The second wave of the new crown epidemic in Europe has been a major outbreak, with France and Belgium followed by the United Kingdom and Austria, which also announced on Saturday that they would once again seal off the city and several other European countries have taken stricter measures to try to contain the spread of the epidemic. The second wave of the epidemic has dimmed the prospects for economic recovery in Europe.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that a one-month foot-ban will be in effect in England from Nov. 5, with bars and restaurants temporarily pulling down their doors and only offering take-out services; all leisure and entertainment venues and non-essential businesses will be closed. The public will only be able to meet outdoors with people from different households, and only one person at a time. Unlike the first ban in March, this time universities and schools of all levels will remain open. The government is encouraging teleworking, and restaurants and bars that offer takeaway services will remain open. But top sporting events will continue to take place behind closed doors.
More than 46,000 people have already been killed by the new coronavirus in the UK, the highest death toll in Europe, and the second wave of the epidemic has been fierce, with 50,000 people being diagnosed each day and the total number of infected people breaking one million on Saturday night.
The Austrian government on Saturday also announced a second wave of a major lockdown and curfew from next week until the end of November.
AFP reports that official figures from each country show a new high in virus-related hospitalizations in at least 14 European countries this week under the second wave of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic. A total of 135,000 people across 35 European countries are currently in hospital for 2019 coronavirus disease, compared to fewer than 100,000 related cases a week ago.
The country reporting the largest increase in notifications was Serbia, with a 97 per cent increase in hospitalizations; Belgium climbed 81 per cent, Austria was up 69 per cent and Italy was up 65 per cent. The worst affected country was the Czech Republic, with 62 virus-related hospitalizations per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Romania with 57, Belgium with 51, and Poland with 39.
Belgium also announced stricter city closures on Friday, while Germany has yet to close its cities but has tightened restrictions to halt the spread of the virus. Germany added 19,000 people to the epidemic.
After a record 20,000 confirmed cases in Poland in a single day, the Polish government announced on Saturday night that it would impose city closures on 70 percent of its residents starting next week. Poland recently erupted in demonstrations against the government’s ban on abortion.
The Greek government announced Saturday that it would impose partial restrictions on the capital Athena and other major cities starting next Tuesday, with the Greek prime minister saying the goal was to try to make sure everyone could have a good Christmas.
One of the reasons for the strict measures taken by many European countries to control the h epidemic and allow people to buy Christmas presents to stimulate spending and reunite with their families for the holidays is that British Prime Minister Johnson said that this year’s Christmas will be very different, and he hopes that the implementation of the strict measures against the epidemic will allow the British people to spend time with their families during the Christmas period. The closures are expected to be relaxed gradually after 2 December.
In fact, the renewed closures have left the business community crying foul, making it harder for Europe to recover, and the second round of closures is a sign of a looming winter for businesses.
There was a wave of protests in Spanish cities, small French mayors supported business as usual, and there was a sporadic backlash against the control measures.
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