PARIS, Oct 24, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – France has registered more than one million cases of coronavirus since the global pandemic began, with more than 40,000 new infections reported in the last 24 hours, French health services said.
A total of 42,032 cases of Covid-19 were reported on Friday, 410 more than a day earlier, a new record since widespread testing began, the public health agency said.
The death toll also increased, with 298 new fatalities registered in 24 hours, bringing the total to more than 34,500 since the pandemic started.
Faced with the alarming rise in cases, the government has expanded a nighttime curfew to cover more than two-thirds of the population, or 46 million people.
The virus is spreading more quickly than during its initial outbreak in the spring, French government scientific advisor Arnaud Fontanet said.
“The virus is circulating more quickly … The resurgence of the pandemic started in August,” Fontanet, an epidemiologist, told BMF TV, adding the fight against the disease would be a “marathon.”
He added that people with blood group O are less likely to contract the virus, according to their research.
SPAIN: The “real number” of virus cases in Spain is more than three million, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said in a televised address.
Earlier this week, Spain officially surpassed one million confirmed coronavirus infections but Sanchez said the actual figure was much higher because the number of cases detected at the start of the pandemic was very low.
BRITAIN: Millions more people have headed into virus lockdowns in Britain as the government boosted a jobs support package but acknowledged failures in a hugely expensive testing programme.
Across Britain, more than 44,000 deaths have been linked to the disease and cases have been surging after a summer lull, especially in northern England.
Official figures released estimated a daily increase of 27,900-35,200 cases for the week ending October 16, giving a slightly reduced doubling time of around 21 days.
But the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted calls for a second national lockdown, arguing that its tiered system is better suited to target regions facing the biggest threat.
NETHERLANDS: The number of coronavirus infections in the Netherlands has jumped by nearly 10,000 in 24 hours, hitting a new record, data released by the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) showed.
The government imposed partial lockdown measures to contain the spread on Oct 14, including the closure of all bars and restaurants in the country.
BELGIUM: Belgium has tightened restrictions on social contacts by banning fans from sports matches, limiting the number of people in cultural spaces and closing theme parks.
Belgium had already closed cafes, bars and restaurants and imposed a night curfew, and has Europe’s second-highest infection rate per capita after the Czech Republic. New infections hit a peak of 10,500 on Thursday.
But the government has resisted calls from medical experts to order a new lockdown to avoid causing more economic pain.
The restrictions running until November 19 also include stricter social distancing. They are intended to avoid crowding on public transport and impose a limit of 200 people in theatres, concert halls and cinemas.
POLAND: Poland will close restaurants and bars for two weeks and limit public gatherings to five people after virus infections hit a daily record of more than 13,600.
Officials said the aim of the new restrictions was to limit the growth of infections, and that without them daily cases could jump to as many as 25,000.
The Health Ministry reported 153 deaths, down from a record high of 168 a day earlier, taking the total toll to 4,172.
The government’s spokesperson was unavailable to comment on the report.
RUSSIA: Russia’s daily tally of new cases hit a record high of 17,340, including 5,478 in Moscow, taking the national tally to 1,480,646 since the pandemic began.
Authorities said 283 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 25,525.
SLOVAKIA: Slovakia registered a record one-day tally of 2,581 new cases, Prime Minister Igor Matovic was cited by TASR news agency as saying in parliament.
Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic said the EU member would impose a partial curfew to battle a huge uptick in coronavirus cases.
During the rest of the day, Slovaks will only be permitted to leave the house for medical visits, errands, work, grocery-shopping, walks in nature or with pets and a few other exceptions.
But no one will be required to show a document to prove why they are out and about, Interior Minister Roman Mikulec said.
In several high-risk districts, residents will need a negative coronavirus test to leave the house during the day.
The curfew will apply until November 1 but may be extended.
SWEDEN: Sweden is seeing an uptick in infections and introducing targeted measures, but the country that famously refused to lock down is sticking to its guns and insisting coercive methods are not the way to go.
After two months of declining cases in July and August, Sweden has seen infections rise steadily since mid-September.
But while many European countries are again introducing draconian measures like partial lockdowns or curfews to curb the spread of the virus, Sweden, which has recorded 5,930 Covid-related deaths, one of Europe’s highest per capita death tolls, is just adjusting its softer approach with targeted tweaks.
This week, it announced stricter local guidelines in Uppsala, a university town 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of Stockholm that has seen a spike in cases since students returned in the autumn.
Among other things, locals have been advised to avoid public transport and in-person contact with people outside their own household until November 3.
On Thursday the country also introduced restrictions on nightclubs, with Prime Minister Stefan Lofven admonishing Swedes “that the party is over now in nightclubs, and it needs to stay that way for as long as necessary”.
Yet Sweden remains one of the only countries in the world that still does not recommend face masks, arguing they provide a false sense of security that undermines social distancing efforts.
UKRAINE: Ukraine registered a daily record of 7,517 cases, the national security council said, up from a previous record of 7,053.
The total number of cases climbed to 330,396.
The council said 121 new coronavirus-related deaths were registered in the past day. On Wednesday, the toll hit a record 141.
Ukraine has recorded over 5,000 new coronavirus cases almost every day since the start of October. The spike in infections has prompted the government to extend lockdown measures until end-2020.
CZECH REPUBLIC: The Czech Republic registered 14,151 new cases, down from a record of 14,968 the previous day, Health Ministry data showed.
The country, which is seeing Europe’s biggest surge in new Covid-19 cases, has recorded 223,065 infections since March. Deaths have risen to 1,845 from 1,739 reported a day earlier, which includes 55 deaths on Thursday along with revisions to previous days.
GERMANY: The number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 11,242 to 403,291, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.
The reported death toll rose by 49 to 9,954, the tally showed. — NNN-AGENCIES
