As Europe faces record numbers in COVID-19 cases, countries impose new restrictions on their citizens
For the past week, an increase in the number of coronavirus cases has swept across Europe, with countries imposing new restrictions such as lockdowns, curfews and travel bans. Among the countries with the highest number of new cases is Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Czech Republic and Belgium.
Spain and France have been hit the hardest by the second wave. Last Wednesday, both countries surpassed 1 million cases, putting them in the sixth and seventh slots of the world’s highest global counts, according to an article written by Kat Lonsdorf from NPR.
On Sunday, the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a national state of emergency and placed a curfew on citizens from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sánchez has also given local authorities the ability to limit or ban travel between regions, according to BBC News.
Italy is imposing similar restrictions. Bars, cafes and restaurants must stop table service at 6 p.m., but stores can remain open. Gyms, pools and movie theaters must shut down completely. The country also plans to move the majority of their secondary school teaching to an online format.
These increased restrictions have been met with backlash from the Italian people. In Naples and Rome citizens protested against stricter lockdown measures, including curfews.
France remains the hardest hit by the second wave with over 50,000 new cases reported on Sunday. The country has also implemented a curfew for its citizens from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in major cities.
Curfews have been common across the E.U. Other countries, such as Russia, Croatia and Slovenia have also implemented curfews for their citizens in an effort to limit contact and decrease the number of cases.
Other countries that have also been taking measures to fight second waves are Ireland and Wales.
According to an article written by Reese Oxner from NPR, Ireland became Europe’s first country to reimpose a lockdown in the face of rising cases last Monday. The lockdown is set to last six weeks. Wales also began a 17-day lockdown over the weekend in which all nonessential businesses, restaurants, bars and hotels must remain closed.
In another article written by Madeline Roache from TIME, two other countries that have been hit hard by this second wave are Belgium and the Czech Republic.
While the rest of the E.U. is averaging about 33 cases per 100,000 per day, Belgium and the Czech Republic have been reporting about 146 and 115 new cases per 100,000 per day, respectively.
Though testing has increased in both of these countries, this does not fully explain the spike in cases. Roache states that population density might be a contributing factor to the recent surge. While the E.U. averages a population density of 112 people per square kilometer, Belgium averages 377 people and the Czech Republic averages 137 people.
Both countries also experienced a surge in cases after the reopening of universities and schools. In Belgium, residents ages 40 and over have been experiencing more hospitalizations due to students traveling home each weekend while in the Czech Republic, rising cases were initially reported by young people in September and have now reached the older population as well.
Along with a surge in cases, Europe is facing an increase in deaths as well. In an article from BBC News, World Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman Dr. Margaret Harris said there has been an increase in daily deaths of nearly 40% since the resurgence of cases.
Though deaths have been on the rise this past week, Harris mentions that hospitals have a better understanding of their situation than they did at the beginning of the pandemic and that many of the new cases reported throughout Europe are among younger groups, who are known to have more success with recovery.
She is hopeful that these two factors will keep the death toll at bay compared to April as Europe continues to fight against this second wave.
As for the United States, cases have also been on the rise, with the country’s seven-day average for new cases exceeding 70,000, according to Jonathan Wolfe from the New York Times. States that have been facing the highest levels of resurgence are Idaho, Utah, Missouri and New Mexico.
Hospitalizations have also increased about 45% compared to a month ago.