COVID-19 Cases On The Rise In Europe

COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in various parts of Europe as the cold weather has affected the spread of the virus, according to a Euronews report.

Photo Insert: These developments come despite 70% of adults in the EU already being vaccinated.

Countries on the Old Continent are attempting to curb the spike through various means -- from introducing lockdowns for the unvaccinated to limiting access to certain services, or pushing for an increase in vaccination rates.

Slovakia is planning new restrictions on unvaccinated people in an effort to tame the latest surge of coronavirus infections that has caused a “critical” situation in the country's hospitals, the prime minister said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Eduard Heger said on Tuesday that his government will vote Thursday on proposals by an advisory group of medical experts to face the "critical" situation in the country's hospital.

If approved the measures will then be effective for three weeks. Among the proposed measures, people who have not been vaccinated will be banned from all non-essential stores, shopping malls, gyms, pools. and hotels. They also won’t be allowed to attend any mass public gatherings like sports events.

Unvaccinated people will be able to get into their workplaces with negative virus tests.

If the situation doesn’t get any better in the next three weeks, the government is ready to impose even more restrictions, the prime minister said.

The number of COVID-10 patients needing hospital treatment rose to a total of 2,826, with 225 admitted on Monday alone, the Health Ministry said. Over 81% of the hospitalized have not been fully vaccinated.

Slovakia, one of the hardest-hit European Union countries, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the 27-nation bloc. Only about 45% of its nearly 5.5 million have been fully vaccinated.

Italy

Italy has tightened its green pass rules in an attempt to slow down the infection rate before the December holiday season.

According to the new set of restrictions, trains can now be stopped in case any of the passengers appear to have covid symptoms, while all taxi drivers are required to have a valid green pass, with the limit of two passengers seated in the back also becoming mandatory.

Italy has already updated its international travel rules in late October. The five-grade system can effectively ban entry for anything except work and family reasons depending on the tier of the country of origin, but most European countries are still in the middle “C” tier. However, this might change by December 15, when the rules are supposed to be updated.

The country’s authorities reported 44 covid-related deaths on Monday, an uptick from 36 the day before. The number of infections went down, from 7,569 on Sunday to 5,144. Italy still has the second-highest overall death toll on the continent, with 132,819 deaths from covid placing it right after the UK.

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