France’s New Case Numbers Top 40,000 as Curfews to Be Widened

(Bloomberg) -- European governments began to deploy curfews more widely, as the coronavirus pandemic gained momentum across the continent and France reported more than 40,000 new cases for the first time.

Daily infections are hitting records around Europe, and cases in France surged by 41,622 Thursday. Against that backdrop, authorities are expanding a curfew beyond Paris and other large cities, with some 46 million people told to stay at home from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting Friday at midnight.

“In France, like everywhere in Europe, the second wave is here,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said. “The situation is grave.”

Ordering people to stay home is emerging as a weapon against the spread of the virus, as governments seek to avoid the full lockdowns that wreaked economic havoc earlier this year.

Italy may enact a curfew as early as 9 p.m. within seven days if current virus trends are unchecked, newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Friday. On Thursday, Greece set out plans for a night-time curfew in Athens and Thessaloniki, the second-largest city, while Slovakia will also impose curfews, marrying that with a plan to test the entire population of the eastern European nation twice.

In Poland, the government is expected to announce tighter constraints later on Friday. Local media reported that elderly people and the young up to 16 years old will have their movements further restricted and gatherings will be limited to five people.

In France, Castex said it’s too early to measure the effects of the curfews already in place, including in six of the country’s biggest 10 cities. Next week will show whether the measures are enough, and the government could tighten restrictions further, he said, adding that the virus reproduction number in France is around 1.35, meaning cases are on track to double every two weeks.

French deaths linked to the coronavirus increased by 162 to 34,210 on Thursday, with the seven-day average climbing to 155, the highest level since May. In neighboring Spain, 7,953 new virus cases were recorded on Thursday, rising about 20% from a day earlier.

“The month of November will be trying,” Castex said. France and Spain each passed 1 million infections this week, the first two Western European nations to do so. Russia has the most cases on the continent, with more than 1.4 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

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