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Restaurant guests last week in Roskilde, Denmark
Photo: CLAUS BECH / EPA-EFE
It is an amazing development: Despite incidence values that are similarly high as in Germany and in some cases even significantly higher, there is a clear trend towards opening up in many European countries.
Especially with Germany's neighbors.
Ironically, at the time when the federal government has imposed a national curfew for the first time and a national lockdown law is in force, many Europeans are going the opposite way: They are opening shops and the restaurant terraces.
In some cases, the easing is going much further - museums and cinemas are also opening up again in some places, and in some cases indoor events are even allowed.
Whether in Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands or soon also in France: A spring-like atmosphere of opening is spreading across the continent.
Partly against scientific advice, but with the applause of many citizens - and under pressure from business.
Here comes the overview of the many European countries that allow their citizens more freedom again.
Netherlands: Lockdown ends despite 220 incidence
The most recent example is the Netherlands: The country ended a four-month lockdown today, despite a seven-day incidence of 220 (in Germany it is 161).
The curfew has been lifted, shops can again receive customers under certain conditions and restaurants are allowed to open their outdoor areas, at least from 12 noon to 6 p.m.
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A restaurant worker in Amsterdam prepares the terrace for opening
Photo: EVERT ELZINGA / AFP
The government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte justifies the opening steps with the fast pace of vaccination.
According to official information, over five million citizens have received at least one dose.
This corresponds to almost 30 percent of adults.
The expectation: If more people are vaccinated, the number of infections will decrease.
The easing of the government comes despite warnings from the scientific corona advisory board.
Last week, Dutch doctors spoke of an emergency in the hospitals.
Switzerland: folk festival atmosphere on open terraces
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Reopened restaurant terrace in Zurich last week
Photo: ARND WIEGMANN / REUTERS
The openings go furthest in
Switzerland
: Here, too, the government - the Federal Council - disregarded the advice of the scientific task force and imposed massive easing. Since April 19, not only are the restaurant terraces open across the country, but also cinemas and theaters. Public events indoors with up to 50 people are permitted, face-to-face classes are again available at universities - and up to ten people can meet privately. Shops across the country have been open again since March.
Fitness studios and sports facilities are also open.
The result of the openings was a folk festival-like atmosphere on the summer days of the previous weekend.
The Federal Council has already announced that, despite strong political pressure, there will be no further openings before May 26th - and that these will be made dependent on the progress made with vaccinations.
Although Switzerland is not an EU country and has ordered vaccines independently, the vaccination campaign got off to a similarly slow start as in Germany.
It has only been picking up speed for a short time.
The seven-day incidence on Wednesday was 168 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, similar to that in Germany.
Austria: The big easing comes in May
The whole of Austria has been in a shutdown for six months: Gastronomy, tourism and culture have been closed since November 3, 2020;
Shops were open in many places.
However, Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has an ambitious opening plan: From May 19, the whole country is to be massively relaxed.
Anyone who can show a fresh test, proof of vaccination or recovery should then be able to visit hotels, restaurants, cinemas and theaters, but also sports facilities.
The restaurants should then not only be able to open their outside areas, but also their inside areas.
Indoor sports are also permitted again.
At events, up to 1,500 people should be allowed to come together indoors and up to 3,000 people outside.
From July 1st - if all goes well - weddings and club parties should be allowed again.
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A tougher lockdown was temporarily in effect in Burgenland: shops there have been open again since last week
Photo: Robert Jaeger / dpa
In Austria, too, there are different rules across the country: In Vienna, the lockdown was tougher than in the rest of the country, and this should be relaxed next week.
From Monday, May 3, not only shops will be allowed to reopen, but also hairdressers, beauticians, podiatrists and masseurs - some customers have to show a test.
Museums and zoos also open.
The state of Vorarlberg had to tighten its lockdown this week.
France: Macron wants easing despite high numbers
Sometime this spring, President Emmanuel Macron realized that
France had
to live with the virus.
He refrained from his previous requirement to make openings dependent on a low incidence value.
And so he is now sticking to a step-by-step plan for planned easing - although 6,000 Covid-19 patients are in France's intensive care units and the number of new infections has been 30,000 every day for days.
On Friday the president wants to present a new opening strategy to the country.
The state's preschools and primary schools have been open again since the beginning of this week, and the colleges and grammar schools are to be added from May 3rd.
In addition, the nationwide rule of not moving more than ten kilometers from one's place of residence will then be lifted.
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The Parisian cafes have been closed since October - they should open again from May
Photo: GONZALO FUENTES / REUTERS
The second stage of the planned relaxation calls for the opening of café and restaurant terraces as well as some cultural institutions from mid-May.
Certain shops should then be able to reopen.
In museums, theaters and concert halls, the number of visitors will then be severely limited.
Thirty-five of a possible 100 percent utilization are under discussion.
The final step, if all goes well, could be in June with the opening of the interiors of restaurants and sports clubs.
"We'll be very careful about these openings," Macron announced.
The numbers are to be re-evaluated every two weeks.
The nocturnal curfew, which has been in effect since mid-October, will continue, the president announced, and will probably continue into June.
It is possible, however, that the previously prescribed »couvre-feu« will be postponed by an hour or two from 7 p.m.
Either way, the French would have been locked up in the evenings for eight months across the country.
Italy: After the third wave, the restaurants open
In
Italy
, tough weeks of strict restrictions are coming to an end: after the third wave subsided somewhat, restaurants across the country have been able to open their terraces again since Monday - most regions have been "yellow zones" again and can therefore relax.
Cinemas, museums, theaters and concert halls can also be visited again under strict capacity restrictions.
