In Germany the virus is scary, the Netherlands towards mini lockdown and generalized smart working

• Covid: new record of infections, over 50,000 cases in Germany

• Germany, Pfizer vaccine recommended for under-30s

• Covid, in Germany 40,000 cases in 24 hours.

  Berlin: dramatic figures

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November 12, 2021 The virus continues to run in Europe: the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Romania are under special surveillance. And our scientists also look at the numbers of these countries with concern because in general the European scenarios are a harbinger of similar trends in Italy too.

Coronavirus infections in Germany continue to grow: the Robert Koch Institut, the national epidemiological center, reported 48,640 new infections in 24 hours. With 11,500 more cases than last Friday, the figure represents the fifth consecutive daily increase in the weekly incidence of contagion, which grew to 263.7 infections per 100 inhabitants over seven days. Instead, there are 191 victims in the 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths in Germany to 97,389.

According to the Rki figures, there are considerable differences in the pandemic curve of the different Laender: in Saxony the incidence has in fact jumped to 569, in Thuringia to 491.3 and in Bavaria to 454.9. As pointed out by the Koch Institut, in all three of these Laenders the vaccination rate is significantly lower than the national average. Meanwhile, several hospitals have made it known that in order to address the increase in employment in intensive care units, it was decided to postpone the programmable operations of other patients. It is also the Rki that points out that precisely in Saxony and Thuringia the hospitalization rate is higher than the national one, reaching 16 hospitalizations per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days against 4.65 in Germany as a whole.

Worrying numbers also in France: The incidence rate of Covid cases in France increased by 44% in the first week of November: this was announced by the French health authorities, thus confirming the worsening of the epidemiological situation in the country. There is an "acceleration of the circulation of Sars-Cov-2 in the metropolitan area with a strong progression of the incidence rate" in the week from 1 to 7 November, explains Sante 'Publique France in the latest bulletin, specifying that 90 new cases have been detected of Covid for every 100 thousand inhabitants. The previous week the figure was 62 new infections per 100 thousand inhabitants. The increase involved all age groups, but the most affected was that of those in their thirties, for which the increase in incidence was 53%.This is followed by the 40-49 age group, which recorded an increase of 52%, and the 20-29 year-olds, where the incidence rate rose by 51%.

Record of infections also in the Netherlands where the government should formalize today the entry into force from Saturday evening of a moderate lockdown, for a period of three weeks. Shops, restaurants and cafes would be required to close their doors from 7pm while the number of people who can be welcomed at home should not exceed four. The news agency Anp reports, specifying that telework will be generalized. Government members managed to reach an agreement after hours of discussions and Prime Minister Mark Rutte is expected to announce the new measures this afternoon. The new restrictions were motivated by an increase in both coronavirus cases and hospital admissions. Over 16,300 new cases were reported yesterday, a daily record,and the number of people in hospital wards has now reached 330, recalls the Dutch news site.

 Due to Covid, "a village disappears every day in Romania". A phrase that dramatically portrays the apocalyptic situation that the country of south-eastern Europe, as well as its neighboring Bulgaria, is currently going through. A sentence pronounced by those who are engaged on the front line and every day have before their eyes the devastating work of the new coronavirus, or the head of the hospital of the emergency services of the University Hospital of Bucharest, Catalin Cirstoiu. The specialist therefore asks: "What will happen in a week or a month? Will a larger village disappear? Or a city? Where will we stop?". It is a fact that Romania and Bulgaria are currently experiencing the highest daily death rates in the EU,due to the flop encountered so far by the vaccination campaign. The numbers in this case speak for themselves: in Bulgaria just 23% of the population completed the immunization cycle and in Romania 34%. At this point, the specialist continues, the health system is one step away from breaking point, with mortuary chambers increasingly clogged and where the funeral home workers, harnessed like the health workers who work in the ward, are struggling to dispose of a number disproportionate number of bodies, and all this due to "the lack of understanding by the population of the need to get vaccinated". While new infections have recently started to decline, Bulgaria reported the highest number of daily deaths on record this week.Its seven-day moving average of deaths per million population reached 22.8, compared to an EU average of 3.1. In Romania, the average daily death rate reached 23.7 per million last week and has since dropped to 21, according to data from OurWorldInData, even more than 30 times higher than in Portugal, France or Spain. In both countries, the vast majority of deaths occur among unvaccinated people. In Bulgaria, Ivan Poromanski, the head of Sofia's Pirogov hospital, told local television that nine out of ten patients in his intensive care unit have died and the death toll among those vaccinated has been "miniscule". In Romania, the Ministry of Health has specified, data in hand, that more than 90% of deaths concern unvaccinated subjects,and about 85% are over 60 years old.