Coronavirus, Spain first in Europe for infections. Madrid extends restrictions

With a total of infections since the beginning of the pandemic rising to 716,481, the highest in Europe, Spain is evaluating new measures.

In the capital Madrid, for days in conflict with the government and yesterday the scene of protests against antivirus restrictions, since midnight new areas, with millions of citizens, have been banned from movement except for work, study or medical treatment reasons. , a measure however milder than required by the government.

The Efe agency reports it.

From today it is recommended to "all the population", whether or not they reside in areas at risk, to "avoid unnecessary travel", and government intervention is not excluded.

After exceeding 16,000 daily infections and then falling to 15,797 and 14,412,

, limited due to the closure of private analysis laboratories .

The positive rate continues to rise day after day, reaching 7.4% from 5.7% a week ago.

The number of hospitalized for Covid-19 is constantly increasing, with 102 new admissions in 24 hours.

There were 786 admissions to intensive care, 23 more than on Saturday.

The restrictive measures decided by the government to stem the infections of the Coronavirus, a measure that will be operational for 15 days with an expected budget, have started in Marseille and its region, up to Aix-en-Provence (area declared to be of 'maximum alert') in a week.

Even Paris - in the 'dark red' zone is preparing, tonight, to implement the new provisions on the closure of bars and the ban on selling alcohol from 10pm. Restrictions have also been applied throughout the north of France, with the closure of bars and lounges tea at 10pm and ban on selling alcohol and broadcasting amplified music from 8pm. The goal is to dissuade the population from organizing parties in private apartments, thus circumventing the prohibition of gathering in public spaces.

"We do everything we can to avoid a general re-definition" but "we do not exclude anything".

Interviewed on BFM-TV, the French Minister for Ecological Transition, Elisabeth Borne, explains that the measures taken by the government are aimed at avoiding a new generalized lockdown.

"But with this virus, we're not ruling out anything," he added.

After the crackdown in the area of ​​Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, as well as in Paris and ten other cities, today a new squeeze against the invisible enemy has also entered into force in the Nord and Hauts-de-France regions.

Bars and tea rooms close from 10pm, ban on selling alcohol between 8pm and 6am, ban on broadcasting amplified music between 8pm and 6am, ban on parties or family gatherings in places that welcome the public.

Choices that in France are taken at the local level, by the prefects, according to the data linked to the epidemic.

In

in the last 24 hours, 8,135 cases of coronavirus have been recorded, the highest figure since last June 16.

In all, the infections thus rose to 1,159,573.

The dead were 61, for a total of 20,385.

The biggest increases occur in Moscow.

In the capital, as foreseen by the ordinance of the mayor Serghei Sobyanin, from today citizens over the age of 65 are invited (but not obliged) to stay at home and companies have been asked to privilege smart-working where possible.

This was reported by the national center for the fight against coronavirus, cited by the agencies.

The sharp increase in daily cases of coronavirus continues in Tunisia

, where in 24 hours (according to data referring to September 26) another 936 infections were recorded, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the North African country to 16,114.

This was announced by the Ministry of Health of Tunis in a statement, specifying that the death toll has risen to 214, of which 7 in 24 hours.

11,082 people are still positive, of which 292 in hospital, 76 in resuscitation and 36 in assisted breathing.

The swabs carried out since the beginning of the epidemic are 225,033.

According to Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi, a general lockdown could be declared in the 17 delegations of the country in which there are over 250 infections for every 100,000 inhabitants.

Since September 28, Italy is included in the orange category, so for those arriving from Italy in Tunisia, in addition to the obligation to submit the negative Rt-Pcr test, there is an obligation of home self-isolation for seven days.

India has passed the milestone of six million coronavirus cases

.

This was announced by the country's Ministry of Health.

The pandemic is raging across the vast nation of South Asia: with 6.1 million infections, India is about to overtake the United States at the top of the sad contagion rankings.

Almost 100,000 people have died in the country so far.

Pakistan has recorded 9 deaths caused by Covid-19 and 566 new infections in the past 24 hours

.

The country's health ministry reported this.

Now the country has a total of 310,841 coronavirus cases while the total deaths rise to 6,466 people.

So far, 296,022 people have recovered from the disease.

The federal capital Islamabad has so far recorded 16,470 coronavirus cases and 181 deaths.

In the past 24 hours, the capital has recorded over 70 coronavirus cases, the highest number of cases in the past two months.

