European fury spills to streets

MADRID: Anger and exasperation over new coronavirus curbs grew as European nations imposed fresh lockdowns and restrictions aimed at halting surging infections and deaths.

Protesters in several Spanish cities clashed with security forces for a second night, while England prepared for fresh stay-at-home orders, emulating the likes of Austria, France and Ireland.

Governments are desperate to stem the worrying spike in infections across Europe, which has registered more than 279,000 deaths since the virus emerged in late 2019.

In England, many expressed anxiety about the economic cost of the fourweek shutdown due to take effect from Thursday.

In Spain, the anger that spilt onto the streets overnight Saturday extended into looting and vandalism in some cities. The country has imposed a nationwide night-time curfew and almost all of Spain’s regions have imposed regional border closures to prevent long-distance travel.

In Italy, the scene of protests last week, the government was also expected to announce new restrictions.

These are expected to include banning travel between regions, closing shopping centres at the weekend, limiting commercial activity and imposing an earlier curfew.

The health situation is also deteriorating in the US. Already the worst-affected country with 230,586 deaths, it also registered 776 new fatalities on Saturday, the largest number in the world.