Europe tightens restrictions as virus hospitalizations rise

ATHENS, Greece — Coronavirus cases hit new daily highs this week in Russia, and Germany and the U.K. announced plans Tuesday to expand virus testing as European countries battled rapidly increasing COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations.

Nations reintroduced restrictions to get ahead of a virus that has caused more than 1.2 million deaths around the globe, over 270,000 of them in Europe, according to Johns Hopkins University, and is straining health care systems.

New measures took effect Tuesday in Austria, Greece and Sweden, following a partial shutdown imposed in Germany on Monday and tighter rules in Italy, France, Kosovo and Croatia. England faces a near-total lockdown from Thursday, although schools and universities will stay open.

Infections spiked in Russia, where authorities reported 18,648 new cases Tuesday. It was the fifth straight day of more than 18,000 confirmed cases, compared with the country’s daily record of over 11,000 in the spring.

Russia has the world’s fourth-highest reported coronavirus caseload with over 1.6 million people confirmed infected, including more than 28,000 who died in the pandemic.

Sweden, where the government skipped the lockdowns other nations adopted for a much- debated approach that kept much of society open, set new nationwide limits on restaurants and cafes, ordering them to serve only seated customers and with a maximum of eight per table. The Scandinavian country announced local restrictions in three more counties that include Sweden’s largest cities.

“We are going in the wrong direction. The situation is very serious,” Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said. “Now, every citizen needs to take responsibility. We know how dangerous this is.”

The country of 10 million people has 134,532 reported cases and nearly 6,000 deaths.

Amid the gloom, a partial lockdown in the Netherlands appeared to be paying off; Dutch officials reported the number of new confirmed cases fell 5% to 64,087 in the past seven days, the first decline in weeks.