before Christmas.

In Austria, Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz announced a new lockdown from Tuesday to November.

This country, with a population of 8.8 million, has recorded more than five thousand daily infections, compared to a thousand in October, and 1,109 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak.

In Belgium, Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbrücke called on residents not to shop this Sunday on the eve of the six-week lockdown tightening.

Long queues were recorded on Saturday in some stores or commercial districts.

"These lines are dangerous, and this is exactly what we do not want to see," the minister said.

In Germany, which has also tightened measures to slow the spread of the virus, the world of culture will close its doors for several weeks.

Greece decided to impose a partial lockdown for a month in Athens and major cities in the country, starting Tuesday.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis explained that this aims, as is the case elsewhere, to "try to save the Christmas holidays."

In Italy, the government imposed measures in recent days that the media described as a near-closure, which included curfews in large areas, closing bars and restaurants, as well as closing sports halls, cinemas, and holding concerts.

European countries form the third region worst affected by the epidemic, with 10.46 million cases behind Latin America and the Caribbean (11.3 million cases) and Asia (10.57).

Around the world, more than 46 million people have contracted the disease, of whom about 1.2 million have died.

The United States recorded about 77,000 new injuries in the past 24 hours, a nationwide record of 94,000 injuries, according to the Johns Hopkins University census.

It is the country most affected in the world in the number of deaths as well as the number of injuries, with 230,556 deaths and 9,127,109 injuries.

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