Europe races to ward off fresh virus surge

THE HAGUE • Governments across Europe rushed yesterday to bolster their defences against a fresh coronavirus spike, amid fears that a new strain could torpedo efforts to beat the pandemic.

In recent weeks, the continent has been in the throes of surging cases and riots, wrestling with booster programmes and dramatic lockdowns to stem the tide as its death toll surpassed 1.5 million and it once again became the global epicentre of an unceasing pandemic.

Scientists are now racing to understand the impact of the new, heavily mutated strain, feared to be more infectious than the Delta variant.

Before this, countries across Europe were already accelerating vaccine booster campaigns, enforcing stricter curbs and targeting the unvaccinated as cases multiplied to record levels.

The authorities in the Netherlands were preparing for new riots ahead of an expected announcement yesterday by Prime Minister Mark Rutte to tighten a partial lockdown as the country faces a critical hospital bed shortage with infections reaching record levels.

The Netherlands has suffered four straight days of anti-lockdown unrest, led by people Mr Rutte described as "idiots". The worst violence was in the port city of Rotterdam where police opened fire on rioters, injuring five.

"We are keeping our eyes and ears open and we are prepared," Rotterdam police spokesman Gijs van Nimwegen told Agence France-Presse.

Germany, the Czech Republic and Portugal - which has one of the world's highest vaccination rates - have all announced new measures in recent days to stem the tide of infections that has been worse than feared.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued an urgent warning to the country's incoming government on Thursday, saying "every day counts" as the country's death toll passed 100,000.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn has not ruled out another lockdown, following the example of Austria, which enacted strict curbs a few days ago.

"We're standing at a crossroads," said Dr Lothar Wieler, president of Germany's Robert Koch Institute. "We have a choice. We can take the path that ends in chaos and disaster," he said, or hope for a "peaceful Christmas" if people make different choices.

The Czech Republic reported 27,717 new coronavirus cases for Thursday, the highest daily tally in the country of 10.7 million since the pandemic started, Health Ministry data showed yesterday.

Thursday's tally was the third record count reported in the past seven days.

In the latest attempt to stem one of the world's highest infection rates, the Czech government on Thursday ordered bars and clubs to close at 10pm and banned Christmas markets.

Portugal, one of the world's most vaccinated nations, reimposed some restrictions, ordering all passengers flying into the country, even those fully inoculated, to show a negative test on arrival. It also requires those who are fully vaccinated to present a negative coronavirus test to enter nightclubs, bars, large events and care homes, and reimposed mandatory mask wearing in indoor spaces.

Europe is also stepping up its vaccination drive to beat back rising cases as winter arrives.

On Thursday, France made booster shots available to all adults and the European Union's medicines agency has approved jabs for children aged five to 11.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio yesterday that the country needs to increase the number of people taking booster shots to curb infections.

Mr Orban said the government would extend a special campaign making vaccination available without any prior registration until next week, following a surge in Covid-19 cases.

He said he would "not exclude anything" but that if the spread of the virus can be curbed with vaccines then there will not be a need for lockdown measures.

Neighbouring Slovakia followed the example of Austria on Wednesday, ordering a two-week lockdown to quell a fast rise in cases.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG