Rising Virus Cases in Europe Spark Political Clash in Spain
France and the U.K. reported a record number of Covid-19 cases as most of Europe strains to control the resurgent pandemic.
(Bloomberg) -- The pressure mounting on European leaders to contain the resurgent coronavirus pandemic boiled over in Spain as the region reemerges as a global hot spot.
Tensions erupted into a public spat, with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government urging local Madrid officials to lock down the entire city. The proposal was promptly rebuffed by the capital region’s administration, which is controlled by the biggest opposition party to Sanchez’s coalition.
Europe’s biggest economies are experiencing a disquieting spike in infections, adding to risks weighing on a slowing recovery. Officials in Italy and France are facing new questions about intensive-care capacity, and U.K. daily cases remained at the highest level yet. Italy reported more than 1,900 new infections, the most since May 1.
Authorities across the region are fighting back with a series of piecemeal measures dubbed “lockdown lite.” But even those limited curbs are spurring unrest. Madrid has seen street protests in working-class areas subject to new restrictions, with locals claiming officials are favoring wealthier neighborhoods.
Medical progress and Europe’s likely benefits from a recovery in global trade are reasons for cautious optimism, Berenberg Bank economists, led by Holger Schmieding, said in a client note on Friday.
“The U.S. experience over the summer shows that a renewed surge in infections can be brought under control with modest measures that do not disrupt the economic recovery,” the economists wrote.
France’s daily coronavirus cases retreated to 15,797 after breaching 16,000 on Thursday, the highest level since the country’s lockdown.
In Marseille, Health Minister Olivier Veran sought to confront detractors of the Paris government’s move to close the city’s bars and restaurants for at least two weeks, saying it’s a way to avert even stricter measures.
Veran also cited the risk of a breakdown in ICU care at a time of “maximum alert” for the Marseille area. That means taking “the necessary measures, even if they are unpopular,” he said on Twitter.
Spanish Politics
Spain reported 4,122 new cases on Friday, after seeing 3,471 a day earlier. The country’s share of ICU patients hospitalized for Covid-19 rose to 40.1% from 38.9% on Thursday.
Health Minister Salvador Illa called on Madrid’s government -- which was holding its own briefing at the same time -- to “try to take control.”
Madrid instead extended restrictions on movement to eight new areas, adding to the 37 that have been hit by curbs last week. The measures impact about 1 million of the 6.7 million people who live in the region.
Italy, an early hot-spot which has done better at keeping the virus in check, reported a slight decline in the share of ICU beds with Covid-19 patients, which rose to more than 10% in some regions last week.
While there’s no sign that health services are overloaded, the trend could point to emerging strain, two Italian health agencies said in a report Friday.
U.K. cases remained at the highest since the pandemic started, rising by 6,874 on Friday compared with 6,634 the previous day. The government said the transmission rate ranges from 1.2 to 1.5 with the so-called R number at more than 1 in all regions of England.
The Greek government ordered retailers in Athens and other areas with many cases to close from midnight to 5 a.m. starting Saturday. The closing, designed to keep people out of the streets overnight, will hit many small kiosks and convenience stores.
French ICU Alert
France followed the U.K. on Thursday by announcing it would close bars at 10 p.m. in Paris and several other urban centers and shut them entirely in the Marseille region.
Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris, which manages 39 hospitals in the region around the French capital, expects to have more than 200 Covid patients in intensive care by the middle of next week, compared to about 50 at the start of the month.
“For two weeks now we sense that all the indicators are starting to take on a worrisome orange and red color,” said Bruno Riou, medical crisis director at AP-HP. “The situation is becoming tense in all areas, including intensive care.”
| Pandemic dispatches from across Europe: |
|---|
| Italy’s Campania region surrounding Naples moved to reinstate the mandatory use of masks in most public places, as did several Italian cities. |
| The Dutch government will extend measures announced last week for six regions in the western and most populous part to eight more regions, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday. With the latest peak, the numbers are looking “downright bad,” he said. |
| Austria’s hospitalized Covid-19 patients and intensive-care usage have roughly tripled in September, but remain at a third of levels in March and April. Vienna, where the increase is steepest, will start to require restaurant guests to register from Monday. |
| In the Czech Republic, serious cases are on the rise and beds with ventilators are filling up. “If the current trend continues for several more weeks, we will get into problems,” Health Minister Roman Prymula warned lawmakers this week. |
| Denmark reported the most daily cases yet. Pressure on intensive-care capacity is expected to intensify in the coming weeks, according to the country’s leading center for anesthesiology and intensive-care treatments. |
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