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Europe’s Virus Woes Sharpen Clash Over Big-City Restrictions

Paris Restaurants May Close Again With France Dogged by Virus

Europe’s resurgent coronavirus outbreak is threatening to shut down Paris’s culinary institutions, spurring record cases in the continent’s east and sidetracking European Union leaders.

Positive tests and intensive-care hospitalizations have climbed past the “maximum alert” level in Paris, and the French government may have to require bars and restaurants as soon as Monday if the trend continues, according to Health Minister Olivier Veran.

Europe’s Virus Woes Sharpen Clash Over Big-City Restrictions

Representatives of France’s hospitality industry are trying to thwart the move and plan to present proposals to authorities as soon as Friday. Regional officials in Madrid are seeking to overturn a similar Spanish government order taking effect Friday evening.

The pandemic is back on the EU’s agenda amid tighter restrictions across Europe, which threaten a stumbling recovery after national lockdowns hammered economies in the second quarter.

EU leaders went off topic to discuss the pandemic for three hours in Brussels, focusing on coordinating responses, an area where the bloc’s record has been poor.

“Everybody was concerned that the numbers are rising again,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after the meeting in Brussels. “All are aware that the most difficult months are ahead of us.”

Europe’s Virus Woes Sharpen Clash Over Big-City Restrictions

EU summits are well-choreographed events and addressing ad-hoc topics is rare. Leaders were supposed to debate industrial policy, how to reduce “strategic dependencies” on supply chains and get a brief update on Brexit negotiations at the Friday gathering.

Greece reported 460 new virus cases on Friday, the most since the start of the pandemic, with employees at a canning factory accounting for 114. Italy counted 2,499 new cases, more than the trailing seven-day average of 1,870. New cases in Spain were little changed at 3,722, a level that contrasts with a few hundred a day in June.

“There is an extreme concern from everyone about how we can keep our economies open and contain the spread of the virus at the same time,” said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “It is good to have European and not national policies” on crucial issues, and that approach is working well in areas like vaccine development, but less in terms of travel, he said.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said differences in travel policies were too big.

“People are confused and some business travel is restricted so massively that it causes economic damage,” he said A negative virus test should allow travelers to avoid quarantine, Kurz said.

Trends since the end of the summer break are worrying. New Covid-19 cases hit daily records in Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic, which declared a state of emergency this week after becoming the second-worst outbreak on the continent. Ukraine had its third record increase in a row on Friday.

Mandatory Masks

London residents are being told to take immediate action to avoid catching and spreading the disease amid warnings that the U.K. capital is at a “tipping point.” Germany had the most new daily infections since April on Friday.

In Italy, which also reported a five-month high, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is seeking to extend his emergency powers to Jan. 31 and require face coverings outdoors nationwide. Merkel’s government this week recommended limits on public and private gatherings in hard-hit areas.

France reported 12,148 new cases on Friday, slowing the one-week rolling average to 10,946, the lowest in nine days. President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to avoid a second national lockdown, though targeted restrictions haven’t had much impact.

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Unlike the initial phase of the pandemic, there is greater opposition to containment efforts, which has spurred protests across Europe, including an effort to break into the German parliament in Berlin.

In Spain, which has the most infections on the continent, infighting has bogged down the virus response.

Restrictions ordered by the national government for Madrid could cost the regional economy more than 8 billion euros ($9.4 billion) if they drag on for more than a month, said Enrique Lopez, the regional head of the justice department. The Madrid region is controlled by the main opposition party to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government.

Ten cities in the Madrid region are due to restrict movement and gatherings as of 10 p.m. Friday, affecting everything from churches and bars to outdoor sports and travel.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.