In anticipation of a strong return of the pandemic in the coming weeks, European countries are trying to curb its spread. coronavirus, with France and the United Kingdom tightening travel rules.
With the hope that the recent tightening of health measures in some of its Member States will bear fruit against the highly contagious Delta variant, the European Union can at least rejoice as one point: Exceeded the US in the percentage of the population that has received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
Although the long delays in launching the European bloc’s population immunization campaign have caused friction, “the EU has now vaccinated most of its population with a first dose compared to the United States (55.5% vs. 55.4%). ) “, Said yesterday the French Minister of European Affairs Clement Bon, in a post on twitter. “We’re moving on, we’re accelerating!” He added, sharing statistics from Our World in Data.
Protests in France
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pledged on Saturday that half the country’s population would be fully vaccinated within the next week and he reiterated his goal of vaccination of 70% of the population by the end of summer.
One day after the night traffic ban in Catalonia, it was Mykonos’ turn to impose restrictive measures with a traffic ban from 01.00 in the evening until 06.00 in the morning, with the exception of work and serious health reasons and a 24-hour music ban.
As of midnight on Saturday, the French authorities will require a Covid-19 test within 24 hours for unvaccinated travelers from the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and the Netherlands. Until yesterday, tests were accepted within 72 hours, except for travelers from the United Kingdom who needed to take the Covid-19 test within 48 hours.
The French government has also added Tunisia, Mozambique, Cuba and Indonesia to its list of “red” countries.
Also, the use of a mask outdoors will be mandatory again in some areas in the east and southwest of the country.
The tightening of health precautions announced on Monday by President Emanuel Macron has angered a section of the population.
Last Monday, during the presentation of the measures to stop the pandemic, Macron announced that the vaccination of medical personnel for Covid-19 becomes mandatory in the country, while those who want to go to the cinema or board trains and other means of transport will must show a vaccination certificate or negative test.
Many demonstrations took place on Saturday in Paris and in several major cities in France, with protesters denouncing a “dictatorship” of health, according to them, calling the measures announced by the French president a killer. However, these are accepted by a very large majority of French people, according to a survey.
Concerned about the “persistent presence” in France of the beta variant, first detected in South Africa, the British government has decided to quarantine those arriving in the country from France, even if they have been fully vaccinated for Covid- 19,
“Confused messages”
The Beta variant, along with the Alpha, Gamma and Delta variants, are the four variants of concern according to the World Health Organization.
“On July 19, we will lift all barrier measures and, on the other hand, quarantine the British and the fully vaccinated residents of the country returning from France.”said Dr. Mount Lemoine, a hepatologist at St Mary’s Hospital in London, wondering if the British government’s decisions were sending a “very confusing message to the people”.
The Delta variant is causing governments to fear a frantic new pandemic that has already killed four million people worldwide, which could lead to setbacks ahead of the start of the school year in September.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the European Office of Disease Control, predicted on Friday that there would be a sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the coming weeks and that they would be recorded by 1 August. almost five times new cases compared to last week’s level. However, the number of hospitalizations and deaths is expected to increase less rapidly, according to the ECDC, mainly thanks to the vaccination campaign.
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