Covid: Dutch PM Mark Rutte condemns curfew riots as 'criminal violence' BBC - https://tinyurl.com/y4tucatz Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has condemned weekend riots against newly imposed coronavirus restrictions as "criminal violence". Rioters attacked police and set cars and bikes on fire to protest against a curfew introduced on Saturday. In the southern city of Eindhoven, protesters threw fireworks, looted supermarkets and smashed shop windows. There were smaller protests in Amsterdam, and in some cities and towns around the country. More than 200 people have been detained, police said. "This has nothing to do with protest, this is criminal violence and we will treat it as such," Mr Rutte told reporters on Monday. In Eindhoven, golf balls and fireworks were hurled at police in full riot gear, who eventually used tear gas to clear the crowds. Burning bikes were built into barricades. In the eastern city of Enschede, rioters threw rocks at the windows of a hospital. A Covid-19 testing centre was also set alight on Saturday evening in the northern village of Urk, local authorities said. "The fire in a screening centre in Urk goes beyond all limits," Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said. Regional security councillors are meeting on Monday to discuss a response. The Dutch government has just introduced its toughest measures since the start of the pandemic - including a night-time curfew which runs from 21:00 (20:00 GMT) to 04:30. It is the first in the Netherlands since World War Two. Anyone caught violating it faces a €95 (£84) fine. Restrictions were delayed - now the backlash There is a sense of disbelief among people waking up to these images of chaos and destruction, in this usually peaceful and broadly law-abiding nation. The mayor of Eindhoven has warned the country is heading for civil war; while some feel that may be an exaggeration, the Netherlands is becoming increasingly polarised over this issue. National Security Council Chairman Hubert Bruls said that, while he understood the protesters' frustrations, the more the Dutch persevered now, the sooner they could get their freedoms back. Actually many see vaccines as the key, and the Netherlands is lagging behind there - last in the EU to roll out its vaccine programme. To date, 135,000 people have been given their first dose. The Dutch government's inconsistent messaging hasn't helped to instil confidence. At the start of the outbreak, it resisted measures like masks and curfews, telling the Dutch they were sensible, rule-abiding and didn't need to be treated like children. That sense of exceptionalism, or "nuchterheid" - sobriety or level-headedness - has come back to haunt them. Here we are almost a year on. Countries that went hard are enjoying greater freedoms. People look across the border to Belgium where schools have reopened, while here they're closed till at least 9 February. Some people are finding it difficult to do the mental pivot required to accept that the Netherlands has been forced to introduce the draconian measures it initially dismissed. The country's bars and restaurants have been shut since October, while schools and non-essential shops closed last month. A ban on flights from the UK, South Africa and South America has been put in place due to fears over new variants of the virus. There have been more than 962,000 cases and 13,646 confirmed deaths from Covid-19 in the Netherlands, according to data collated by Johns Hopkins University.
