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Because of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, several European countries and regions are tightening their protective measures again. In the Netherlands, discos and nightclubs are closed again, also in Catalonia, social life was restricted again on Saturday. Concerns also arise the upcoming final of the European Football Championship in front of tens of thousands of fans in London.
In the Netherlands, discos and nightclubs were closed again on Saturday, and restaurants are only allowed to open until midnight. Government leader Mark Rutte justified the rules, which will remain in effect until at least Aug. 13, by citing the rapid rise in infection cases resulting from the delta variant. The number of new infections in the Netherlands had increased sevenfold within seven days.
While in France, nightclubs were allowed to reopen on Friday night under conditions for the first time since March 2020, in the Spanish region of Catalonia, corona measures for people celebrating were also tightened again. Nightclubs will now remain closed again; anyone wishing to attend outdoor events with more than 500 people must be fully vaccinated or show a negative corona test.
Corona hotspot
Catalonia had recently become Spain’s new corona hotspot. However, the number of cases is also rising sharply again throughout the country. Therefore, all of Spain is again considered a corona risk area for travelers from Germany as of Sunday.
Meanwhile, experts were looking with great concern to London, where 65,000 soccer fans will gather at Wembley Stadium on Sunday evening for the European Championship final between England and Italy. Critics were also head-scratching about the countless events outside the stadium – in a country where almost all restrictions have been lifted despite the massive spread of the Delta variant.
According to the preliminary results of a study by Imperial College London and market research firm Ipsos Mori, more men than women tested positive for the coronavirus in the U.K. recently for the first time. According to the authors, this could also be due to the fact that predominantly male soccer fans gathered in droves in stadiums, fan zones and pubs to watch the European Championship matches.
In view of rising infections with the highly contagious delta variant, however, countries are not only relying on new restrictions, but also increasingly on vaccinations. In Latvia, for example, all professional soldiers must be vaccinated by August, as military chief Leonids Kalnins announced on state television Friday evening. Otherwise, they would face dismissal.
The European Union now has enough vaccine to cover 70 percent of adults. According to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, “around 500 million doses” will have been distributed across the EU by Sunday. “The EU has kept its word,” von der Leyen said.
However, a vaccination rate of 70 percent is probably not enough in the fight against the virus: According to experts, the spread of the Delta variant now requires an even higher vaccination rate to contain the Corona pandemic than previously thought. The scientific advisory board of the French government stated on Friday evening that it even considers a vaccination rate of up to 95 percent to be necessary. For its part, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Germany had stated that 85 percent of people aged 12 to 59 and even 90 percent of people aged 60 and older should be vaccinated.
— source: kurier.at/picture: pixabay.com
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