Europe mulls Covid measures ahead of Christmas

Nations across Europe are analyzing measures to prevent the Christmas holiday period from becoming a frenzy of increased Covid-19 transmissions as families meet for festivities, reported EFE.

Fresh measures were announced in the United Kingdom and Germany while France plotted its gradual easing of the current lockdown.

In other news, a Swedish prince and his wife tested positive for Covid-19.

UK

Millions of people in England will remain under tight coronavirus restrictions from early December, when the current national lockdown expires, according to health minister Matt Hancock.

Major northern cities like Newcastle and Manchester will be placed under the harshest measures in tier three, which means all hospitality services will have to remain closed, aside from those providing takeaway options. People will be allowed to meet in groups of no more than six, so long as the gathering is outside.

London and Liverpool will come under slightly more relaxed restrictions in tier two, although household mixing will remain in force indoors.

Premier League clubs in tier 2 areas will be able to welcome a limited number of fans back to the stadium, which will come as welcome news to the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Both Manchester clubs, being in tier three, will have to wait.

Only the rural areas of Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight are on the lowest tier one.

The government hopes to enforce the measures as a way to curb the transmission of Covid-19 as much as possible before a reprieve over the Christmas period, when up to three different households will be allowed to mix, a plan that has been criticized by opposition lawmakers.

GERMANY

Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, stood by her plan to extend tough coronavirus restrictions until 20 December, saying that the measures had yet to take the desired bite out of the epidemiological situation.

She called for citizens to act responsibly over the Christmas period in Germany.

Merkel said that the partial shutdown of public life in Germany since 2 December had brought social contacts down by 40% and had put the brakes on a “dramatic exponential increase in new cases.”

The federal government and regional leaders on Wednesday agreed that it was neither “possible” nor “responsible” to loosen restrictions and, in some cases, they recommended they be further tightened.

Currently, 10 people from a maximum of two households are permitted to meet up, but this is set to be reduced to five people from two households, although the under 14s will be exempt from this.

During the Christmas period, between 23 December and 1 January, these restrictions will be relaxed slightly, allowing for 10 people from two households to mix.

FRANCE

French prime minister, Jean Castex, announced a gradual end to the semi-lockdown restrictions in place in France with the aim of dismantling most measures by 20 January.

If the Covid situation has improved by then, he said, then the curfew will be scrapped and bars and restaurants could reopen.

Shops are set to reopen on Saturday with limited capacity and residents will until 15 December be allowed to leave their homes for three hours per day, to go for walks, go shopping or play sports.

In the second phase of the easing, after 15 December, museums, cinemas and shows will be allowed to resume but there will still be a curfew between 9 pm and 6 am.

SWEDEN

Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and his wife, Princess Sofia, have tested positive for coronavirus, according to an announcement from the royal family on Thursday.

"The prince and princess show milder flu symptoms, but feel well under the circumstances. Immediately after the illness, the Prince and Princess were quarantined at home with their children," said the royal statement.

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia, as well as Crown Princess Victoria and her husband, Prince Daniel, will also be tested for coronavirus.

Carl Philip, 41, is the fourth in the line of succession to the Swedish throne and has been married since 2015 to Sofia, 35, with whom he has two children.