Europe reels as COVID cases surge
New restrictions likely to undercut economy
Coronavirus cases around the world have climbed to all-time highs of more than 330,000 per day as the scourge comes storming back across Europe.
Well after Europe seemed to have largely tamed the virus that proved so lethal last spring, newly confirmed infections are reaching unprecedented levels in Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy and Poland. Most of the rest of the continent is seeing similar danger signs.
France announced a 9 p.m. curfew in Paris and other big cities. Londoners face new restrictions on meeting with people indoors.
The Netherlands closed bars and restaurants this week. The Czech Republic and Northern Ireland shut schools. Poland limited restaurant hours and closed gyms and pools.
Worldwide, deaths have fallen slightly in recent weeks to about
5,200 a day, down from a peak of around 7,000 in April.
Dr. Hans Kluge, the head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office, urged governments to be “uncompromising” in controlling the virus. He said most of the spread is happening because people aren’t complying with the safety rules.
Europe’s financial markets fell sharply Thursday on concerns that the new restrictions will undercut the continent’s economic recovery.
In France, which reported over 22,000 new infections Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron put 18 million residents in nine regions, including Paris, under a curfew starting Saturday. The country will deploy 12,000 police officers to enforce it.
Italy set a one-day record for infections and recorded the highest daily death toll of this second wave, adding 83 victims to bring its official count to nearly 36,400, the second-highest in Europe after Britain.
In Britain, London and seven other areas face restrictions that will mean more than 11 million people will be barred from meeting with anyone indoors from outside their households
and will be asked to minimize travel starting this weekend.
European nations have seen nearly 230,000 confirmed deaths from the virus, though experts agree the official figures understate the true toll. In other global developments:
■ Israel decided on Thursday to relax some of the restrictions imposed during a monthlong nationwide lockdown. The country’s coronavirus Cabinet voted to resume daycare and preschool for children up to six years old, allow some businesses — those without walk-in customers — to reopen, and cancel a 1,000-yard restriction on movement. Those limits are set to be lifted on Sunday.
■ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen left the summit venue in Brussels shortly after the meeting began because one of her close staffers tested positive for COVID-19. “I myself have tested negative,” von der Leyen, a doctor by training, tweeted. “However, as a precaution I am immediately leaving the European Council to go into self-isolation.”
■ French police searched the homes of the health minister, the former prime minister and other top officials Thursday in an investigation
into the government’s response to the global coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, about 1,000 protesting nurses, doctors and other public hospital staff marched through Paris on Thursday to demand more investment, staff and higher salaries after years of cost cuts.
■ South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Thursday that his government will extend relief grants to 6 million of the country’s unemployed who have been hurt by the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Ramaphosa also announced more than $5.9 billion for infrastructure projects over the next 10 years.
■ Seven months after screens went dark, cinemas reopened Thursday in much of India with mostly old titles on the marquee — a sign of the country’s efforts to return to normal as the pace of infections slows but also of the roadblocks that remain.
■ Australia’s prime minister says his government is giving priority to reopening air services to Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday he had discussed reopening air routes with the leaders of all three countries.