Europe at aglance NEWS 94April 2020 THE WEEKPrague
Mandatorymasks:TheCzechgovernment
hasmadethewearingoffacemasks
mandatoryinpublic–andhascalledon
thepublictomaketheirownathomefrom
cotton,toavoidashortageofthespecialist
surgicalmaskswornbymedicalworkers.
AlthoughtheWHOadvisesthatpeople
comingintocontactwithCovid-
patientswearmasks,thebenefitsofwider
socialusearedisputed.Onlytwoother
Europeancountries(SlovakiaandBosnia)
have decreedthatmasksshouldbeworn
atalltimesinpublic,butAustriathisweek
ordereditscitizenstowearthemwhen
visitingthefewshopsthatremainopen.
Thegovernmentsaidfreemaskswould
bedistributedatsupermarkets.Austria’s
lockdownmeasuresareamongthestrictest
inEurope.Bycontrast,inSweden,cafés
andrestaurantswerestillopenthisweek,
alongwithmostschools.Manypeople
werestillgoingtowork,andgatherings
ofupto 5 0were stillpermitted.
Moscow
Russianlockdown:Inasharpreversalof
Russia’sofficialstanceonthecoronavirus,
Moscowwasputintototallockdownon
Monday.Thecapital’s 12 millionresidents
arenowonlyallowedtoleavetheirhomes
togetfoodandmedicine.Iftheyhave
adog,theycanwalkit–providedthey
remainwithin 100 metresoftheirfront
doors.Additionally,PresidentPutin–
whojustaweekearlierwasinsistingthat
Russiahadonlyafewhundredcasesand
hadthevirusundercontrol–announced
thatthereferendumthatwouldallowhim
toremaininpoweruntil 2036 wasbeing
postponedbecauseofthepandemic.On
Tuesday, 500 newcaseswereconfirmed,
bringingthetotalto2,777.Paris
Citydwellersflee:Tensionshavebeen
growingin France–and acrossEurope –
aboutwealthyurbanitesretreatingtotheir
country homes,puttingastrainon local
infrastructureandspreadingthevirusto
ruralareas.There are 3.4millionsecond
hom esinFrance, far morethan in
neighbouringcountries.Before the
lockdownwasimposed,Brittanyhad
such aninflux ofcity-dwellers,three
communes wereobliged toaskresidents
torestricttheirwateruse;andon the
island ofÎledeNoirmoutier, wherethe
populationhasdoubled,casesofCovid- 19
havesurged.InBelgium,peoplearenow
bannedfromvisitingtheircountryhomes.
InNorway,tensofthousands who’dfled
totheirmountain cabinswereorderedto
returnto the cities.And therewerereports
thatalockdownimposedin Greece last
weekmight betightened,to stop people
visitingtheir familiesin thecountryside
overEaster.
Madrid
Infectionsriseagain:Hopesthatthe
infection rateinSpain mightbeplateauing
were undermined early this week, when
9,000 new infection swere recorded in 24
hours, and 864deaths were recorded on
Tuesday. As of Wednesday,the total
number of infectionsstoodat102,136,
with 9,053deaths. However,health
officialsinsisted thattheyremained
optimisticthat the infection rate would
continue to trend generally downward
as the country’sstrictlockdownbegan to
take effect. In both Spainand Italy, there
are fears that populations living under
lockdown aregrowingrestive, however:
therewereangry scen es in Bilba othis
week, after police patrolling thelockdown
were accusedof beatingayoung man
they’dstoppedtoquestion. Andint he
southof Italy, officials are concerned that
organised crime gangswill step in tofillthe
gapcreated bycollapsi ng se rvices.
Rome
Lockdown
extended:Italy’s
gove rnmenthas
extended the
country’s
coronavirus
lockdown.
According to
media reports,the
prime minister,
Giuseppe Conte,
is nowhoping to
begin easing restrictionsin mid-April.The
national lockdown,which was imposed on
9March, hadbeendue to endonFriday.
Italy’s deathtoll cl imbed by 812 to11,
on Monday, reversingtwo days of declines
in thedailyrate. However,on Monday
andTuesdayonly around 4,050newcases
were recorded–the lowe st numbers for
two weeks. By midweek, Italy had
confirmedaround 105,700 cases in total.Budapest
Rule bydecree:Hungary’sparliamenthas
voted toallow the country’s“strongman”
prime minister,Viktor Orbán, to ruleby
decreeindefinitely, so that hecantackle
thecoronaviruscrisis ashe seesfit. There
is no time limit tohisnew emergency
powers,and th elaw introducingthem
includesanew criminal offence –
punishable by fiveyears in prison –of
spreadingmisinformation thathinder sthe
government’s response to the pandemic.
Therehave beendebates in many countries
about the balance between individual
libertiesandcollective action to tacklethe
pandemic,butinHungary, Orbán andhis
Fidesz partyhave beenaccuse dofsteadily
eroding democraticnorms and stifling
independentmedia foryears.Orbán’s
critics fear he will seektoretainthe
emergencypowerswell beyond thecrisis,
andthat thenew law on misinformation
will beused to furthe rsilenc edissent.Minsk
Vodkaand
tractors:President
Lukashenko,the
Belarusianleader
oftendescribed
asEurope’slast
dictator,has
mockedwhat
hecalledthe
“panic”measures
introducedby
othercountries.
Heinsiststhereis“novirus”inBelarus,
andhasurgedhiscountrymentokeep
healthybydrinkingvodka,goingtosaunas
andtakingexercise.Sportisthe“best
anti-virusremedy”,hesaid,asheplayedin
anicehockeymatchonSaturday–along
withoutdoorwork.“Tractorswillcure
everyone!Thefieldhealseveryone!”
Shops,marketsandtheatresareopen
intheex-Sovietstateof9.5million
people,asareitsborders.Catchup with daily news at theweek.co.uk