The COVID-19 pandemic has once again swept across Europe, with new infections rising in Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. At a time when COVID-19 vaccine deliveries are insufficient and many countries have urgently stopped AstraZeneca, many EU countries are facing bad news again: the third wave of the epidemic is coming.
Due to the increase in newly confirmed cases, about half of Italy has re-entered "lockdown" starting from Monday this week; France is preparing to announce new restrictions in the next few days; Germany announced that the third wave of the epidemic has begun; Spain, which is in the third wave of the epidemic, will restrict travel during Easter. The latest weekly report of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control shows that as of the week of March 7, 19 EU and EEA countries reported an increase in newly confirmed cases. France, Italy, Spain and Germany are the countries with the highest cumulative confirmed cases in the EU. Currently, except for Spain, the other three countries have entered the stage of rising newly confirmed cases again. ▍Several regions in Italy begin a new round of blockade As the COVID-19 epidemic continues to worsen, 10 regions in Italy, including Rome, Milan and Venice, have started a new round of blockades on Monday (15th), which will last until April 6th. Due to rising infection numbers, large areas of Italy will be upgraded to red zones starting next Monday, including Lazio, where the capital Rome is located, Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, where Milan is located. All schools and kindergartens are closed, non-essential retail stores are also closed, and restaurants are only allowed to provide take-out food. People's freedom of movement is strictly restricted, and they are not allowed to go out unless necessary, with exceptions such as going to work or emergencies. On the eve of the implementation of the blockade measures, residents of Milan and Rome flocked to the streets to gather in shopping malls, restaurants and bars. According to Italian Minister of Health Speranza, 10 regions including Lombardy and Lazio will be managed as red areas with the most serious epidemics from the 15th, which will last for about 20 days until the end of the Easter holiday in early April. As the capital of Lombardy, Milan will implement the most stringent control measures. At that time, residents will not be allowed to leave their homes without special reasons, and restaurants, bars and most shops will stop operating.
However, South Tyrol in Italy will open cautiously from next Monday. From Monday, nurseries and primary schools in the province will reopen, as will barber shops and beauty salons. A week later, retailers will also reopen. However, during the Easter period from April 3 to 5, strict new crown bans will be implemented throughout Italy, except for Sardinia, and the popular holiday destination of South Tyrol is no exception. ▍French Prime Minister says France is in the third wave of epidemic On the 16th local time, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in France exceeded 4.1 million. French Prime Minister Castex said on the same day that France is already in the third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic.
The epidemic data released by the French Ministry of Health that evening showed that France had 29,975 new confirmed cases on the 16th, with a total of 4,108,108 confirmed cases and 91,196 deaths, with 408 new deaths. The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in France increased to 25,492, and the number of critically ill patients increased to 4,239. French President Emmanuel Macron plans to hold talks with representatives of the official scientific committee and medical staff on the evening of the 16th to discuss measures to deal with the epidemic. French officials will hold another epidemic response meeting on the 17th. French public opinion generally believes that it may decide whether the Paris region and other places will take "city lockdown" measures at that time. The official scientific committee for responding to the epidemic revealed on the 16th that closing schools should be the "last resort in responding to the epidemic." The scientific committee is cautious about whether to take "city lockdown" measures at the moment. According to the latest poll by French BFM TV, 61% of the public oppose the government's re-implementation of a nationwide "city lockdown." ▍German Disease Control Agency: Germany is in the early stages of the third wave of the epidemic On the 12th, Willer, director of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's disease control agency, said that Germany is in the early stages of the third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic. On the same day, German Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn also pointed out that Germany should be prepared for "extremely challenging weeks ahead." Wieler, director of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's disease control agency, said at a joint press conference held by the disease control agency and the Ministry of Health on the 12th that Germany had successfully reduced the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the beginning of this year, but the epidemic is not over. At present, we must make every effort to suppress the new wave of epidemics and avoid the recurrence of the scenario of a sharp increase in new, severe and death cases last year. German Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn also pointed out on the same day that the current epidemic situation in Germany "remains severe." German Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn: The epidemic situation remains severe, and the number of confirmed cases has risen again. Even if it is rising slowly, it is indeed increasing, and mutant viruses are also spreading. This means that we still have to prepare for the extremely challenging weeks ahead. Due to the arrival of the third round of the epidemic, many European countries are forced to restart the blockade order. Logistics will become unsmooth and delays will increase.
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