A woman walks past a poster featuring a nurse wearing a protective mask and thanks all the professions that have supported the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on a street in Rennes, western France, on 2 November 2020, as France is in a new general shutdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 novel coronavirus.
Damien Meyer | AFP | Getty Images
More than a year after the coronavirus first arrived in Europe, much of the continent spent Easter, usually a major holiday in the region, as it faces a third wave of virus infections.
“It’s just a big mess. Everyone is frustrated with the government,” Hannah Weiler, a medical student in Cologne, Germany, told CNBC.
The German government abandoned plans for the national closure of Easter just a day after it was announced in late March, leaving measures in the hands of the country’s 16 federal states amid public backlash. But Chancellor Angela Merkel urged residents to stay home for the long weekend.
“Germany is a prime example of nonsense,” Weiler said. “The 16 federal states are doing their thing and the government seems unable to come up with a clear strategy. ”
She said “the mood started to go down,” which politicians interpreted as a desire for looser restrictions, so they started opening stores … Surprise, surprise, cases are rising and we are now in the third wave. ”
Germany has reported a total of just over 2.9 million cases of coronavirus and more than 77,000 deaths, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Its daily count of cases over the past month has ranged from 9,000 to 20,000 daily, reaching as many as 49,000 cases in a single day in late December. The German maximum level last spring, which caused its initial blockade, was just over 6,000.
A pedestrian wearing a protective mask passes a street art mural by French street artist JBC, in homage to health workers depicting a nurse wearing a protective mask in reference to coronavirus disease (COVID- 19) on March 24, 2021 in Paris, France.
Chesnot | Getty Images
France and Italy imposed nationwide closures before Easter weekend, as an increase in cases related to the most contagious variant first identified in the UK late last year threatened to return to overwhelm intensive care units.
Italy announced a strict three-day closure for the normally vibrant holidays in the heavily Catholic country, which banned all non-essential travel but allowed churches to remain open and allowed people to eat Easter at home with up to two more adults.
Italy has recorded 3.6 million cases of the virus and more than 111,000 deaths, the highest number of deaths in Europe after the UK. Its daily case rate is about 20,000, according to Hopkins. It is about half the figure observed during its peak in November, but exceeded 13,000 cases a day in February and well above the spring 2020 high of about 6,000 a day.
France: Daily cases have tripled since February
New daily cases of Covid in France have risen and the country has registered more than 66,000 new cases on Sunday alone, three times the daily rate of cases in February. Local media reports that French hospitals are overflowing.
This is more than 1,000% higher than the first wave of France in the spring of last year, which recorded new daily cases at 5,000 at the most in early April 2020, according to data from the French government. Officials now fear a return to record infection levels in November, when the country registered nearly 90,000 new cases in one day.
The EU has been criticized for its vaccine launch, which lags behind the UK and US
Spain now fears a similar fate in France, and Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias has urged regional health authorities to maintain vaccinations throughout Holy Week.
France has recorded the most cases of coronavirus in Europe and the fourth highest number in the world, with 4.8 million in total and more than 96,000 deaths.
“Right now, almost everyone has lost confidence in how the French government handles Covid,” Liz Warren, an American living in Paris, told CNBC.
“No one really understands certain measures that have been taken, that is, places of worship remain open and are forced to close non-essential stores. It’s a big mess and I don’t expect this country to be up to date with the United States. or the UK until it at least falls. “
But after months of changes in measures and inconsistent government messages, many in France do not believe that the blocking rules are widely respected.
“For me, with the third confinement, I already have enough,” said Romain Baudelet, a student in the coastal city of La Rochelle. “I don’t think it’s going to go very well here.”