Earlier this summer, much of Europe was successful in driving down COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalizations, enabling countries like Italy, France, and Spain to reopen well before parts of the U.S. But now, Europe COVID lockdowns are happening for the second time—with case numbers in some places eclipsing records from earlier this year.
Italy was the latest European country to announce such restrictions, which went into place Monday. Until November 24, bars and restaurants will now close by 6 p.m., and gyms, movie theaters, and public pools will close completely. The decree also encourages people to stay home, and to limit contacts to their immediate family, though no mandatory nationwide curfew has been put in place.
“We think we will suffer a bit this month but by gritting our teeth with these restrictions, we’ll be able to breathe again in December,” prime minister Giuseppe Conte told reporters at a Sunday press conference.
A reported 1,208 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care throughout Italy on Sunday, when the new lockdown began, which was more than on March 9 when Conte announced the country's first lockdown, reports Washington Post. That same day, October 26, a record daily total of 21,273 infections and 128 deaths were recorded. (Earlier in the summer, daily cases dropped as low as 200 per day.) These nationwide restrictions follow a series of regional curfews enacted days before, which sparked protests in both Naples and Rome.
In Spain, another former hotspot that flattened its curve with a three-month lockdown earlier this year, new restrictions were announced Saturday. A new state of emergency has been imposed, along with a national nightly curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., and gatherings of over six people are banned. Local authorities have been given free rein to restrict travel between regions.
These restrictions will be in place for 15 days, though Spain's prime minister Pedro Sánchez says he would ask parliament to extend the rules for six months if needed, warning of “tough months” ahead. More than one million cases have been reported in Spain, with 34,752 reported deaths as of Monday. New cases have increased by more than 50 percent over the past two weeks, bypassing daily case counts from April, according to The New York Times.
Cases continue to spike in neighboring countries as well. France, home to the fifth worst outbreak in the world, began locking down for a second time in late September, beginning with restaurant closures in the southern cities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, followed by two-week bar, gym, and pool closures in cities including Paris, announced in early October. The situation has yet to improve: This Saturday, the country announced more than 50,000 new infections, which was a new record for the fourth day in a row.
In the U.K., prime minister Boris Johnson (who contracted COVID-19 earlier this year) also announced a new wave of restrictions in late September, as infections began to rise. Pubs and restaurants were forced to close at 10 p.m. nightly, offices were closed once again, gatherings of more than six were banned, and fines were announced for anyone leaving home without a mask. These rules could last for as long as six months, Johnson says. On Sunday, nearly 20,000 new cases were reported.
Germany, lauded for how it handled COVID in the spring, has enacted two-week lockdowns in two Bavarian districts—Rottal-Inn and Berchtesgaden—over the past week, banning residents from leaving their homes without an approved reason following local spikes. Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she is eager to avoid a second nationwide lockdown, instead urging locals to minimize social activities with those outside their household. The country reported 8,685 cases on Monday, though Friday had over 14,000 new cases; in April, the peak daily case count was just over 6,000.
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October 27, 2020 at 02:40AM
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Europe COVID Lockdown: Multiple Countries Shut Down Again As Cases Spike - Condé Nast Traveler
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