Traveling was made easier: Italians were not allowed to leave their own commune until Monday.
Now they are allowed to move freely in their region and can travel to other yellow zones without any restrictions.
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Visitors to the “Galleria D'Italia” museum in Milan
Photo: Emanuele Cremaschi / Getty Images
Further opening steps are planned for the coming weeks: the swimming pools will follow on May 15th, the sports studios on June 1st.
From July 1st, amusement parks and wellness centers will also be allowed to open;
Congresses should then also be allowed.
Schools are reopened all over Italy, in the yellow zones the younger classes are completely in class, the older at least 70 percent.
In addition, students can go back to the universities there.
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A restaurant by the Duomo in Milan this Monday
Photo: Matteo Corner / EPA-EFE
Stricter rules apply in the orange zones (currently Basilicata, Calabria, Appulia, Sicily and Aosta Valley) and in Sardinia, the only red zone.
But the schools there are also open - albeit under stricter conditions.
Northern Europe
: Only the Swedes are not loosening any further
Denmark opened faster than planned.
This is mainly due to the rapidly introduced digital Corona pass.
With the app, the Danes can prove that they have tested negative in the past 72 hours, have been vaccinated or have been infected during the past two to twelve weeks.
ID cards in paper form are also possible.
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The Ibiza Beach Bar in Copenhagen last Friday
Photo: 'Laafur Steinar Rye Gestsson / AP
Restaurants, shops, beauty salons, museums and other establishments have now reopened.
Many students are taught in the classroom.
Sports events are allowed with a limited number of spectators.
If there is a significant increase in corona infections locally, restrictions will come into effect there.
In Finland, the government has announced that it intends to repeal the emergency law that came into force on March 1, which allows it to intervene in regional health systems, among other things. The country has been easing for a few weeks now. The transport authority has withdrawn the instruction that only half of the otherwise permitted passengers could be carried on trains, buses and trams in the greater Helsinki area. Finnish gastronomy has resumed operations, but with regionally different requirements, such as a reduced number of guests and a curfew at 11 p.m.
In contrast, there are no changes in Sweden. The government and health authorities have repeatedly warned citizens in recent weeks to adhere to the rules - "The willingness to do so is decreasing week by week, which is worrying," said Health Minister Lena Hallengren. The incidence of new corona infections in Sweden is currently the second highest in the EU, only in Cyprus it is even higher.
In
Sweden
, shops and restaurants were always open under certain conditions, the associated restrictions still apply - alcohol can only be served until 8 p.m., half an hour after that table service ends for food and other drinks.
A maximum of eight people may come together in public, this also applies to demonstrations, sports and cultural events or markets.
Cinemas, theaters and concert halls will therefore remain closed.
Poland, Slovakia, Hungary: it opens carefully
The so-called Visegrad states had been plagued by extremely high numbers of infections and death rates for months.
Now there are signs of a clear improvement, the governments in
Poland
,
Hungary
,
Slovakia
and the
Czech Republic
are relying on a cautious opening course.
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A closed restaurant in Warsaw on April 11th
Photo: Mateusz Marek / EPA
Poland is the most cautious: the authorities there registered only 5709 new infections on Tuesday, compared with over 35,000 on April 1.
Grades 1 to 3 are going back to school in eleven of 16 voivodeships.
Barber shops are allowed to open.
But cinemas, museums, shopping malls and restaurants remain closed.
Around a quarter of Poles have received an initial vaccination dose, but the government expressly does not want to introduce any easing for them.
On Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced easing for May.
Then schools, museums, hotels and shopping centers will be allowed to reopen step by step.
From May 29, all children should be able to go back to school, and cinemas and theaters should be allowed to play in front of half an audience again.
In Slovakia, restaurants and cafes are allowed to serve guests on their outdoor terraces, and many shops and fitness studios are reopening.
However, there is still a curfew after 9 p.m.
A maximum of two people from two households are allowed to meet privately.
In many places, negative tests are required upon entry.
In the Czech Republic, mobility restrictions between the districts have been lifted, and elementary school students are given alternating lessons.
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A mobile vaccination center in the Hungarian city of Nabrad - half of the country's population has already been vaccinated
Photo: Attila Balazs / EPA
Hungary goes the furthest, where almost half of the population has been vaccinated at least once, sometimes with Russian and Chinese vaccines.
At the end of the month, hotels, theaters, cinemas, swimming pools and restaurants are even supposed to reopen their interiors - but only for guests with proof of vaccination.
Viktor Orbán's government is working on its own vaccine.
It should be based on the technology of the Chinese vaccine and should also offer protection against virus variants.
Spain: Restaurants are already open - and more will follow soon
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is determined not to allow the state of alarm in Spain to be extended any further on May 9th.
This enables the autonomous regions of the country to impose strict restrictions: in the evenings there is a nationwide curfew, people are often only allowed to leave their region for good reason.
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Tourists on a restaurant terrace in Palma de Mallorca
Photo: JAIME REINA / AFP
After May 9th, these particularly strict measures will probably cease to exist, and courts will decide whether they are still proportionate and whether the regions have sufficient powers to enact them.
Compared to Germany, Spain has already relaxed some areas of public life since autumn: schools remained open, shops were allowed to receive customers, even restaurants and bars were not completely closed.
In terms of new infections, Spain is currently only marginally better off than Germany.
After a violent third wave of infections at the beginning of the year, a fourth was already looming in the past few weeks;
but it now seems to be flattening out.
The death rate remains constant.
Experts attribute this primarily to the fact that many of the weakest have already died - and those over the age of 80 are almost completely immunized.
