BOCHNIA, Poland (AP) – European countries struggled on Monday to contain an increase in COVID-19 cases and increase vaccinations, hoping to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed by the latest deadly wave of pandemic infections.
The crushing of coronavirus patients has been relentless for hospitals in Poland, where new daily infections have hit records of more than 35,000 in the past two days and the government has ordered new restrictions to prevent large crowds during the long Easter weekend. France’s health minister warned that the number of patients in intensive care units may correspond to levels a year ago.
But in a sign of disparities from one country to another, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that barbers, gyms and courtyards in open-air bars and restaurants would be able to open next week after the country reports on progress with vaccines and its recent blockade. Meanwhile, the US vaccination campaign has continued to accelerate, with 40% of the nation’s adult population receiving at least one dose.
On Sunday, coronavirus patients occupied almost all of the 120 beds at Bochnia Municipal Hospital, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the city of Krakow, in the south of the country. One patient, Edward Szumanski, 82, expressed concern that some people still refuse to see the virus that killed more than 2.8 million people worldwide as a threat. About 55,000 of these deaths occurred in Poland.
“The disease is certainly there, and it is very serious. Those who did not pass, those who do not have them in the family, may be deluding themselves, but the reality is different ”, he said.
The most contagious and most aggressive variant of the virus identified in Britain is fueling much of the increase in Europe. Meanwhile, voters in many countries are irritated by the European Union’s strategy, but also by the way their own governments deal with the pandemic and the failure to prevent repeated spikes in infections.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran warned on Monday that the number of patients with COVID-19 in the country’s intensive care units could equal the level of the first crisis a year ago. Speaking on TF1 television, he said the country could approach the ICU saturation levels of April 2020, when French ICUs held more than 7,000 patients with viruses, many of whom were in temporary facilities because the demand far exceeded the pre-pandemic capacity of the country’s ICU.
Veran expressed hope that new infections in France could peak this week, thanks to new partial blockade measures. After long resisting calls for a new blockade, the French government closed schools and all non-essential stores across the country and imposed travel restrictions for four weeks.
“Let’s do something,” said Veran.
The British government announced on Monday that all adults and children will be able to have routine coronavirus tests twice a week as a way to prevent further outbreaks. The tests are being introduced as Johnson announces the next steps on the country’s roadmap after his three-month blockade.
Britain recorded almost 127,000 deaths from coronavirus, the highest number of deaths in Europe. But both infections and deaths have fallen dramatically during the blockade and since the start of a vaccination campaign that has so far given the first dose to more than 31 million people, or 6 out of 10 adults.
Authorities in the Ukrainian capital Kiev have introduced stricter blocking restrictions after a recent spike in virus cases. All schools in the city of 3 million will be closed for the next two weeks, and only people with special passes will have access to public transport.
“The hospitals are almost full. The situation is difficult, ”said the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko.
Elsewhere, North Macedonia has postponed mass immunization amid vaccine shortages, as its hospitals are full after last week’s record new infections and deaths from COVID-19.
In Greece, which is struggling to get out of a deep recession, most retail stores have been allowed to reopen Monday, despite the continued rise in COVID-19 infections The blocking measures have been in place since the beginning of November, although stores are opening briefly at Christmas time. Prolonged closures have increased pressure on the economy.
Serbia has also facilitated measures against the coronavirus, despite the high number of infections and the slowdown in vaccinations. The government on Monday allowed bars and restaurants to serve guests outdoors with reduced capacity and respecting the rules of social distance.
In the United States, a leading public health official said that young people are generating the most recent increase in cases of COVID-19, as the increase in vaccination rates in older Americans prevents the most serious cases among the elderly.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cited the growing spread of variants, as well as an increase in youth sports and extracurricular activities, as factors that contributed to the steady increase in cases in the past four weeks.
But Walensky pointed to positive developments among the elderly, who are the most vulnerable age group. Deaths from elderly viruses have fallen to their lowest level since the beginning of autumn. More than 75% of people aged 65 and over nationally received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and almost 55% are fully vaccinated.
“What we are seeing is a decrease in visits to the emergency department and also in hospitalizations associated with this demographic group,” she said on Monday.
More than 23% of all adults in the USA are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Many states are making vaccines available to younger demographic groups. As of Monday, any adult in Florida is eligible to receive the vaccine. In addition, the state announced that 16- and 17-year-olds could also receive the vaccine with parental permission.
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Charlton reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Maryland; Jill Lawless in London; Zeke Miller in Washington; Yuras Karmanau in Kiev, Ukraine; Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia; Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, North Macedonia; Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece; and Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki, Greece, contributed to this report.