Coronavirus: Europe in clutches of its second wave
Europe is battling against a second wave of coronavirus cases as governments and health experts debate the effectiveness of new restrictions.
Europe is battling against a second wave of coronavirus cases as governments and health experts debate the effectiveness of new restrictions.
Epidemiologists have expressed doubts over measures being slapped on communities throughout Europe, including restricting entry and exit from mainly working-class districts, limiting gatherings to six people and early closing times in pubs.
More than 31 million people have been infected worldwide, and nearly 972,000 have died from the virus since it emerged in the eastern Chinese city of Wuhan in late December.
The World Health Organisation reported on Tuesday AEST that almost two million infections were recorded around the globe in the single week to last Sunday.
The 6 per cent increase compared to the previous week was the highest number of reported cases in a single week since the beginning of the epidemic, the UN health agency said.
The surge forced British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce fresh steps to try to allay the rising death toll despite fears of a devastating economic impact.
From Thursday pubs and other hospitality venues will close early and plans to allow fans back into sporting events have been ditched.
Mr Johnson warned the new restrictions could last up to six months and called for a collective effort to “get through this winter together”.
His scientific advisers said Britain could see a devastating 50,000 coronavirus cases a day within the next month if no action was taken. “Never in our history has our collective destiny and our collective health depended so completely on our individual behaviour,” said Mr Johnson, who has been widely criticised for his handling of the pandemic.
Even with citizens weary of months of social distancing and previously unthinkable restrictions on their lives, hundreds of millions face harsher measures to come.
After months of brutal lockdown was eased, Spaniards in Madrid have been called on to limit their movements and social contact to the “essential”.
As Spain struggles to contain a second wave of the virus, with Madrid registering an infection rate of nearly 772 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past two weeks — nearly three times the national average — criticism of the leadership has intensified and medical experts have renewed calls for an investigation of its handling of the crisis.
More than 682,000 cases have been recorded and more than 31,000 deaths, one of Europe’s highest tolls. Madrid accounted for 23,000 of the 61,000 cases diagnosed in the past week.
Doctors have said that Madrid’s primary healthcare clinics are overwhelmed and intensive care units are reaching capacity.
Across Europe, hundreds of major events have been scaled back or cancelled. For the first time since 1944 the most august of all gatherings, the Nobel prize ceremony, will not take place as normal in Stockholm, and will instead be televised.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that fighting the pandemic remained “a very big challenge”, as his country extended mandatory mask wearing and reinstated some restrictions imposed earlier this year.
Munich became the first big German city to make mask-wearing mandatory outdoors.
Local councils were ordered to curb alcohol consumption in public, close restaurants earlier, enforce more mask-wearing and restrict the number of people meeting if infections reach critical levels.
Germany has kept the number of cases and deaths lower than many European neighbours, but infections have jumped recently, rising by more than 1800 on Tuesday.
On a rare glimmer of hope, Saudi Arabia announced it would gradually resume the year-round pilgrimage for Muslims from October 4. In the first stage, 6000 citizens and residents within the kingdom will be allowed to perform the umrah each day.
AFP, The Times
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