LONDON — From France to Russia, from Britain to the Czech Republic, European leaders are confronting a surge in coronavirus cases that is rapidly filling hospital beds, driving up death tolls and raising the grim prospect of further lockdowns in countries already traumatized by the pandemic.
With an average of more than 100,000 new infections per day over the past week, Europe now accounts for about one-third of new cases reported worldwide.
President Emmanuel Macron of France on Wednesday imposed a curfew of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the Paris region and eight other metropolitan areas, beginning Saturday.
The resurgence has prompted officials to close bars and clubs in Prague and Liverpool, England, and to make face masks mandatory in public indoor spaces in Amsterdam. In Russia, which reported its largest daily increase in infections Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin sought refuge from the torrent of bad news by announcing that his government had approved a second vaccine.
Public health experts have long warned that the virus could roar back when the days grew colder, driving people indoors, where the risk of transmission is far greater.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany Merkel and Macron announced a raft of nationwide restrictions in their countries, ranging from the closing of bars and restaurants to the mandatory use of masks.
Germany reported 5,132 new infections Tuesday, up from 2,639 a week earlier; France reported 120,000 new cases over the past seven days, one of the highest rates in the world.
French officials warned that in the Paris region, intensive care units would be 70% to 90% filled with COVID-19 patients by the end of the month.
In the Spanish region of Catalonia, where cases have risen 40% in the past week, authorities closed bars and restaurants for 15 days, except for takeout food. Shops were told to limit their traffic to 30% of capacity.
In the Netherlands, where the number of cases almost doubled this week to 44,000, the government announced a limited lockdown.
In an about-face, Prime Minister Mark Rutte issued “strong advice” for people to wear masks inside public places. Dutch authorities had long said that masks provided a false sense of security, emphasizing other forms of social distancing. Rutte said his government would seek to make them legally obligatory.
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