London: Europe braces for new wave of national lockdowns as coronavirus sweeps across continent and threatens to fill hospitals with more patients than first deadly wave earlier this year
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced new lockdowns to reduce the growing number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths in each country
All restaurants in France will be forced to close for at least a month under a new national lockdownCredit: AP
The rulings mark a milestone in Europe’s battle against the disease, as governments had so far resisted the kind of massive shutdowns ordered during the March and April outbreak
In a speech to the nation, Macron said France had been ‘overwhelmed’ and warned second wave would kill more people in winter than 30,000 dead in spring
« In Europe we have all been surprised by the scale of this virus, » he said « We know that this second wave will be even harder and more deadly than the first
« Whatever we do, some 9,000 patients will be in intensive care units by mid-November, which is the absolute capacity of ICUs in France If we don’t act now, if we don’t try to slow down , our hospitals will be overwhelmed «
Doctors should decide who lives and who dies if the country’s infection rate does not decline, the president said
Schools and offices will remain open, but all reception venues will be forced to close from Friday People will be allowed to leave their homes if they have a good excuse, but travel between regions will be prohibited
The country records around 50,000 confirmed cases every day, but Jean-François Delfraissy, one of the government’s top scientific advisers, said this week the real figure is likely 100,000 a day
In Germany restaurants, bars, cafes, theaters and sports halls will be closed for at least one month from November 2 Schools will remain open and shops will only be able to trade if they accept a maximum of ‘one person per ten square meters
« We must act, and we must act now, to avoid a national health emergency, » said Merkel
« Our healthcare system can still meet this challenge today, but at this rate of infection, it will reach the limits of its capacity in a matter of weeks »
Germany was a leader in contract finding, but the outbreak is growing so rapidly that authorities are no longer able to trace the origin of 75% of all new cases
There is growing panic in Europe over the crisis and a growing opinion that if the second wave does not peak so abruptly, it will last longer than the first and ultimately claim more lives
The disease turns out to be less fatal than at the start of the year, but deaths continue to rise rapidly
As of Wednesday, 310 new deaths were recorded in Britain, 244 in France, 236 in Poland, 204 in Italy, 139 in Belgium and 85 in Germany, which had been one of the continent’s most efficient countries for remove virus
Hospitals are so busy in Belgium that some frontline health workers have been told to stay at work even if they are infected with the disease
One of the country’s top epidemiologists, Pierre Van Damme, told Belgian media that the country’s health system could collapse within 10 days
In the UK, The Sun newspaper reported that new government models suggested more than 25,000 people would be hospitalized with the disease in Britain by the end of November
Oliver Johnson, professor of information theory and director of the Institute for Statistical Science at the University of Bristol, said it was « probably the best scenario »
There are already around 10,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the UK – over 900 of them on ventilators
« Coronavirus cases and hospital patients are increasing sharply and in parts of the country including Liverpool, Lancashire and Nottingham, hospitals are now treating more COVID-19 patients than at the peak of the pandemic in April, » said said Professor Stephen Powis, the national medical director of the National Health Service
Across Europe, the number of new infections in the last fifteen weeks has reached 1,448 per 100,000 people in the Czech Republic, 1,424 in Belgium, 711 in the Netherlands, 660 in France, 470 in Spain, 424 in the United Kingdom
Germany’s rate of 156 is lower than the vast majority of Europe, meaning Merkel ordered a partial lockdown earlier in her outbreak compared to her neighbors
European markets fell on Wednesday as investors worried about partial lockdowns in the continent’s largest and second-largest economies and the ability of other governments to respond to the crisis
Merkel announced 10 billion euros (166 billion) on Wednesday, but Germany’s debt-to-GDP ratio is only expected to peak at 77%
However, in Italy, which is also struggling with a major epidemic, the debt-to-GDP figure is expected to reach 156% before the onset of the second wave
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Lockdown, Coronavirus, Emmanuel Macron, France, Germany
World news – UA – « Overwhelmed »: Germany and France return to lockdown as virus cases mount soaring in Europe
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