Major Australian city goes into five day hard lockdown due to a massive number of recent coronavirus transmissions. In other news, "one" is a massive number in Australia... Coronavirus lockdown rules in place for the next five days in Perth, Peel and the South West of WA https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01...arantine-lockdown-rules-for-perth-wa/13107288
Using proper lockdown policies in recent weeks - the U.K. broke the spread of COVID. Especially important since this is the new more infectious variant where the spread has dropped below the 1 level for R. This demonstrates the positive impact of proper public health policies. COVID-19: R number falls to below one in every region of the UK The number of infections is also thought to be shrinking between 2% and 5% each day, according to the latest estimates. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...ow-one-for-the-first-time-since-july-12216073https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...ow-one-for-the-first-time-since-july-12216073 The UK's coronavirus reproduction number - or R number - has fallen to below one for the first time since July. The figure is now between 0.7 and 0.9, according to the latest estimate and below one in every region of the UK. The R refers to the number of people an infected person will pass COVID-19 on to, and when the figure is above 1 an outbreak can grow exponentially. An R number between 0.7 and 0.9 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will pass on the virus to between seven and nine other people - a sign the epidemic is shrinking. Last week's R number was between 0.7 and 1.0, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said. The government scientists have also estimated the UK's growth rate is between minus 5% and minus 2%, meaning the number of new infections is shrinking between 2% and 5% each day. These estimates are based on the latest data available up until 8 February, which includes hospital admissions, deaths, symptomatic testing and prevalence studies. Although a lagging indicator, it is the latest sign that infections are slowing. The R remains below 1 in all regions of England but the number of cases is still high. It appears lowest in London, which has seen a rapid decline in infections after lockdown was imposed, with the R falling to between 0.6 and 0.8. New data also shows there has been a drop in infections, with around one in 80 people in private households in England having COVID-19 between 31 January and 6 February. This is down from around one in 65 the previous week, according to the Office for National Statistics. The latest figures also show the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 is at its lowest level since 29 December, suggesting the UK has passed the peak. Some 25,621 people were in hospital with the virus on 9 February, down from 39,236 on 18 January. However, scientists have said case numbers are still too high for any significant loosening of restrictions. NHS Test and Trace and surge testing will only be able to work efficiently when case numbers are at much lower levels, one government scientific adviser said. If cases continue to fall at the same rate, aided by the rollout of vaccines, it is thought low case numbers can be achieved in the next two to three months. Meanwhile, NHS England has said people aged between 65 and 69 can now have a COVID-19 vaccine in England if GPs have done all they can to reach the higher priority groups. (Article at above url has multiple charts plus audio/video)
France could impose more regional lockdowns in worst COVID-hit areas https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-france-lockdown-idUSKBN2AP2EW France will impose measures including weekend lockdowns in Paris and 19 other regions from the start of March if signs of the coronavirus accelerating persist, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday. Castex said a new nationwide lockdown was not on the agenda, but said French citizens needed to be in a state of heightened alert to make sure they contain the spread of the virus while vaccines are rolled out. “The country’s health situation has deteriorated over the past few days. We should only resort to a lockdown when we have no other choice”, he said in a televised address. “We must do all that we can to delay it, to give time to the vaccination campaign to yield its effects”, Castex added. The prime minister said the spread was worrying in 20 French departments - the country’s administrative regions - including Paris and the surrounding region. He said those regions would now be subject to heightened scrutiny by public health officials. If a week from now it was determined that infection rates were still rising in those regions, measures will be put in place, from March 6, similar to those in force in the cities of Nice and Dunkirk. There, local authorities have imposed stay-at-home orders at weekends, stepped up checks at airports, cracked down on people gathering in public places and tightened rules on wearing masks outside. Speaking alongside Castex, Health Minister Olivier Veran said the French were in favour of measures enforced on a local level, adding the government would keep this course of action as long as it was possible. French health authorities reported 25,403 additional new cases over the last 24 hours, versus 22,501 a week ago, figures confirming the recent upward trend of the disease, mainly due to variants, Veran said. The seven-day moving average of daily new cases stands at 21,452, a more than three-months high. With 3.687 million cases reported since the outbreak of the disease, France has the six-highest tally in the world. Its 85,582 COVID death toll is the seventh-highest globally. Castex said there were reasons to believe life in France could back to normal “in the coming months” thanks to the ongoing vaccination campaign. He also said there was hope in some new treatments of the disease. Veran said a trial in France using interferons as a therapy for people at risk of serious forms of COVID-19 was well advanced while another therapy, using monoclonal antibodies, had regulatory approval for use in the country and was being rolled out to some patients.
