The pandemic has been traveling towards the threshold of one million victims worldwide since last December. And even the Stock Exchanges have noticed that the virus is returning to be very scary, with a very negative session – that of Monday 21 September – precisely because of the fears related to a probable new wave of Covid. In some European countries there is already alarm and the restrictive measures have already returned. The most striking case that concerns Italy most closely is that of France, which last week reached 13.000 daily infections, with hospitalizations that in the Paris area are doubling from week to week. Half the country is now a red zone (not only Ile-de-France but also, from North to South, Auvergne-Rhône-Alps, Corsica, Hauts-de-France, New Aquitaine, Occitania, Provence-Alps-Côte d'Azur, the latter on the border with Italy) and the Italian Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, immediately ordered the mandatory swab for those arriving from those regions.
IN FRANCE, THE RED ZONES START
As already happened during the summer (and still) with Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain, now even those arriving from certain areas of France (more than half: 55 out of 96 provinces) will have to undergo a test, which may be molecular ( the classic swab) or antigenic (the so-called rapid test) and can be performed before leaving, at the airport or in the ASL where you live within 48 hours of arrival. The red areas of France are triggered where the incidence rate of the infection exceeds 50 cases per 100.000 inhabitants and they actually foresee a new mini-lockdown, i.e. mandatory smart working at least for public offices, partial or total closure of activities such as gyms, shopping centres, museums, cinemas, parks, markets, ban on gatherings and ban on moving from one's own city, province or beyond a radius of 100 km . The measures are taken locally and in some cases even outdoor masks and new restrictions have been placed on bars and restaurants.
UNITED KINGDOM, THE NEW MEASURES ANNOUNCED BY JOHNSON
Even the United Kingdom runs for cover and proposes a new strategy to avoid a new lockdown. For the next 6 months, starting next Thursday, all pubs, bars and restaurants must close by 22pm. Among other measures smart working for those who can,obligation to wear masks for staff in shops and accommodation facilities and in taxis, the limit of 15 wedding guests.
The United Kingdom is the European country to date with the most victims (almost 42.000) and has just raised the alert from level 3 to level 4: a new lockdown is increasingly in the air, even if for now Prime Minister Boris Johnson - who has spoken to the nation, perhaps also to settle the "Perugia yellow" on the footballer Suarez - does not seem to want to take it into consideration. But the forecasts of the government's scientific adviser, Patrick Wallance, are frightening: in mid-October, 50.000 new infections are expected per day, i.e. 12 times more than now.
For now, however, Europe is proceeding in no particular order, and the intention to intervene only at the local level seems to prevail. And also the case of Spain, which is the country with the highest contagion rate in proportion to the population: in the last 14 days 300 positives per 100.000 inhabitants, against 192 in France, 70 in Great Britain and 34 in Italy.
For this reason he has already taken measures the region of Madrid, with the full support of the central government: since Monday 21 September over 860.000 citizens of some areas (therefore a seventh of the inhabitants of the entire metropolitan area) cannot even leave their neighbourhood, except to go to work, to the doctor or to accompany own children at school. Furthermore, bars, restaurants and shops will have to reduce capacity by 50%: the measures are very restrictive, so much so that the local authorities in Madrid have asked for the intervention of the army to enforce them, and the obligation of self-certification has also returned. In no particular order, around the continent there are also the decision to Munich to impose masks in public places (an absolutely unprecedented measure for Germany, but the total cases have risen to 275.000), while Belgium paradoxically loosens its grip: the red zones established some time ago will be replaced on Friday by areas where it is simply not recommended to go.
