Several European countries are tightening restrictions this week, starting with a partial shutdown Monday in Germany, as authorities across the continent scramble to slow a rapid rise in coronavirus infections that threatens to overwhelm their health care systems.
Britain and Austria will follow suit later in the week, closing restaurants, bars and many leisure activities. Italy, Greece and Kosovo also announced new measures. In some places, the new rules — which vary in strictness — are prompting violent protests by people frustrated at once again having to forgo freedoms.
Restrictions have been slowly ramping up for weeks in many European countries, but virus cases have continued to rise. There was a sign of hope from hard-hit Belgium, however, where a leading virologist said that “the high-speed train is somewhat easing up.”
Overall, Europe has seen more than 270,000 confirmed virus-related deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Experts say case and death figures understate the true toll of the pandemic due to missed cases, limited testing and other reasons.
In Germany, restaurants, bars, theaters, cinemas, gyms and other leisure facilities closed in a four-week “wave-breaker” shutdown that seeks to force daily new infections back down to manageable levels. Germans have been asked not to travel, and hotels are barred from accommodating tourists.
In a worrying sign for a country long praised for its testing and tracing abilities, German officials say they can’t track the source of three-quarters of new coronavirus cases. Health Minister Jens Spahn, who himself caught the virus, says he doesn’t know where he was infected.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has doubled in 10 days, and the government couldn’t stand by and watch.
“The virus punishes half-heartedness,” she said of the new restrictions, telling Germans that “everyone has it in their own hands” to make them a success.
“We will do try to do everything politically so that this is limited to November,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin. But she stressed that “we are very much dependent on the majority of people simply being sensible and playing along, and so saving others’ lives.”
The new restrictions are still milder than the ones Germany imposed in the first phase of the pandemic in March and April. This time, schools, nonessential shops and hairdressers are staying open. Officials will review the situation after two weeks.
England is headed for a tougher lockdown starting Thursday, with nonessential shops and hairdressers closing for a month and people allowed to leave home for only a short list of reasons including exercise. Travel is also discouraged.
The lockdown is supposed to end on Dec. 2, but minister Michael Gove told Sky News on Sunday that couldn’t be guaranteed “with a virus this malignant, and with its capacity to move so quickly.”
The plan, which needs lawmakers’ approval, is facing resistance from parts of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s own Conservative Party, which worries about its economic impact. Still, passage is virtually assured because of backing from the opposition Labour Party.
Austria is also introducing new restrictions this week. Starting Tuesday and until the end of November, restaurants and bars are being closed — except for deliveries and takeout, as in Germany and England — and cultural, sports and leisure activities canceled. Residents will be asked to stay home from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. They can go out to exercise or to work, among other things, and nonessential shops will remain open.