The night curfew in force in

, Australia, for almost two months to stem coronavirus infections, has been lifted thanks to a sharp decline in the number of new infections, only five in the space of 24 hours according to the latest toll. the lowest figure since 12 June to date.

The five million inhabitants of Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria, have been subjected to drastic restrictions in the last few weeks which will be eased from today.

From today, the construction and manufacturing sectors will be able to return to work.

The nurseries have reopened and religious ceremonies are readmitted albeit for a small number of people at a time.

The Prime Minister of the State of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, said that this declining trend of infections is "very important" and assured that, if confirmed, further restrictions could be lifted.

At the moment, in fact, the obligation to stay at home remains in force and the prohibition to travel beyond a radius of five kilometers, except in case of need or for work.

Non-essential businesses, including restaurants, remain closed despite protests from entrepreneurs.

Melbourne has been at the center of a major epidemic in recent months, after some people returning from abroad escaped the quarantine to which they had been subjected, guests of some hotels.

Since the start of the pandemic, Australia has had a total of 27,000 cases and 875 deaths.

Most Australian states only have a few new cases per day, and restrictions have been relaxed in most areas.

"One million people have lost their lives to Covid around the world. It is an impressive number and unfortunately still growing", wrote Health Minister

commenting on the latest figures on the virus.

"We must commit all our energies to fight the virus, focusing on scientific research for effective and safe treatments and vaccines - continues the minister -. In the meantime, what really makes the difference is the correct behavior of each of us. We still need maximum attention. , seriousness and prudence ".

THE POINT

The coronavirus has now practically reached the threshold - also psychological - of one million deaths in the world.

A figure that brings the ongoing epidemic closer to the size of the Asian flu, which in 1957-58 caused 1.1 million deaths, although fortunately it still remains very far from the 50 million deaths caused by the Spanish in 1918-19.

There is always talk of official victims, because the number could actually be higher due to the difficulty, especially in some areas of the world, of accurately identifying all the deaths from Covid-19.

For sure, at least 998,000 people have been killed by the virus since the outbreak emerged in China late last year.

Almost 33 million cases of infection.

The United States remains the most affected country in terms of both deaths and cases, with nearly 205,000 deaths.

Followed by Brazil and India, which continues to grind high numbers, with over 88,000 new cases in 24 hours, and more than 1,100 deaths in one day.

A large part of Europe is also struggling with the peaks of the second wave which is affecting numerous countries around Italy.

After the consequences of summer travel, with the related controversies on the management of nightlife, now the attention is focused on the effects of the reopening of schools and the arrival of the first cold.

In France, a third of the clusters concern the institutes of the various degrees and universities, where there are 285 outbreaks, 32% of the 899 registered.

According to the latest weekly French public health bulletin, for the first time the world of education precedes that of companies, where there are 195 active outbreaks, followed by health facilities, with 97 clusters kept under observation.

Beyond the Alps, to cope with the resurgence of the epidemic - which for days has been traveling around 15,000 new cases every day - there are now also those who propose an "Advent lockdown", from 1 to 20 December, to save Christmas by allowing families to come together and limit the damage to the economy and schools at the same time.

The idea was proposed to the French authorities by two Nobel Prize-winning economists, Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee: people, according to the pair of scholars, could be encouraged to make their Christmas shopping in November and this block would avoid canceling del all of Christmas and the possibility of having to impose a tougher lockdown later if the end-of-year holidays were to trigger an even worse wave of infections than the current one.

The prospect of being forced into another quarantine, more or less rigid, or in any case of witnessing a new series of restrictions on people's freedoms, seems to meet, however, growing opposition among many citizens in different countries, where manifestations of square against the authorities.

After Saturday's sit-in in London, with thousands of people in Trafalgar Square, it was the people of Madrid who took to the streets again to protest against the partial blockade imposed in various neighborhoods of the Spanish capital and its region to curb infections.

Since 21 September, about 850,000 people have been confined to their areas and cannot leave them except for work, school or medical reasons, even if they can move freely inside.

In the roller coaster that has seen waves of emergency and periods of relative tranquility alternate between the various continents for months, there are also those who can take a breather in this phase.

This is the case of Melbourne, Australia: in the state of Victoria the night curfew that had been imposed almost two months ago to counter the second surge of the virus has been lifted.

Here, too, in recent days there were demonstrations against the restrictions, which resulted in riots and clashes with the police.

A stop-and-go script that seems destined to repeat itself again in the coming months around the world, waiting for the coveted vaccine.