Coronavirus in Europe: More lockdowns and restrictions as fears of health collapse grow

Fears that the relentless increase in coronavirus cases could trigger a health overflow has forced European authorities to apply new measures to restrict population movements. From this Monday half of Italy was confined to avoid a worsening of the health situation, while in France and Germany calls are increasing to contain the emergency.

Italy has recorded 417 deaths from COVID-19 and 12,916 new cases in the past 24 hours amid high hospital pressure, official figures show. The country adds 108,350 deaths since the start of the pandemic and a total of 3,544,957 infections.

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This difficult health situation led the authorities to confine 10 regions of the country which entered the so-called “Red zoneThe one with the biggest restrictions. The measure is the first step in a general resolution that will confine the whole country during the three feasts of Holy Week, April 3, 4 and 5.

This measure is a blow to local tourism. Italian hoteliers are outraged because at the same time that half of the country is confined, trips abroad are allowed to spend Holy Week.

“I can’t leave my town, but I can fly to the Canary Islands. This is stupid. 85% of Italian hotels are forced to stay locked up, ”said Bernabò Bocca, president of Federalberghi, the association that brings together hoteliers in the country, in an interview with Corriere della Sera.

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France, in a critical situation

While half of Italy was confined, in France, requests from medical associations are increasing to toughen measures to stop the rise in infections that are putting the health system on the verge of collapse.

On Monday, a group of nine renowned French doctors appealed to the government, in an article published in the newspaper The world, in which they call for “real containment” to reduce the pressure on the health system.

As they stated, without more restrictive measures, they only have the option of transferring patients to less affected areas, opening new resuscitation beds or selecting patients they can care for.

Their call is in addition to the one they made this Sunday in the Sunday newspaper 41 other medics who insisted they had not suffered a similar collapse, even during the worst terrorist attacks in the country in recent years.

“All the indicators coincide in asserting that current measures are and will be insufficient to quickly reverse the alarming contagion curve, ”said professionals, concerned about“ the flagrant mismatch between needs and available resources ”.

Angela Merkel pushes for more checks

Meanwhile, in Germany, the chancellor Angela Merkel He reiterated his call to restrict internal movements while putting pressure on the Landers (the various regions in which the country is divided) to systematically implement the agreed measures.

From this Monday at midnight, a negative coronavirus test will be required from anyone arriving by plane in the country.

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The mandatory nature of this test was introduced in response to the avalanche of reserves towards Mallorca, Spain, after the Balearic Islands were no longer considered a risk area. In this way, it seeks to ensure that travelers return home healthy from their vacation, according to German government tourism commissioner Thomas Bareiß.

The increase in demand for travel to Mallorca has forced the Executive to call on the population to do without unnecessary travel and the airlines and tour operators not to offer additional flights.

The spokesperson for the executive, Steffen Seibert, underlined that the measures agreed between the federal government and the regional powers offer “effective instruments” to fight against the pandemic. Among these tools, he underlined the “emergency brake” to be applied at the regional level when the weekly incidence exceeds 100 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the curfew, reduction of contacts and teleworking.

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Spain extends restrictions

At the same time, the Spanish government has extended until April 30 the temporary restriction on non-essential travel from third countries to the European Union and countries associated with the European Schengen area, according to the official journal published on Monday.

Spain is close to the high risk of coronavirus transmission (more than 150 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days) by increasing the average cumulative incidence to 149.2 cases, according to official data released on Monday and cited by the agency Efe.

The Ministry of Health has notified 15,501 infections and 189 deaths since Friday. The total number of people infected has risen to 3,270,825 since the start of the covid-19 pandemic and deaths have exceeded 75,199.