Nine months from the initial lockdowns, Europe grapples with record coronavirus cases. It comes as dozens of more contagious strains emerge from as close as the United Kingdom to as far as Brazil.
The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom dominates Europe’s COVID crisis with 700,000+ cases reported since the new year. The island nation turned to national lockdowns throughout its four countries to combat the more contagious variant discovered in the South-East.
Mainland Europe
Many mainland European countries are taking a different approach. Rather than imposing full national lockdowns, they have turned to curfews. France, for instance, has turned to an 8 am – 6 pm curfew. This will remain in effect for a minimum of two weeks; and is done to stabilize the case numbers without jeopardizing the economy.
This is not France’s first curfew. A similar curfew was implemented in October to curb an increasing spread of cases. You can see the effect of the curfew on small businesses.
Similar curfews are also present in other mainland European countries such as Italy, Hungary and Latvia.
National Lockdowns
Some countries have imposed national lockdowns to contain the English variant of the novel coronavirus that is seen to be 70% more transmissible.
Aside from the UK itself which will remain in lockdown until at least the middle of February, countries such as the Netherlands are also under national restrictions. Germany, the largest economy in Europe, is leaning towards national lockdown after record breaking deaths recorded in the last week/s.
Light at the end of the tunnel
With multiple vaccines rolling out across Europe, there is hope for the end of these national limitations. Seeing as there is currently no data indicating that the new strains of SARS-CoV-2 wouldn’t respond to existing vaccines, we can remain optimistic.
The United Kingdom has deployed more vaccines than any other European country, with an ambitious target of 14 million vaccinated by mid-February. Currently, if they remain on a constant daily rate, this will be achieved by late February.
Do you want to publish on Apple News, Google News, and more? Join our writing community, improve your writing skills, and be read by hundreds of thousands around the world!
More from World – News Landed
+ Brazil’s researchers claim that the Sinovac vaccine is only 50% efficient
+ Sriwijaya Air’s SJ182 crashes minutes after take-off
Popular Stories – News Landed
+ Endangered Indian rhinoceros calf born in Poland zoo
+ Shark pups will emerge out from eggs earlier due to the climate crisis
