A renewed coronavirus outbreak has struck wide swaths of Europe, forcing leaders to reinstate restrictions aimed at stopping a second wave.
France and Germany have imposed restrictions this week nearly as strict as those enacted in the spring. French President Emmanuel Macron announced another nationwide shutdown that will begin on Thursday and be in effect through at least Dec. 1. Nonessential businesses will be forced to close, while schools and supermarkets will remain open.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reinstated pandemic restrictions similar to those in France. Bars and restaurants will close, while essential businesses and schools will remain open.
This second round of national shutdowns is part of the European Union’s effort to avoid a redux of the spring, when hospitals were strained by the number of COVID-19 patients.
“Within weeks, we will reach the limits of our health system,” Merkel warned at a Wednesday news conference after meeting with Germany’s 16 governors to discuss restrictions. “It is completely clear that we must act, and act now, to prevent a national health crisis.”
Britain, meanwhile, has imposed localized restrictions depending on infection and hospitalization rates in each area of the country. Everyone in England is subject to bans on gatherings over six people, and pubs are required to close by 10 p.m. However, a growing number of areas have been placed under high alert with more stringent restrictions, including bans on gatherings of people living in separate households.
Over 40 cities throughout 16 counties in England have been added to the list of those under high alert since the tiered system was introduced on Oct. 12.
The United Kingdom has confirmed more deaths due to COVID-19 than any other European country, with nearly 46,000. Health authorities reported 280 new deaths on Thursday after 310 were confirmed Wednesday and 367 were confirmed on Tuesday. Still, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signaled that he will not implement uniform shutdown measures similar to France and Germany despite pressure from the opposing Labour Party.
The Spanish government has similarly stopped short of issuing a blanket lockdown as it did in the spring. With the exception of the national 15-day curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., regional governments have the legal authority to take the lockdown measures they consider necessary, such as closing city limits or even the borders of an entire region. Already, 11 regions and the North African cities of Ceuta and Melilla have announced that they will close their borders, meaning that people will not be able to enter or leave the affected regions unless they are going to work or seeking medical attention.
Spain’s Congress agreed on Thursday to extend the state of alarm declared last Sunday for another six months — until May 2021. Health Minister Salvador Illa defended the extension, telling members of the main opposition party that “the next few weeks are going to be really hard.”
Spain’s health ministry reported on Thursday that the coronavirus tally climbed by a record 23,580 cases, bringing the total to 1,136,503 infections. The death toll rose by 173 to 35,639 on Thursday.
Sweden, the only European country to never impose a lockdown, registered 2,820 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the highest since the pandemic began and the third record number in a matter of days, Reuters reported Thursday. The government has recommended that several regions, including Sweden’s biggest cities of Stockholm and Gothenburg, be placed under temporary lockdown. Government officials have not, however, mandated cities to shut down.
To date, 6,694,006 cases and 215,116 deaths have been confirmed in the European Union and the U.K.
