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Emmanuel Macron: "The virus is spreading at a rate that not even the most pessimistic predictions could have predicted"
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CHRISTIAN HARTMANN / REUTERS
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Macron
announces renewed curfew - "Second wave more deadly"
12:40 a.m.:
President Emmanuel Macron has declared another lockdown for France.
The curfews are intended to contain the corona pandemic, which is threatening to get out of control again, Macron said in an address to the nation on Wednesday.
"The virus is spreading at a rate that not even the most pessimistic projections would have predicted," Macron said.
France is in the same situation as the neighboring countries: "Overrun by a second wave that we know will be harder, more deadly than the first."
He announced a debate and vote in parliament for Thursday.
Macron said the massive increase in the number of infections made a "brutal braking maneuver" inevitable.
At the weekend, France had a new high of more than 50,000 new infections daily, on Wednesday evening almost 36,000 new infections were reported within 24 hours.
The number of deaths soared recently by more than 500, because the authorities announced numbers from old people's homes for the first time in four days.
The government is particularly concerned about the situation in hospitals.
The new measures come into effect on Friday and should apply until December 1st.
During this time, citizens are only allowed to leave their apartments to go shopping, to see the doctor or for an hour for sports or walks.
If possible, people should also work from home.
Unlike the first lockdown in spring, most schools are to remain open.
SPD chief sees Corona resolutions as "an encouraging signal"
00:30:
SPD boss Norbert Walter-Borjans sees the corona resolutions by the federal and state governments as an "encouraging signal".
With earlier decisions there were annoying profiling races and difficult to understand patchwork solutions, said Walter-Borjans on Wednesday the news agency dpa.
This time those responsible had set the signal: "Together we can defeat Corona."
Now it depends on the citizens.
"We all have to do our part to push back the coronavirus and avert a dramatic health emergency," said the SPD leader.
It is worth staying at home.
The leisure lockdown has a foreseeable end.
So far, more than 5000 cases in Corona
United
n
Nations
12:20 a.m.:
At the United Nations, there have been more than 5000 corona cases worldwide since the pandemic began.
At least 5325 infections with the virus have been recorded so far, said a UN spokesman on Wednesday in New York.
64 people in the service of the UN have so far died after being infected with the virus.
So far, there have been at least 130 cases in the headquarters of the UN in New York.
The United Nations has tens of thousands of employees worldwide, plus the employees and those involved in the sub-organizations.
The UN headquarters in New York is currently paralyzed due to some corona infections.
After at least five employees from one member state tested positive, all face-to-face meetings between various bodies on the East River site were initially canceled until the end of the week.
The member country is currently working closely with the medical staff of the UN, among other things to ensure contact tracking, said the UN spokesman.
According to diplomatic circles, it is an outbreak in the UN representation of Niger.
The African country is a member of the United Nations Security Council, in which Germany also sits.
Almost 4,000 new infections in Portugal - government crisis meeting
12:15 a.m.:
Portugal has reported a record of new infections with the
corona virus
.
The health authorities announced in Lisbon on Wednesday that 3960 infections had been recorded in the country with 10.3 million inhabitants within 24 hours.
Because of the rapidly increasing numbers, Prime Minister António Costa called a special meeting of his cabinet for Saturday.
The socialist government announced that new measures to contain the pandemic will be discussed.
The state secretary responsible for health, António Lacerda Sales, said the situation was "critical".
Madrid uses drones to check corona rules in cemeteries on All Saints Day
00.10 a.m.:
The authorities in Madrid want to use drones on All Saints' Day to check compliance with the corona rules in the two largest cemeteries in the Spanish capital.
Due to the pandemic, the visitor capacities in the cemeteries were reduced by half, as the town hall announced on Wednesday.
Visitor groups can therefore consist of a maximum of six people.
These must comply with the distance rules.
"We cannot allow crowds to form inside or outside the cemeteries," Madrid Mayor José Luiz Martínez-Almeida told journalists.
In addition to the drones, up to 300 police officers will be deployed in the cemeteries for three days from October 30th.
That is about 20 percent more than last year.
It's not the first time that Madrid police have used drones to monitor corona rules: when a nationwide lockdown was imposed in March, police used drone-mounted speakers to talk to people in parks and squares over the To inform measures.
"Big disappointment": Dehoga is considering legal action against lockdown
00.05 a.m.:
The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) is examining legal steps against the federal and state decision to contain the corona pandemic.
Saxony-Anhalt's Dehoga boss Michael Schmidt announced this in an interview with the German Press Agency.
"It's a big disappointment, it's really dramatic for us," said Schmidt.
"We are not driving the pandemic."
Only the restaurateurs themselves could complain. Dehoga CEO Ingrid Hartges said that evening on ARD that members had already reported who wanted to complain.
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Catering establishments have to close again
Photo: Arnulf Hettrich / imago images / Arnulf Hettrich
The 16 prime ministers had previously agreed with the federal government on a temporary shutdown.
Among other things, this stipulates that in November, as in spring, restaurants are only allowed to sell food outside the home.
Hotels are also only allowed to accommodate business travelers.
The regulations should come into force on Monday and initially apply until the end of November.
The companies affected are to be compensated by the federal government and reimbursed up to 75 percent of their sales from November 2019.
That too is only moderately optimistic for Dehoga country manager Schmidt.
"In the end, the emergency aid in spring arrived much later than originally thought."
With the new aids, every day counts.
The existential fears of the spring would now return to the members of his association.
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ngo / dpa / AFP / Reuters / AP