While the growth of COVID-19 infections is slowing down in some European countries, others are experiencing a swift increase in case numbers, prompting fears of third wave and renewed lockdowns. Italy, which employs a regional lockdown and national curfew systems together with early restaurant closures, nevertheless saw all regions approach “red zone” status and announced a tightening of nationwide restrictions starting Monday.
According to numbers by Johns Hopkins University, case number have been rising fast in Italy, Germany and France. The latter came out of its shutdown and currently is imposing an early curfew at 6 p.m. combined with local weekend lockdowns, but it seems like it is not enough to curb the spread of infections. Certain regions, including Paris, might be placed under lockdown again soon, according to media reports.
Virus mutations, like the B117 or UK variety, are one of the problems posed by the virus’ second and third waves. The double bend of the UK curve might be testament to the more contagious variety starting to spread in the country in late fall and winter. The country counted 4.3 million cases on March 14. France has surpassed 4.1 million total cases.
Despite a recent slowdown of new infection numbers in the UK, the country remains the fifth most affected in the world by absolute numbers after the U.S., India, Brazil and Russia. Due to the severity of the second wave in Europe, France, Spain, Italy and Germany currently all make the top ten of the countries hit hardest by COVID-19.
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This chart shows the growth of confirmed COVID-19 cases in selected countries (2020/21).
