Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Germany and France announce new national lockdowns, saying they have lost control of the coronavirus

Germany and France announce new national lockdowns, saying they have lost control of the coronavirus

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron each announced month-long national lockdowns Wednesday, saying health authorities have lost control of skyrocketing new infections while hospitals fill rapidly.

The announcements came as governments across Europe struggle to contain a second wave of the virus in colder weather, even after the relative success of strict lockdown restrictions in the spring.

“We in Europe are all surprised by the propagation of the virus,” Macron said in a televised address to the nation.

“The virus is circulating in France at a speed that even the most pessimistic forecasts had not anticipated,” he said, adding that the number of infections had doubled in less than two weeks.

Germany has similarly witnessed a rapid deterioration of its virus response, after being praised in the first wave of the pandemic. The country’s contact-tracing program, paired with mandatory quarantines, had been held up as a model of how to contain outbreaks. Now German health authorities are unable to identify where 75 percent of new infections come from.

“We no longer have control of the spread of the virus,” Merkel said at a Berlin news conference, noting that the number of patients in the country’s intensive care units had doubled in the past 10 days.

“If the tempo of infections stays the same, we will reach the capacity of our health-care system within weeks,” she said. “That’s why it’s completely clear that we need to act and act now.”


German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin on Oct. 28.


Starting Friday in France and Monday in Germany, restaurants, cafes and bars will close. In France, Macron said, residents will be permitted to leave their homes only for essential work or medical reasons and will be required to present “attestation forms” when they do. Leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states also agreed to new restrictions on social contacts, limiting public gatherings to a maximum of two households, with a limit of 10 people.

Both Germany and France plan to keep schools open — a priority for many European countries in this second wave — and, unlike in the spring, nursing home visits will be allowed.

Countries across the continent have desperately sought to avoid the return of national lockdowns. Switzerland on Wednesday ordered clubs closed and added new mask requirements, hoping to head off the need for more comprehensive, economy-crippling measures.

But governments are finding that more targeted, piecemeal measures may not be sufficient. Appeals by both French and German leaders to reduce contacts in recent weeks failed to slow the growth of new cases.


A man walks through the streets of Lyon, France, on Wednesday.


France’s new lockdown was a necessary last resort in the face of troubling figures, Macron said. “I have decided that we must return to confinement,” he said. “The whole territory is concerned.”

France on Sunday reported a record 52,010 new confirmed coronavirus infections from the previous 24 hours. It has also seen a steep rise in hospitalizations. On Monday, for instance, French hospitals tracked more than 1,300 new covid-19 patients, the highest one-day total since early April, in the peak of the first wave.

Macron talked his nation through all the options — including “herd immunity,” which he said would result in at least 400,000 deaths, in a country with a population of roughly 67 million people, and which was therefore not acceptable.

“I do not believe in the opposition between health and the economy,” Macron said, defending his decision to impose a second lockdown. “For us, nothing is more important than human life.”

While Germany has greater ICU capacity than most countries in Europe and fewer daily cases than France, Spain and Britain, infections have been growing exponentially. Germany recorded 14,964 new cases Wednesday, doubling from just a week earlier.

Parties and gatherings in public and private spaces were “unacceptable,” Merkel said. Social sacrifices must be made to ensure that schools can remain open, she said.

German industry groups said a new lockdown would be a “death blow.” As Merkel and state leaders hashed out new measures over a video call, thousands of restaurant and bar owners marched to the Chancellery. A van pulled a coffin on a trailer with the words “Entertainment Sector” on the side.


The moon is seen beside the Reichstag building, the seat of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, before a news conference at the Chancellery in Berlin on Oct. 28.


Germany said it will make an additional $12 billion available to compensate businesses affected by the closures.

The closures were a “very hard decision,” Health Minister Jens Spahn, who himself contracted the novel coronavirus last week, told German radio. But it was necessary, he said.

“If we wait until the intensive care units are full, it will be too late,” he said.

