Virus curbs tighten in Europe as global deaths top 1.3 mil
15 November, 2020
A swathe of new restrictions to curtail another wave of coronavirus infections were announced or came into force from Austria to Greece, Italy to Portugal on Saturday as the global death toll climbed above 1.3 million.
A lot more than 53 million have been infected worldwide by COVID-19, which is running rampant throughout America and Europe, forcing governments to take more drastic action regardless of the potential economic devastation.
Austria joined a growing trend announcing schools and non-essential shops would close from Tuesday, just two weeks after a partial lockdown was imposed.
"You may still find many who say that infections don't happen at school, in shops or services," Chancellor Sebastien Kurtz told a news conference.
"Nevertheless, you the authorities can't trace 77 percent of new infections, this means they no longer know where contamination is going on."
Greece, battling a saturated national health system, announced it would shut all schools after imposing a nationwide night curfew from Friday.
"Closing elementary schools was the last thing we wished to do. That is a way of measuring how serious the situation is," Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said. Secondary schools had already been shuttered.
In Italy, the regions of Tuscany and Campania -- which Florence and Naples will be the respective capitals -- plunged into "red zones" of tough restrictions, which now cover 26 million of the 60 million population.
"There is absolutely no other way if you want to reduce the amounts of dead," Health Minister Roberto Speranza said, as the country's death toll rose by 544 to 44,683, among Europe's worst.
New anti-virus curbs also came into force in Ukraine on Saturday, with all non-essential businesses ordered closed for the weekend.
And Lebanon entered a new two-week lockdown, with hospitals in the crises-wracked country almost at capacity.
There were protests in a number of Germans cities against enforced mask-wearing, with police saying they used water cannon to disperse practically 1,000 persons in Frankfurt.
France's Riviera resort of Nice saw 1,500 try the streets to demand a more coherent set of restrictions to fight the condition.
A huge selection of demonstrators also proved in Portugal, defying a weekend curfew imposed on seven out of every 10 of the populace of 10 million.
The curfew bans driving on public roads after 1 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
"The pandemic is on and we must be protected, but without killing the economy," said 33-year-old Carla Torres, who works in Lisbon's hospitality industry.
Poland became the most recent country to report record figures with 548 coronavirus deaths over a day, just days following the government decided against introducing a nationwide quarantine.
Lifting the gloom, the European Medicines Agency added to growing hopes that an efficient vaccine could be available soon.
The EU body said it likely to give a favorable thoughts and opinions on a vaccine by the finish of the entire year if test outcomes proved positive. That could allow distribution from January.
If the hurdles of testing and distribution are overcome, another challenge awaits: will people take a vaccine?
"My fear is that insufficient French people are certain to get vaccinated," French Prime Minister Jean Castex told Le Monde newspaper.
French restaurant and bar owners announced legal action against government measures which closed them from the finish of October.
In India, the pandemic and chronic pollution cast a shadow over Diwali celebrations for hundreds of millions on the biggest Hindu holiday of the year on Saturday.
In the smog-shrouded capital New Delhi firecrackers were banned for the Festival of Light even though people still thronged markets, traders said Covid-19 had scared shoppers off spending.
With 8.7 million cases, India gets the world's second-highest coronavirus infection count behind the US.
The lights were off at Vineet Garg's gold and jewelry store near Delhi's Connaught Place, despite an "open" sign.
"This is a waste of electricity to place the lights on," he said. "People are not buying in shops... They are too worried to have a great time."
Source: japantoday.com
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