April 20th Although the third wave of Coronavirus pandemic is still affecting European countries, some countries have decided to relax restrictions and reopen places such as restaurants and bar decks.
French President Emmanuel Macron has confirmed that from mid-May, France will phase out its open-air platforms and cultural venues, which have been closed since October 30, 2020, BFM television reported. France is not the only country to gradually lift restrictions.
Britain on the 12th took the lead in reopening its bars and restaurants since January this year, such as open-air platforms, barber shops, gyms and other places. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “I believe this is a huge relief for business owners and everyone else affected by the long-term closure.” “However, the UK government has put in place a number of hygiene conditions for the partial reopening, including the need for customers to register through the app for no more than six people per table, in which case most restaurants have an online reservation system in place.”
Switzerland has reopened its catering open-air platforms, cinemas and gymnasiums since 19 April, subject to certain quantitative restrictions. The Swiss government acknowledges that the situation in the country remains fragile and has worsened in recent weeks.
Monaco relaxed restrictions from the 19th, postponed the start of the curfew until 21 p.m., and allowed restaurants to reopen at night.
Portugal entered the third phase of unsealing on the 19th, reopening restaurants, shopping centres, theatres, high schools and universities in addition to the 10 cities with the highest incidence. Portugal strengthened restrictions throughout the country in mid-January, and the situation has improved considerably, with the lifting taking place gradually in three phases, the first of which began on 15 March, when primary schools reopened. The second phase, which began on 5 April, allowed museums, junior high schools and shops under 200 square metres to reopen, as well as the café’s open-air platform to reopen under restrictive conditions. The Portuguese Government re-evaluates the situation of the outbreak every two weeks and does not rule out retrogressive measures if the indicators of the outbreak deteriorate. Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stressed that “we are turning a new page in the hope that there will be no setbacks.” ”
Italy plans to ease restrictions from April 26, and the country’s yellow and orange areas will reopen sites, including restaurants, that are currently administratively closed.
Belgium plans to reopen its restaurant open-air platform, which was forced to close at the end of October 2020 due to the outbreak, from May 8, when the curfew will end and instead ban outdoor gatherings of more than three people between midnight and 5 a.m. In addition, Belgium allows non-essential travel within the EU from 19 April, but the Government does not recommend travel abroad, and Belgians will remain under strict control upon return from their travel, forcing new coronavirus testing on the first and seventh days of their return to the red country and regions affected by the outbreak.
In addition, the Hungarian government announced that it would approve the reopening of the restaurant’s open-air platform when 3.5 million residents received the first dose of the Coronavirus vaccine.
The situation in Europe remains complex under the influence of the mutated new coronavirus. Several countries have previously imposed long periods of severe restrictions that have succeeded in reducing the spread of the virus, as has been the case in the UK or Portugal. But many more countries, such as France, are still suffering from the third wave of outbreaks, and the pressure on the health-care system remains high. Pascal Crepe, a French epidemiologist, said the mid-May date was based on political standards, not epidemiological standards, and that the current situation in France was still fragile and that caution was needed to relax. Dominique Costagliola, head of research at France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research and an epidemiologist, said Thursday that the spread of the new coronavirus in France is still at a high level, the data have not dropped significantly, and the average number of new confirmed cases per day is still more than 30,000, “I see no sign of improvement.” I don’t understand how we can expect a significant drop in cases by the end of May.