“We had predicted there would be this second wave, but we ourselves are surprised by the brutality of what’s been happening over the past 10 days,” Jean-François Delfraissy, an immunologist and the chair of the French government’s scientific advisory covid-19 response board, told France’s RTL radio on Monday.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. and Hungarian Officials Talk About Economic Collaboration and Sanctions Strategy
Technology Giants Activate Lobbying Campaigns Against Strict EU Regulations
Pope Francis Admitted to Hospital in Rome Amid Increasing Speculation on Succession
Zelensky Calls on World Leaders to Back Peace as Tensions Rise with Trump
UK Leader Keir Starmer Calls for US Security Guarantee in Ukraine Peace Deal
NATO Chief Urges Higher Defense Expenditure in Europe
The negotiation teams of Trump and Putin meet directly, establishing the groundwork for a significant advancement.
Rubio Touches Down in Riyadh Before Key U.S.-Russia Discussions
Students in Serbian universities Unite to Hold Coordinated Protests for Accountability.
US State Department Removes Taiwan Independence Statement from Website
Abolishing opposition won't protect Germany from Nazism—this is precisely what led Germany to become Nazi!
Transatlantic Gold Rush: Traders Shift Bullion in Response to Tariff Anxieties and Market Instability
Bill Ackman Backs Uber as the Company Shifts Towards Profitability
AI Titans Challenge Nvidia's Supremacy in Light of New Chip Innovations
US and Russian Officials to Meet in Saudi Arabia Over Ending Ukraine Conflict. Ukraine and European leaders – who profit from this war – excluded from the negotiations.
Macron Calls for Urgent Summit as Ukraine Conflict Business Model is Threatened
Trump’s Defense Secretary: Ukraine Won’t Join NATO or Regain Lost Territories
Zelensky Urges Europe to Bolster Its Military in Light of Uncertain US Backing
Chinese Zoo Confesses to Dyeing Donkeys to Look Like Zebras
Elon Musk is Sherlock Holmes - Movie Trailer Parody featuring Donald Trump's Detective
Trump's Greenland Suggestion Sparks Sovereignty Discussions Amid Historical Grievances
OpenAI Board Dismisses Elon Musk's Offer to Acquire the Company.
USAID Uncovered: American Taxpayer Funds Leveraged to Erode Democracy in Europe Until Trump Put a Stop to It.
JD Vance and Scholz Did Not Come Together at the Munich Security Conference.
EU Official Participates in Discussions in Washington Amid Trade Strains
Qatar Contemplates Reducing French Investments Due to PSG Chief Investigation
Germany's Green Agenda Encounters Ambiguity Before Elections
Trump Did Not Notify Germany's Scholz About His Ukraine Peace Proposal.
Munich Car Attack Escalates Migration Discourse Before German Elections
NATO Allies Split on Trump's Proposal for 5% Defense Spending Increase
European Parliament Advocates for Encrypted Messaging to Ensure Secure Communications
Trump's Defense Spending Goal Creates Division Among NATO Partners
French Prime Minister Bayrou Navigates a Challenging Path Amid Budget Preservation and Immigration Discourse
Steering Through the Updated Hierarchy at the European Commission
Parliamentarian Calls for Preservation of AI Liability Directive
Mark Rutte Calls on NATO Allies to Increase Defence Expenditures
Dresden Marks the 80th Anniversary of the World War II Bombing.
Global Community Pledges to Aid Syria's Political Transition
EU Allocates €200 Billion for AI Investments, Introduces €20 Billion Fund for Gigafactories
EU Recognizes Its Inability to Close the USAID Funding Shortfall Due to Stalled US Aid
Commission President von der Leyen Missing from Notre Dame Reopening Due to Last-Minute Cancellation
EU Officializes Disinformation Code for Online Platforms, Omitting X
EU Fails to Fully Implement Key Cybersecurity Directives
EU Under Fire for Simplification Discussions Regarding Corporate Sustainability Reporting
Shein Encountering Further Information Request from the EU During Ongoing Investigation
European Commission Initiates Investigation into Shein as It Aims at Chinese E-Commerce Regulations
German Officials Respond to U.S. Proposal for Peace Talks with Russia
Senate Approves Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Trump and Putin Engage in Discussions on Ukraine Peace Negotiations Amid Worldwide Responses
Honda and Nissan End Merger Talks
×