Covid-19: Europe is preparing long-term measures despite the dispute
In Germany, nearly a thousand anti-masks marched Saturday in Frankfurt at the call of a collective "Free thinker".
Police used water cannons to disperse counter demonstrators.
Boris Roessler / dpa via AP
Text by: RFI Follow
6 min
The restrictions to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic could last for several months in European countries.
From Germany to France, governments are preparing for long-term measures despite protest movements.
Publicity
Read more
Still 4 to 5 months of restrictions in Germany to deal with the Covid pandemic, it was the German Minister of the Economy who announced it this Sunday.
"
The number of contaminations is still far too high, much higher even than two weeks ago,
" Peter Altmaier told the press on the eve of a government meeting on Monday to assess the situation in the various Länder / regions.
The measures provide for the closure for at least one month of a whole series of establishments, in gastronomy, leisure, sport and culture.
In particular, calls to close schools or to conduct more online courses have increased.
On Saturday several
“anti-mask
”
demonstrations
took place in the country, in Frankfurt the police used water cannons to disperse anti-demonstrators.
Protests which are mounting in various European countries, and which range from the divergent opinions of recognized doctors, sociologists or economists, to the most extreme conspiracy theories.
For political scientist Ulrike Guérot, a specialist in European issues, more debate and criticism at the highest level is needed in the choice of responses to the health crisis.
We can see that the debate is a little less monolithic if you look at doctors or political scientists ...
Ulrike Guérot, political scientist, specialist in European issues
Juliette Gheerbrant
Protests against restrictions in France
In France, where 44,246 have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, Prime Minister
Jean Castex also warned
that he would have to “
live with the virus over the long term
”, and that he was working on "
rules
" for the country until a vaccine arrived.
Several hundred demonstrators gathered Saturday in Marseille (south-eastern France) and 1,500 people in Nice (south-east) to protest against the restrictions.
In the Nice procession, we could read on signs: “
Sacrificed culture
” or “
Couvre-feu?
We are not at war
”.
On Sunday, hundreds of Catholics gathered in several cities in France, like the previous weekend and despite some bans, to demand the lifting of the ban on masses in public.
►
To read also: Confinement in France: Catholics put the government under pressure
Elsewhere in Europe, authorities almost everywhere dismiss the idea of relaxing restrictions, and tighten them in places.
In Portugal, a weekend curfew came into effect on Saturday for 70% of the population.
Next week, 80% of the population will be affected.
Saturday 500 demonstrators had also braved the restrictions in Lisbon for a "march for freedom".
Greece will close its primary schools and nurseries.
It has also banned for the coming days any gathering of more than three people.
In
Austria
, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that from Tuesday and until December 6, would be "
established a containment like that of spring
" with the exits restricted to the maximum and the closure of schools and non-essential stores.
Our selection on the coronavirus
•
Listen to our
Coronavirus Info
column
•
Our
explanations
:
→
What are the persistent symptoms of Covid-19?
→
Young people and Covid-19
: health authorities concerned
→
Immunity to Covid-19 would be short-lived
→
Promising results for the vaccine against the coronavirus
•
How to make a mask and use it well
•
See also the
records
of
RFI Knowledge
on Covid-19
→
Birth of a pandemic
→
Daily proof
→
The history of epidemics
→
Science facing Covid-19
→
The geopolitical consequences
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Coronavirus
France
Germany
On the same subject
Covid-19 in Europe: the immediate economic damage and the remedies become clearer
Covid-19: the EU mobilizes 220 million euros for the transfer of patients between countries
Covid-19: Europe strengthens its system to deal with a second wave