Since there’s so much news, I thought it would be helpful to have a separate thread for Europe, analogous to the separate thread for the second US wave.
Germany followed several European countries by reporting a record number of daily coronavirus cases on Saturday, as a second wave of infections sweeps through the continent as winter approaches.
Europe is locking down again, but not quite as strongly as before–which I don’t really understand.
And the continent is becoming a patchwork of various restrictions.
The concept of what is essential to keep a society functioning during coronavirus lockdowns is gripping Europe as the pandemic unleashes death, poverty, illness and isolation.
Beyond obvious candidates like food stores and pharmacies, some answers in the patchwork of nations and cultures that make up Europe can approach the surreal. An activity or item considered essential in one country can be off-limits across the border just a brief stroll down the road.
There’s a second question hidden in the first. What is essential to survive the shut-down, but also what is considered to be an essential that should survive after covid. Bookshops are not essential but their closure could be the slippery slope that forces many to shut for good. Do societies where literature is important [because they are arty-farty culture vultures, or for maintenance of language and cultural identity] want to see that happen? Same with things like national airlines, distinctive cuisines and so on.
The OP’s focus on “essentials” is somewhat missing the point. The new lockdowns aren’t intended to limit all social interaction to essential activities as an end in itself, but rather to limit the spread of the virus. Non-essential activities are permitted as long as they carry an acceptably low risk of infection. The inconsistency across jurisdictions concerning which activities remain permitted comes down to how low or high one sets the “acceptably low risk” bar.
Here in Austria, it’s generally only those activities and services where people tend to congregate socially in large numbers and close quarters for long periods of time that are banned. This means that large indoor gatherings, like concerts and sporting events, are forbidden, but most shops and services remain open, subject to the wearing of face coverings and the imposition of strict limits on the number of customers per square metre of floor space. The current lockdown has been in place for less than a week, and the government is keeping an eye on its effects to decide whether the restrictions need to be tightened. (In fact, there are already rumours in today’s papers that the rules are going to be adjusted soon.)
I think it’s partly because they have learnt more about the spread and understand that some things can go ahead without too much damage, but mostly because people are suffering and the economy and peoples livelihoods are seriously damaged.
The partial lockdown in Europe is mainly because we can’t support a full lockdown anymore. We just can’t afford it. So we try to close some things, but keep the economically important stuff rolling. It’s a ballance thing.
Here in Italy, the worst hit region was Lombardia (Milan) back in spring, and it’s Lombardia now. Lombardia is an economically very successful region with lots of industry… Industry that do not close, not now and not back in March.
Of course we know more now, and we are much better prepared, but infections spread when people meet and are close. There’s no way around that.
The lockdowns have always been different between the European countries. Every country has its own CDC and Dr Fauci, and as such all countries make their own decions on what is shut down. Based (obviously) on the expected effect and the economic/social effect of shutting down those industries.
In the Netherlands for instance, we never closed shops and people were always free to be outside and go on walks, bike rides etc. (unlike countries like Spain, France, Italy etc.).
The biggest difference in the second partial lock down (since oct 14), is that the schools have remained open (and most contact professions, like hair dressers). Currently we are at around half the amount of daily infections, compared to a month ago and the hospitals are also slowly becoming less crowded.
I truly hope that you are right, but as I’ve said in another thread, it certainly appears to me that Italy is about to be bent over the table and given the business. Your daily new case count dwarfs the one you had the first wave and the deaths appear to be not far behind. I’d love to be wrong, but I’m not seeing it. “We can’t support a full lockdown anymore” won’t cut it if you’re dealing with 100,000 dead people and no end in sight.
It’s just that, like all the other countries, the full lockdown is not an option. Our leaders/politicians will never do it. It’s too costly. And that’s not an Italian point of view. It will not happen, not in Europe not anywhere else. They already played that card.
The trajectory is, if not exactly the same, very similar all over. Italy was a few weeks behind France, Spain, GB, and Germany, As well as the US if you want. Our schools start a little later. And our summer is a week or two longer than in Germany. But for the rest, what happened was predictable, and it was predicted by a majority of the scientists. I don’t know how many times I heard in June and July “It’s not over” and “There will be a second wave come fall”.
It’s a bit like killing bugs… You don’t kill them one by one, you don’t wait till the house is full, and most important you have to work together, in all the rooms, the basement, the garage, and maybe the neighbors too.