Coronavirus: Europe and Peru

Europe, WHO sound alarm over resurgent virus crisis

Countries reintroduce curbs, with most EU nations placed in 'serious concern' category

Clockwise from above: Hundreds of people clashing with police during a protest over the curfew and the prospect of a lockdown in Naples, Italy, on Friday; a medical worker tending to a coronavirus patient at the intensive care unit at the University
Hundreds of people clashing with police during a protest over the curfew and the prospect of a lockdown in Naples, Italy, on Friday. PHOTOS: EPA-EFE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Clockwise from above: Hundreds of people clashing with police during a protest over the curfew and the prospect of a lockdown in Naples, Italy, on Friday; a medical worker tending to a coronavirus patient at the intensive care unit at the University
A medical worker tending to a coronavirus patient at the intensive care unit at the University Hospital Centre in Liege, Belgium, on Thursday. PHOTOS: EPA-EFE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Clockwise from above: Hundreds of people clashing with police during a protest over the curfew and the prospect of a lockdown in Naples, Italy, on Friday; a medical worker tending to a coronavirus patient at the intensive care unit at the University
Medical staff evacuating a coronavirus patient by helicopter from the Flevo Hospital in Almere, the Netherlands, to Munster, Germany, on Friday. PHOTOS: EPA-EFE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

STOCKHOLM • The European Union's disease control agency has joined frantic health workers to sound the alarm over a coronavirus surge across the continent, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of an "exponential" rise in Covid-19 infections.

Even countries that avoided severe outbreaks in Europe's first wave of contagion in the spring have watched their case numbers surge, with Germany's death toll passing 10,000 yesterday.

Governments have reintroduced measures to slow the renewed spread of the virus in nations that only weeks earlier believed they had triumphed over the crisis.

But populations weary of social isolation and economic hardship have pushed back against fresh restrictions, with clashes in hard-hit Naples between Italian police and hundreds of protesters.

The continent is facing a major threat to public health and a "highly concerning epidemiological situation", said Dr Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The agency said all 27 EU countries except Cyprus, Estonia, Finland and Greece fell into a "serious concern" category, as did Britain, up from just seven a month ago.

After Spain became the first European country to officially record a million Covid-19 cases last week, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday said the real number was likely more than triple that.

France followed Spain past the million-case milestone on Friday while Germany hit a fresh daily record of nearly 15,000 new cases, with the health authorities urging the public to follow social distancing measures.

Urgent new restrictions on daily life have come into effect in several nations, with France extending a curfew to cover 46 million people.

Parts of Italy, including the capital Rome, went under curfew late on Friday, prompting a call to protest on social media that saw hundreds of demonstrators in Naples throw objects at police and set rubbish bins on fire.

The country is reeling from its worst post-war recession after a gruelling two-month national lockdown prompted by one of Europe's worst outbreaks, and the authorities have so far been reluctant to repeat the drastic quarantine restrictions seen then.

Wales entered a full lockdown on Friday evening, a day after Ireland shut down, while Poland adopted a nationwide "red zone" lockdown mandating the partial closure of primary schools and restaurants.

Only Sweden, which famously refused to lock down earlier this year, continued to stick to its guns despite a rise in cases.

Across the world, Covid-19 has now claimed the lives of 1.1 million people and infected over 42 million, with the WHO warning that the Northern Hemisphere was at a critical juncture.

"Too many countries are seeing an exponential increase in Covid-19 cases and that is now leading to hospitals and intensive care units running close to or above capacity," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Belgium has seen one of Europe's deadliest per capita outbreaks and has found itself suffering some of the highest second-wave infection rates in Europe.

"We're losing. We're overwhelmed. We're bitter," said Dr Benoit Misset, head of the intensive care unit at the University Hospital in the city of Liege, where several of his staff are having to work despite being positive - if asymptomatic - themselves.

Work has continued on the international quest to find a vaccine for the disease, with clinical trials for one candidate developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University resuming in the United States on Friday, six weeks after a test subject became ill.

US presidential hopeful Joe Biden said that if elected, he would mandate free coronavirus vaccines for all Americans.

"Once we have a safe and effective vaccine, it has to be free to everyone - whether or not you're insured," he said in a speech laying out his pandemic response plan just 11 days before the Nov 3 election.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on October 25, 2020, with the headline Europe, WHO sound alarm over resurgent virus crisis. Subscribe