Europe between rock and hard place as it tries to reopen after Easter

Brussels: Countries in Europe are finding themselves caught between a rock and a hard place as they plan to reopen after the Easter holidays.

While many countries enforced stricter rules over Easter to prevent a surge in COVID-19 infections during the celebrations, a prevailing fatigue among the general public about months of restrictions has made it increasingly difficult for compliance, especially as the weather warms up.

In Brussels, the capital of Belgium, some 2000 party-goers turned up last Thursday in the Bois de la Cambre, one of the city’s biggest public parks, after a fake April Fool’s Day festival event was advertised on social media. Police tried to disperse the crowds with water cannons and clashed with the revelers attending the unauthorised event despite COVID-19 restrictions.

Right now schools, cafes and restaurants are closed, a night-time curfew is in place and non-essential trips in and out of Belgium are prohibited. “Outdoor bubbles” are reduced to four people, not counting children under the age of 12.

In the United Kingdom, where close to half of its 67 million population have been given the first jab of a COVID-19 vaccine, with steadily falling numbers of new cases and deaths, the rallies on Saturday across the country against the Government’s new crime bill have become a cause for concern over rising infections thereafter.

“While we welcome the limited relaxation of rules, we don’t want to become complacent ... After a long and difficult few months, let’s not undo all of that hard work now,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jane Connors, who is leading the Metropolitan Police’s strategic response to COVID-19, said in a statement.