Belgium and Greece have joined a growing number of European countries that have imposed or prepared stricter new social barriers to prevent the relapse of the chronovirus.
The European Commission warned on Friday that the continent’s healthcare system would be overwhelmed by the “real risk” of increasing cases, as Germany has promised to provide intensive care beds to patients in the most affected countries.
Countries, including France and Germany, quickly took a final week’s step for Europe to rebuild the significant shutdown measures that arose after the Covid-1p epidemic in the spring. Heavy traffic jams were recorded in Paris on Thursday night as fewer people fled the capital within hours of the new French sanctions taking effect.
Late Friday, Belgium imposed similar measures on its spring lockdown, shutting down non-essential stores, further restricting social communication and making homework mandatory.
The number of Kovid-19 infections continues in Belgium, as Health Minister Frank Wendenbrook warned earlier this month that the country was facing a “tsunami” of cases.
Prime Minister Alexander de Crow said, “We are going to a vigorous captivity with only one goal: to avoid the collapse of the healthcare service,” he said. It is up to all of us to take these last resort measures and ensure that these measures yield results.
On Friday, Greece imposed lockdowns on its second largest city, Thessaloniki, and two other regions. Cases have been on the rise for weeks, with the government saying the average age of infected people should be linked to “gatherings for recreation, sports and other activities.”
According to data released Friday by the European Union’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Belgium, the headquarters of the European Union, now has the worst infection rate among 31 countries.
In Belgium there were 1,00,000 Kovid-19s per 14,000 people, 1,512.7 ahead of the Czech Republic and 996 ahead of Luxembourg. France had 706, the UK 438 and Germany 182.
EU Health Commissioner Stella Kiriakaids said the growing number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths were “extremely worrying” and put a strain on the ability of member states to deal with the number of patients.
“There is now a real risk that health systems will be overwhelmed by the growing number,” Mrs Kyriakides told reporters. “And we are looking to the European level to ensure that there is as much cooperation and solidarity as possible to be able to deal with the current situation.”
German Health Minister Jens Spahan, who is in the rotating presidency of the European Union, promised that his country would provide bed space for the intensive care unit at the request of members of the peer bloc. “We will support [them] We are taking patients to our ICU care facility as long as possible, ”he told reporters.
Germany has ordered the closure of restaurants, bars and most public entertainment since Monday. Schools, day care centers, hair salons and retailers will remain open.
After France closed bars and restaurants, imposed travel bans and shuttered the border to e-EU passengers, President Emmanuel Macron warned this week that the second Covid-19 wave would probably be “tougher and more deadly than the first”.
In contrast to the spring lockdown, schools, mills and companies will remain open, reflecting a desire to limit the impact on education and the economy in Paris and other European capitals.
