On the European continent, the coronavirus pandemic has now caused the death of 300,000 people, and infected more than 12 million people. These figures come from a count made by Agence France-Presse from several official sources, and they make Europe the second most bereaved zone in the world, after Latin America and the Caribbean (408,841 deaths ). Due to the second galloping epidemic wave, several European countries have already reconfigured themselves, like France, Ireland or the United Kingdom. But this confinement is now extending a little more to include Greece and certain regions of Italy.
From Saturday, the Greeks will have to show white paw to leave their home: for each exit, it will be necessary to indicate by SMS the reason and the time, and to wait for the green light of the authorities, also by SMS. Traffic was heavy in Athens on Friday, where residents were rushing to make their last purchases or have their hair cut at stormed hairdressers. Duvets and pillows, in particular, were selling like hot cakes. “People are looking for psychological comfort and want to buy something to make their home more comfortable, now that they are going to spend so much time there,” says Olympia Kapelaki, who works in a bedding store.
More than 1.2 million deaths worldwide
The confinement, which is expected to last three weeks – perhaps longer – will spare supermarkets, grocery stores, gas stations, dry cleaners and pet stores. But, as in France, bookstores will have to draw back the curtain, to their chagrin. The coronavirus has killed 702 people in total in the country, but it is above all the number of patients hospitalized in intensive care that raises the risk of saturation of hospitals.
Since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December, Covid-19 has killed at least 1,235,148 worldwide and officially infected more than 48.7 million people, according to a count made on Friday by Agence France-Presse from official sources. For the first time, the milestone of 600,000 new cases has even been crossed.
16 million Italians reconfined
Faced with this second wave, a national curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. will come into force on Friday in Italy until December 3. As in Greece, high schools are switching to distance learning, and museums are closed, as are shopping centers on weekends. New “red zones” – Lombardy, Piedmont, Valle d’Aosta and Calabria – have been declared “at high risk” and 16 million Italians are returning to confinement, lighter however than last spring.
In the Lombard city of Bergamo, a disparate procession of several hundred people – restaurants, traders, far-right activists – demonstrated against this measure with the cry of “Freedom” and with smoke bombs in the night in front of the mayor’s house. “There is more weariness and mistrust” in relation to the confinement of March, noted the city councilor, Giorgio Gori, on Facebook.
A turn of the screw not always well accepted
In Norway, yet one of the countries in Europe least affected by the pandemic, the authorities are also tightening the screw. In Oslo, bars and restaurants will no longer be able to serve alcohol from Monday, and gyms, cinemas, theaters and swimming pools will have to close their doors. Distance education will expand to high schools in the city and other regions. From London to Ljubljana, these new measures generate protests, sometimes peppered with violence. In the Slovenian capital, a demonstration against the confinement of several hundred people degenerated into violent clashes Thursday evening.
In France, reconfigured since October 30, the number of new cases of Covid-19 has crossed the 60,000 mark in the past 24 hours and the total death toll since the start of the epidemic is approaching 40,000, a announced Friday Public Health France. More than 400 businesses in Annecy, in the east of the country, have affixed a poster “For sale” on their windows with the number not of a real estate agency but of the presidential palace of the Elysee. China is now blocking the arrival of foreign travelers from France and a dozen other nations very affected by Covid-19, in order to avoid any resurgence of the epidemic on its soil.
A massive screening program in the UK
England has also been confined since Thursday: non-essential businesses had to close, and restaurants, pubs and cafes can only offer deliveries or take-out sales. The schools, they remain open. In Liverpool, the authorities launched a massive screening program on Friday, seeing in this pilot test a possible way out of confinement. “Do it for yourself, your family, your colleagues and your city,” encouraged the hugely popular football manager Jürgen Klopp.
The British low-cost company Easyjet will further reduce its flight capacity for the last three months of the year, to “20% at most” of what it initially planned for this period. Its competitor Ryanair is also constantly revising its flight capacity downwards for the months to come.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the United States, in full electoral suspense, are also going from record to record. In this country, by far the most bereaved in the world by the pandemic with 234,876 deaths, more than 120,000 new positive cases for the coronavirus in 24 hours were identified Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
