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HEALTH-VIRUS
Lockdowns, curfews, alcohol bans as nations fight resurgent virus
PARIS, Jan 3, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Countries across the world tightened
restrictions on their populations Saturday to fight a resurgence in the
coronavirus, as the European Union offered to help drug companies expand
vaccine production to improve distribution “bottlenecks”.
From local curfews, to alcohol bans and complete lockdowns, governments
are trying to tackle a surge in cases.
The coronavirus has killed more than 1.8 million people globally since
emerging in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official
sources compiled by AFP.
But experts fear the worst is yet to come, predicting a sharp rise in
cases and deaths after weeks of holiday gatherings.
French police booked hundreds of New Year revellers for flouting anti-
Covid measures at an illegal rave.
In Bangkok, the city’s nightlife shut down following a ban on bars,
nightclubs and restaurant alcohol sales, among a raft of restrictions aimed
at curbing the kingdom’s rising coronavirus toll
Public schools in the Thai capital are to close for two weeks.
An outbreak last month at a massive seafood market has led to a resurgence
of the virus in Thailand, with infections detected in 53 of the kingdom’s 77
provinces.
In Tokyo, the city’s governor on Saturday asked Japan’s government to
declare a new state of emergency as the country battles a third wave of the
coronavirus, with record numbers of new cases.
– Vaccine race –
The soaring number of infections around the world means the race to
vaccinate is set to dominate the coming year.
But delays in getting the vaccines were not the fault of the European
Union, said the bloc’s health commissioner Stella Kyriakides.
“The bottleneck at the moment is not the volume of orders but the
worldwide shortage of production capacity,” she said.
The bloc would help drug companies in their efforts to develop candidate
vaccines, she added.
“The situation will improve step by step.”
India on Saturday staged nationwide drills to start one of the world’s
biggest coronavirus vaccination programmes as the drug regulator prepared to
approve the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shot.
In the United States, the vaccination programme has been beset by
logistical problems, even as the world’s worst-hit country passed 20 million
cases.
In Russia, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that more than 800,000
people had received the domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine and that 1.5
million doses had been distributed throughout the country of around 147
million.
The Kremlin has held back on imposing nationwide virus restrictions,
instead placing its hopes on the mass vaccination drive to end the pandemic
and save its struggling economy from the hit of another lockdown.
MORE/MSY/0959 hrs
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The French government, facing the threat of a new wave of Covid-19
infections, lengthened an overnight curfew by two hours in parts of the
country to help combat the virus.
The curfew will start at 6 pm, rather than 8 pm in parts of France, mainly
in the country’s east. Paris has, for now, been spared the additional
restriction.
– ‘We had to party’ –
The new French restrictions came as police booked more than 1,200
revellers Saturday following an illegal rave in northwestern France finally
ended after more than two days of partying that also saw clashes with police.
Of those, around 800 people were booked for flouting anti-virus measures,
while the regional health authority in Brittany noted the “high risk of the
spread of Covid-19” at the event.
“We knew what we were risking… we had to party, for a year everything
has been stuck,” said one of the revellers, a 20-year-old waitress.
Spanish police broke up another gathering Saturday near Barcelona, where
300 people had been partying for more than 40 hours.
And footballers were also among those caught breaking coronavirus rules,
with Tottenham’s Erik Lamela, Sergio Reguilon and Giovani Lo Celso to be
disciplined after a pictured emerged of them attending a large party.
Norway, which has one of the lowest infection rates in Europe, on Saturday
began requiring Covid-19 tests upon arrival into the country, after finding
five cases of a new coronavirus variant that first emerged in Britain.
Denmark discovered 86 cases of the new variant, which is believed to be
more contagious.
The tiny British enclave of Gibraltar, off Spain, went into a 14-day
lockdown Saturday. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said the virus was spreading
“more quickly than we can control it”.
Greece has extended until January 10 its strict two-month lockdown
measures, ending an easing of the restrictions over the holiday period.
In Lebanon, medics warned that hospitals are being overwhelmed by
coronavirus cases, in the wake of end of year holidays.
But in Australia, the finishing touches were being put on a glitzy show at
the Sydney Opera House Saturday, as the venue prepared to host an opera crowd
for the first time since March following a virus hiatus.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0959 hrs