French well being authorities reported 16,096 new Covid-19 instances in 24 hours. A complete of 31,511 folks have died from coronavirus in France, and 497,237 instances have been reported.
The UK reported 6,634 new instances, bringing its whole confirmed instances to 416,363, Public Well being England (PHE) tweeted.
“That is the best quantity recorded and a stark warning for us all. The alerts are clear. Positivity charges are rising throughout all age teams and we’re persevering with to see spikes in charges of admission to hospital and demanding care,” stated Public Well being England medical director Yvonne Doyle.
Forty extra deaths had been reported within the UK Thursday and its demise toll, in keeping with PHE, now stands at 41,902 — Europe’s highest.
Spain’s Well being Ministry reported 10,653 new Covid-19 instances Thursday, bringing the full to 704,209. Madrid’s area reported 210,768 instances, nearly 30% of the nationwide tally.
The nation’s Well being Minister, Salvador Illa, stated Friday his authorities has advisable a complete lockdown within the capital. “I feel we now have tough weeks to come back for Madrid and we have to act decisively,” Illa stated.
The surge comes as hundreds of scholars throughout Europe started self-isolating following outbreaks of Covid-19.
All 2,500 college students at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland’s most prestigious hospitality faculty, are quarantining after outbreaks linked to “a number of events,” the Vaud Canton regional authority stated Wednesday.
A number of Scottish universities reported Covid-19 outbreaks linked to illicit gatherings throughout begin of time period celebrations referred to as “Freshers’ Week.”
On Wednesday, 600 college students on the College of Glasgow had been instructed to self-isolate after 124 new instances had been confirmed. The College of St. Andrews, one of many UK’s most elite schools and Prince William’s alma mater, requested college students to enter voluntary lockdown final Friday after an uptick in instances that it linked to 1 occasion.
In the meantime, UK grocery big Tesco on Friday introduced three-item limits on necessities together with flour, dried pasta, rest room roll and antibacterial wipes, to keep away from the panic-buying that prompted shortages in spring.
A spokesperson stated: “We now have good availability, with loads of inventory to go spherical, and we’d encourage our prospects to buy as regular.”
Europe below strain
The Paris public hospitals authority introduced it’ll begin canceling some non-elective procedures in coming days to make room for coronavirus sufferers, though it stated it will be on a case-by-case foundation and never “world cancellation as in mid-March.”
The EU’s Well being Commissioner warned that Europe is at a “decisive” level in coping with its second wave, and the actions taken now will decide the severity of restrictions wanted within the coming months.
Italy, the worst-affected European nation early within the pandemic, reported a comparatively low enhance of 1,786 new instances Thursday, however its well being minister cautioned: “The state of affairs in Europe is severe and can’t be underestimated.
“I consider that we should maintain our toes on the bottom and proceed to spend money on the road of prudence.”
CNN’s Amy Cassidy, Niamh Kennedy, Nadine Schmidt and Livia Borghese contributed to this report.
