France is braced for curfews in its big cities and Germany could soon introduce tough restrictions, as governments across Europe struggle to contain record numbers of Covid-19 infections.
Local media reported that Emmanuel Macron, the French president, would announce in an address to the nation on Wednesday night a ban on people leaving home after 8 or 10pm in the country’s largest and worst-affected cities, including Paris.
With new infections currently among the highest in continental Europe, Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse and Lille are among nine cities on maximum alert, meaning bars and gyms are closed and restaurants may open only under strict conditions.
But while the Élysée has pledged to do all in its power to avoid a new nationwide lockdown, sources said nothing else was off the table, including a return to home working, selected business closures, and restrictions on public transport.
On Tuesday night French health authorities reported 12,993 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, up on Monday’s 8,505 but significantly down from Saturday’s record tally of 26,896 and Sunday’s 16,101.
In Germany, Angela Merkel hosted the premiers of Germany’s 16 federal states in Berlin after the country’s disease control agency on Wednesday reported 5,132 confirmed infections in the past 24 hours, a level not seen since 11 April.
The chancellor is reportedly seeking tougher new rules including requiring masks to be worn in more places and strictly limiting numbers at private events once an area records 35 new infections per 100,000 people over seven days. The restrictions currently kick in when the infection rate hits 50 per 100,000.
Merkel has in recent days repeatedly voiced alarm about contagion growing again, urging the country not to squander its early success in keeping numbers manageable. However, she faces stiff resistance from states where infection levels are lower, amid growing criticism over the different rules applied by different states.
Italy reported 7,332 new cases in 24 hours on Wednesday, exceeding its previous high of 6,557 on 21 March, before widespread testing was available. There were 43 fatalities.
A government health adviser said new cases could eclipse 16,000 a day by November. Meanwhile, Carlo Palermo, the head of a doctors’ union, warned that if the daily rate reached the same level as in France, the country’s hospitals would not be able to cope for longer than two months.
Masks became mandatory outdoors in Italy last week and are now advised indoors when families are together or with guests, who should be limited to six. Restaurants and bars must now close at midnight. Cases have leapt since economic activity resumed after the summer holidays, with many experts blaming packed public transport.
The Netherlands goes into partial lockdown from 10pm on Wednesday to curb a surge in cases, with all bars, cafes and restaurants to close. For months the Dutch government took a more relaxed line than its European neighbours, but it has scrambled to control the second wave of the disease.
Belgium’s Covid crisis centre said intensive care units would reach capacity by mid-November if new cases continued to increase at the current rate, as the country registered 7,360 new cases and an 80% rise in hospitalisations over the past week.
Last week the government introduced a series of new restrictions including local curfews, closing bars in Brussels for at least a month and limiting indoor sports activities. Authorities have urged residents to limit social encounters.
The Catalan government said on Wednesday that all bars and restaurants in the region would be limited to takeaway and delivery service for two weeks from Thursday. Shops and markets will operate at 30% capacity and gyms, cinemas and theatres at 50%, and children’s play areas will close at 8pm.
Rolling weekly case totals in the autonomous Spanish region have risen from 7,000 to 11,000 over the course of a few days. “We need a huge collective effort built on individual efforts to change our day-to-day habits,” said the acting regional president, Pere Aragonès.
Tougher measures will be adopted in Portugal, too, from Thursday, including stricter limits on gatherings and heavier penalties for rule-breaking establishments. Gatherings will be limited to five people, with weddings and baptisms allowed 50 guests but university parties banned.
A day before an emergency national “crisis summit” to determine how a second lockdown can be avoided, Switzerland recorded its highest single-day increase in infections, with 2,823 new cases recorded on Wednesday – nearly double the figure for the day before.
Poland reported a record 6,526 new infections and 116 deaths, and doctors said the healthcare system was becoming overloaded. The country is ramping up training for nurses and could consider setting up military field hospitals for Covid patients, officials said.
Authorities in Croatia reported a new daily record of 748 new infections, after earlier this week making masks obligatory indoors in public places and ordering bars and restaurants to restrict customer numbers and close at midnight.
Czech hospitals are converting general wards into Covid units and cancelling non-urgent procedures as the number of hospitalisations reaches six times the peak seen during the first wave of the virus.
The EU has approved a traffic light information system for travel within the bloc in an effort to provide clarity for travellers. The European council adopted the common criteria on Tuesday, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) will publish a weekly map of EU countries coloured green, orange or red according to their infection rate.
The information is available on the Re-Open EU website, where users can search for specific countries to see whether borders are open, and what restrictions may be in place, as well as links to the country’s epidemiological information.
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