Houston Chronicle

Experts: Virus surge in Europe stands as cautionary tale for U.S.

- By John Seewer and Carla K. Johnson

Optimism is spreading in the U.S. as COVID-19 deaths plummet and states ease restrictio­ns and open vaccinatio­ns to younger adults. But across Europe, dread is setting in with another wave of infections that is closing schools and cafes and bringing new lockdowns.

The pandemic’s diverging paths on the two continents can be linked in part to the much more successful vaccine rollout in the U.S. and the spread of more contagious variants in Europe.

Health experts in the U.S., though, say what’s happening in Europe should serve as a warning against ignoring social distancing or dropping other safeguards too early.

“Each of these countries has had nadirs like we are having now, and each took an upward trend after they disregarde­d known mitigation strategies,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “They simply took their eye off the ball.”

The result has been a sharp spike in new infections and hospitaliz­ations in several European countries over the past few weeks.

Poland’s rate of new COVID-19 cases has more than doubled since February, straining its health care system and leading to a three-week nationwide lockdown announced Wednesday.

Italy closed most of its classrooms at the beginning of this week and expanded areas where restaurant­s and cafes can do only takeout or delivery.

In France, officials imposed weekend lockdowns around the French Riviera in the south and the English Channel in the north, and are preparing new restrictio­ns for the Paris region and perhaps beyond to be announced Thursday.

COVID-19 patients occupy 100 percent of standard intensive care hospital beds in the area surroundin­g the nation’s capital.

“If we don’t do anything, we’re heading toward catastroph­e,” Remi Salomon, a top official in the Paris public hospital authority, told BFM television.

The trends are far more encouragin­g in the U.S., which has recorded about 537,000 deaths overall, more than any other country.

Deaths per day in the U.S. have plunged to an average of just under 1,300, down from a high of about 3,400 two months ago. New cases are running at about 55,000 per day on average after peaking at more than a quartermil­lion per day in early January.

The European Union’s overall vaccinatio­n efforts lag far behind those of Britain and the U.S because of shortages and other hurdles. Roughly 1 in every 5 people in the U.S. has received at least one dose, while in most of the European countries, it’s fewer than 1 of every 10.

European nations haven’t vaccinated quickly enough to stay ahead of the more contagious variants, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, Md. Those variants are also taking hold in the U.S.

“Vaccinatio­n with no speed limit, 24/7, that’s what’s going to protect us from what’s happening in Europe,” Adalja said.

He believes it is too early for states to drop mask mandates but OK to allow restaurant­s and other places to increase capacity gradually.

“You don’t have to do what Texas did,” Adalja said. “You can increase capacity while keeping the masks in place.”

Texas and a few other states have lifted their statewide mask requiremen­ts or plan to do so soon, while governors in more than half the states have moved to ease other restrictio­ns in the coming weeks for restaurant­s, gyms and movie theaters.

Amelia Fowler, among a stream of people getting their shots Wednesday at Medgar Evers College in New York City, is looking forward to grocery shopping and returning to a normal routine in her acting job after a dark year.

“It was just literally terror: terror going out of the house, terror going down the street, terror dealing with other people, and the terror has been removed,” she said.

 ?? Cecilia Fabiano / Associated Press ?? A medical staff member prepares to administer a dose of the Pfizer vaccine to 96-year-old Francesco Conte at his home in Rome on Wednesday. So far, just under 10 percent of Italy’s population has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine.
Cecilia Fabiano / Associated Press A medical staff member prepares to administer a dose of the Pfizer vaccine to 96-year-old Francesco Conte at his home in Rome on Wednesday. So far, just under 10 percent of Italy’s population has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine.

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