Europe closes for third lockdown

French President Emmanuel Macron has extended the restrictions in place in Paris to the entire country - France is quarantined for at least a month, non-food stores, schools will not work, and movement will be restricted. Earlier, Italy and Germany extended the current restrictions until the end of April. European authorities hoped that vaccination would help to avoid tough measures during the SARS season, but the incidence of coronavirus continues to grow. The situation is no better in the United States, where the authorities stated the proximity of the fourth wave of COVID-19. In Russia, according to official data, the incidence, although slightly, is declining. However, the Ministry of Health this week started talking about the possibility of a third wave.

on Wednesday evening French President Emmanuel Macron announced the third nationwide lockdown . It will start on Saturday and will last at least the whole of April. “We have done everything possible to postpone such decisions as much as possible until the moment of absolute necessity, and this moment has come,” the president said in an address to the nation. The virus has become more contagious. If we don't do it now, we'll lose control."

According to Macron's decision, the restrictive measures in force in Paris and a number of other cities will be extended to the entire country. Starting Saturday, all shops will be closed, except those selling essential goods. It will be prohibited to travel further than 10 km from home, except for urgent cases. Students will be quarantined for three weeks.

New restrictions will increase the burden on the French economy, notes Bloomberg . The country’s Ministry of Finance has already announced that the measures will cost the budget 11 billion euros per month (the previous soft lockdown option cost 7.2 billion euros) - measures will be expanded to support companies forced to close, and benefits will be introduced for parents who will not be able to work due to that the children stay at home. But Macron, as the agency notes, was already pulling to the last with the introduction of quarantine. In recent days, France has ranked first in Europe in terms of the daily number of coronavirus infections (about 40 thousand daily) and the specific rate per 100 thousand population.

Other European countries are also forced to extend restrictions or introduce new ones due to the increase in the incidence. Italy and Germany have already extended the current measures until the end of April. In addition, the Italian authorities have introduced mandatory vaccination for medical personnel.

The EU authorities, according to Bloomberg, expected that by the spring and the SARS season in Europe, mass vaccination would already begin and new lockdowns could be avoided. But delays in the supply of the vaccine did not allow these plans to come true. According to the agency, EU countries on average managed to receive only 15 doses of the vaccine per 100 people. The UK and the US each vaccinated about 45 people out of 100.

Despite the fact that the American authorities managed to vaccinate a larger percentage of the population, it is still not possible to overcome the coronavirus in the United States. COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the rise in half of the states, with ever younger patients admitted to hospitals, even from states with successful vaccinations and high recovery rates. The country is on the verge of a fourth wave of coronavirus, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, said this week, barely holding back tears.

In Russia, in recent days, the daily incidence and the number of active cases of COVID-19, although slightly, have been declining (according to the data of the operational headquarters). The Ministry of Health disagreed about the third wave of coronavirus. On March 30, Deputy Health Minister Tatyana Semyonova said that now "the incidence rates and the course of diseases allow us to talk about a third wave of coronavirus infection, despite unprecedented measures." But Minister Mikhail Murashko immediately hurried to refute her words, calling statements about a third wave of coronavirus in Russia premature. Rospotrebnadzor is also not waiting for the third wave.

What do I get from this?

Although the situation in Europe looks alarming and a year ago, cases began to appear en masse in Russia after the outbreak in European countries, now the circumstances may be different. You should not expect that the third wave will definitely come to Russia from the West, - political scientist Gleb Kuznetsov told Vedomosti. If a year ago all countries were on an equal footing in the fight against coronavirus, now the situation is different everywhere - “unique and individual measures are being taken,” he explained.