Europe tightens restrictions
GENEVA— Governments across Europe are ratcheting up restrictions to try to beat back a resurgence of the coronavirus that has sent new confirmed infections on the continent to their highest weekly level since the start of the pandemic.
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday there were more than 700,000 new COVID-19 cases reported in Europe last week, a jump of 34 per cent from the previous week. Britain, France, Russia and Spain accounted for more than half of the new infections.
The increasing caseload is partly the result of more testing, but the UN health agency noted that deaths were also up 16 per cent last week from the week before. Doctors are warning that while many of the new cases are in younger people, who tend to have milder symptoms, the virus could again start spreading widely among older people, resulting in more serious illnesses.
Italy and France are restricting parties and putting limits on restaurants and bars. The Netherlands went further and ordered the closing of all bars and restaurants, and to discourage partying at home, it banned the sale of alcohol after 8pm.
The Czech Republic is closing all schools until November 2, while Latvia is ordering teenagers to switch to distance learning for a week. And Britain unveiled a three-tiered system for deciding what restrictions to impose, based on how severe the outbreak is in certain areas.
Those moves reflect a new approach to containing the virus among governments wary of hurting already fragile economies.