A woman passes by a poster showing a nurse wearing a protective mask and thanking all the professions that supported the coronavirus pandemic COVID-19 on a street in Rennes, western France on November 2, 2020, while France is under a new general block to contain the spread of the new Covid-19 coronavirus.
Damien Meyer | AFP | Getty Images
More than a year after the coronavirus hit Europe, much of the continent spent Easter – usually a major holiday in the region – in confinement, while battling a third wave of virus infections.
“It’s a big mess. Everyone is frustrated with the government,” Hannah Weiler, a medical student in Cologne, Germany, told CNBC.
The German government abandoned national blockade plans for Easter just a day after it was announced in late March, leaving the measures to the country’s 16 federal states amid public reaction. But Chancellor Angela Merkel asked residents to stay home for the long weekend.
“Germany is an excellent example of absurdity,” said Weiler. “All 16 federal states do their own thing and the government seems unable to come up with a clear strategy. ”
The “climate really started to get worse,” she said, “what politicians interpreted as a desire for more flexible restrictions, so they started opening stores. … Surprise, surprise, the cases are on the rise and we are on the third wave now. ”
Germany recorded a total of just over 2.9 million cases of coronavirus and more than 77,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Its daily case count over the past month has fluctuated between about 9,000 and 20,000 a day, still not approaching the 49,000 single-day high at the end of December. Germany’s peak level in the spring of last year, triggering its initial blockade, was just over 6,000.
A pedestrian wearing a face mask passes through a street art mural by French street artist JBC, in honor of health professionals, depicting a nurse wearing a face mask in reference to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 24 March 2021 in Paris, France.
Chesnot | Getty Images
France and Italy imposed blockades across the country before the Easter weekend, as a wave of cases linked to the most contagious variant first identified in the UK at the end of last year threatened to overwhelm the most intensive care units. one time.
Italy has announced a strict three-day blockade for the normally vibrant holiday in the heavily Catholic country, banning all non-essential travel, but allowing churches to remain open and allowing people to have Easter meals at home with a maximum of two others adults.
Italy recorded 3.6 million cases of the virus and more than 111,000 deaths, the highest mortality count in Europe after the United Kingdom. Its daily case rate is around 20,000, according to Hopkins. That’s about half the number seen during its peak in November, but up from around 13,000 cases a day in February and well above the spring 2020 peak of around 6,000 a day.
France: daily cases have tripled since February
Covid’s new daily cases have increased in France, with the country registering more than 66,000 new cases on Sunday alone – triple the daily case rate in February. Local media reports that French hospitals are overloaded.
This is more than 1,000% higher than during France’s first wave in the spring of last year, which saw new daily cases in the mid-5,000s at the beginning of April 2020, according to French government data. Authorities now fear a return to the record levels of infection in November, when the country recorded almost 90,000 new cases a day.
The EU has faced criticism over the launch of its vaccine, which is behind those in the UK and the US
Spain now fears a fate similar to that of France, and Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias has asked regional health authorities to maintain vaccines during Easter week.
France recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe and the fourth largest number in the world, with 4.8 million in total, and more than 96,000 deaths.
“At this point, almost everyone has lost confidence in how the French government is dealing with Covid,” Liz Warren, an American who lives in Paris, told CNBC.
“No one really understands certain measures that have been taken – that is, places of worship remain open and non-essential stores being forced to close. It is a big mess and I do not anticipate that this country will reach the United States or the United Kingdom until at least autumn. “
But after months of changing government measures and inconsistent messages, many in France do not think the blocking rules will be widely followed.
“For me, with the third confinement, that’s enough,” said Romain Baudelet, a student from the coastal city of La Rochelle. “I don’t think it is very well followed here.”