The U.S. should be very concerned with the new variants of COVID which are driving an increase of cases across Europe. The new variants are much more infectious. If the U.S. can maintain control by widely implementing social distancing, mask mandates, and other protective measures between now and the end of May -- then we will be in a much better position as our vaccination level rises. Sadly -- due to politics - the governors of some states are eliminating mask mandates and opening everything up. Right at a time when we are confronting new COVID variants being spread across the U.S. -- with the highest levels being in states like Florida and Texas which are currently hosting spring breaks which will cause the new variants to be delivered across the country. Coronavirus variants driving another surge across Europe https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-variants-europe-surge-8bf801b4-a1d9-40b2-85fb-4193f7bb2f3b.html The World Health Organization said this week that variants of the coronavirus are provoking another uptick in infections across Europe. Why it matters: European countries reported around 1 million new cases last week, around a 9% increase from the week prior. Last week's surge ended a six-week decline in new infections, the WHO said Thursday, according to AP. By the numbers: The variant first found in the United Kingdom, which may be more transmissible and more deadly than the original strain of the virus, is spreading in 27 European countries monitored by WHO, according to AP. It's now the dominant strain in at least 10 countries: Britain, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Spain and Portugal. Meanwhile, the variant first discovered in South Africa has been found in 26 European countries. Vaccine producers Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax have each reported their vaccines, while still effective, offer less protection against the South African variant. The Brazilian variant, detected in 15 European countries, may be able to reinfect people who survived infections with earlier versions of the coronavirus, according to Reuters. The big picture: Italy's government tightened coronavirus restrictions in some of its 20 regions this week in response to the surge.
A year on, Europe faces slow Covid vaccine rollouts and fears of another wave https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/12/coronavirus-anniversary-europes-slow-vaccine-rollout.html It’s one year since the World Health Organization declared the spread of the coronavirus a global pandemic. While the U.K. and U.S. sprint ahead in their vaccination rollouts, the EU is still mired in the depths of the crisis. Europe has seen over 547,000 people die from the virus, and thousands lose their livelihoods. It’s one year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, and while the U.K. and U.S. sprint ahead in their vaccination rollouts, the EU is still mired in the depths of the crisis. The bloc is currently experiencing a lethargic immunization program and fears of another wave of infections are being seen from Paris to Prague. On the first anniversary of the public health crisis, there’s not much time in Europe to reflect on the losses of the past year — one in which the region has seen over 547,000 people die from the virus, and thousands lose their livelihoods. There are rising cases in parts of the bloc, largely caused by the spread of more infectious virus variants, from western EU nation France and across central Europe to Hungary, in the east. France reported 30,303 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Wednesday, with the number of new cases rising above 30,000 for the first time in two weeks. Health experts say the hospital system in the greater Paris region is close to breaking point, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland have all recorded a sharp rise in cases that has prompted urgency among governments in eastern Europe to increase the rate of vaccinations. So much so that several countries have resorted to breaking ranks with the EU by authorizing Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, which has not yet been approved by the EU’s drug regulator. Bulgaria and Serbia are also among the countries seeing a rise in cases, as well as Sweden and Italy. The coronavirus, which first emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, was declared a pandemic a year ago, on March 11 2020. By then, it had already emerged in northern Italy, which became the epicenter of Europe’s first outbreak. The timing of the spread coincided with the height of the ski season, enabling the virus to spread to the U.K., France and Germany. The EU’s Covid experience National reactions to the pandemic varied, but the EU sought to coordinate its response, closing external borders to all but non-essential travel and attempting to coordinate the purchasing of personal protective equipment and medical supplies, like ventilators. Nonetheless, the state and structure of health services in different parts of the EU, and track and tracing systems put in place, played a part in determining the spread and damage done by the virus. Germany, for example, was lauded for its initial response to the virus, tracing and isolating those infected and their contacts. Its modern hospital infrastructure also helped it to limit deaths, compared to other countries. To date, Germany (with a population of around 83 million) has reported 2.5 million cases and72,858 deaths compared to Italy’s (a country with 60.3 million inhabitants) 3.1 million cases and 100,811 deaths, for example, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In total, the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention says that over 22.5 million cases have been reported in the EU and wider