Second lockdown series#

'We cannot put the entire country, or even a continent, into an induced coma for weeks or months,' said Andreas Gassen, head of the association. On 28 October, the day Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the new measures, Germany's National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians presented a strategy paper arguing against a lockdown. Not everyone is convinced lockdowns are the answer. 'Countries have probably been doing control on вЂeasy' setting over the summer.' 'I think winter does make things much harder,' says Adam Kucharski, a modeler at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The fact that life has largely moved indoors in recent weeks likely aided the resurgence, and cooler air may also favor the virus. Numbers crept up and overwhelmed the other pillar of virus control, which some countries never managed well to begin with: testing, isolating cases, and tracing and quarantining their contacts. 'The infectious seeds in the community have always remained above a certain threshold, where if you relax the physical distancing, it's all going to come back,' says University of Hong Kong epidemiologist Gabriel Leung. They increasingly flouted rules on physical distancing, mask wearing, and avoiding large gatherings. People seemed to lose their fear of the virus, says Michael Meyer-Hermann, a modeler at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research who was involved in drawing up Germany's lockdown plans. Instead of using the summer to drive cases down to practically zero, Europe celebrated the holiday season. But it also proved remarkably effective, and countries around the world took the same approach in the spring, although with varying degrees of intensity.Д®urope has had a more science-driven pandemic response than the United States, but unlike many Asian countries, it was unable to avert a resurgence. The lockdown seemed an almost shockingly blunt tool when China first applied it in Hubei province on 23 January. 'There is no strategy in Europe,' he concludes.

Second lockdown series#

Short of vaccines to save the day, countries may face an exhausting series of lockdowns-a sawtooth pattern, 'up and down and up and down,' that could wreck the economy, says Albert Osterhaus, a virologist at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover. Officials differ about the best way to bring the numbers down again, and how low a level they should strive for.

Most countries are reacting without a long-term plan, simply trying to avoid the worst. 'Europe is at the epicenter of this pandemic once again,' WHO's regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said on 29 October. Europe has surpassed the United States in cases per capita last week, it accounted for half of the more than 3 million cases reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). Now, that wave is here, with the force of a tsunami. Two months ago, as numbers began to creep up after a blissful summer lull, countries still held out hope that more limited, targeted measures could prevent a second wave. With COVID-19 cases mounting and threatening to overwhelm health care capacity, much of Europe has taken similar measures to curb human contacts. 'Hopefully we'll reopen in a month,' he said. Florent, the manager at Luzia, took some hope from the fact that Germany was locking down while cases were still lower than in neighboring countries. Residents have been asked to meet people from only one other household. Hotels are no longer allowed to host tourists. The fun was over: For the second time this year, Luzia had to close on the German government's orders.ДЄll restaurants, bars, gyms, and theaters in Europe's largest economy will remain shut until at least the end of the month in a new bid to halt the spread of COVID-19. 'God, in 2 minutes it's going to be lockdown,' a woman at one table said, as guests poured the remainder of their cocktails into the cups. 'I'm sorry, but you all have to leave,' she said.

yesterday, a waitress passed out paper cups to the customers crowded around the tables outside Luzia, a bar in the lively Kreuzberg district here. Science' s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation.Д«ERLIN-Shortly before 11 p.m.