European Economic Area (essentially, the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) to date. The degree to which countries locked down their economies and public life as the pandemic took hold also affected infection rates. Most countries in the EU opted to shut down all but essential shops, closing gyms, restaurants, theaters and bars, shuttering the region’s cultural and social life, and its economy. Although some, like Sweden, were notable for their decision to not lock down, prompting controversy and criticism from other EU countries, particularly its neighbors. It has gradually shifted away from that position, however, particularly in the face of a third wave of infections and on March 6, tighter restrictions came into force on shops, gyms, pools, and sports facilities. Economic damage Economies across the bloc hope to open up as soon as possible, but the emergence of new, more virulent strains of the virus have scuppered Christmas get togethers, the ski season and hopes that life could be getting back to normal by Easter. At the same time, the vaccination rollout across the bloc remains painfully slow compared to those in the U.K. and U.S. The latest data from France shows that 4.1 million people have received a first coronavirus vaccine, as of March 9. The U.K., by contrast, had delivered over 22.8 million first doses by the same date. The U.K. was quicker to order, authorize and administer vaccines than the EU, which made orders as a bloc rather than pursuing individual policies, a move that has been seen as hampering the dynamism of the rollout. The economic damage from the pandemic cannot yet be counted but repeated lockdowns over the last year have taken their toll. A feared new wave could also delay a much longed-for reopening. Data shows the damage the pandemic has already done to the region’s economy and citizens. Preliminary data from Eurostat, the EU’s data agency, released in February, estimates that GDP (gross domestic product) fell by 6.8% in the euro area and 6.4% in the EU in 2020. Eurostat estimates that 15.6 million men and women in EU were unemployed in January 2021. Compared with January 2020, unemployment has risen by 1.465 million in the EU and by 1.010 million in the euro area.
Lockdowns don’t work. Masks don’t work. Viruses virus. Mutations will be weaker. Excess deaths are minor. This is all about control. Did everyone forget that this is all China’s fault?
Italy enters fresh lockdown, shutting shops and schools as hospitals struggle with third wave Half of regions – including those surrounding Rome and Milan – face new restrictions https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italy-covid-lockdown-latest-b1817311.html Millions of Italians are entering another strict lockdown on Monday as a third wave of the coronavirus sweeps the country. Half of Italy's regions – including the two most populous containing Rome and Milan – are facing fresh restrictions in a bid to suppress the latest spike in Covid infections that have left hospitals struggling to cope with a surge in new admissions. Nurseries, schools and universities will be closed, shops told to shut and restaurants only permitted to open for takeaways. The so-called red zones, where the toughest measures are in place, were imposed from Lombardy in the north to Puglia in the south, as well as the Lazio region around the capital. The new restrictions will extend until at least 6 April, the Tuesday after Easter. Outdoor sports will be allowed to continue but a ban on movement between regions will remain, except for work, health or other essential reasons, and people must first fill out a permit to travel. The rest of the country is being placed under a lesser orange level lockdown. Only the island of Sardinia has been designated a white zone given its infection rates. Italy’s health ministry imposed the tiered status of restrictions for individual regions last year, taking into account a weekly rise or fall in infection rates and hospital capacity among other criteria. Until now, just a few of the worst-hit regions were under full lockdown. The full list of red zones includes Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, Marche, Molise, Puglia and Trento. Those in the orange are Basilicata (from tomorrow, on Monday it remains in the red), Bolzano, Tuscany, Abruzzo, Calabria, Liguria, Sicily, Umbria and Valle d'Aosta. An exception to the tiers will be applied for the Easter weekend, when from Friday to Sunday the entire country will be in the red zone, leading to a near-total shutdown, although two people plus their children will be allowed to make a single trip to another person’s home within the same region. Italy reported 264 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday against 317 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections was down to 21,315 from 26,062 the day before. The country has registered 102,145 deaths since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after the UK. Patients in hospital with Covid – not including those in intensive care – stood at 24,518 on Sunday, rising from 24,153 a day earlier. There were 243 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 270 on Saturday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 3,082 from a previous 2,982. When Italy's second wave of the epidemic was accelerating quickly in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by about 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.
COVID-19: Paris among 16 French regions set to go into lockdown for a month from midnight on Friday France has tried to avoid imposing more lockdowns, but has been forced to change direction with tens of thousands of cases a day. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...n-for-a-month-from-midnight-tomorrow-12249976