Italians flood cities as government debates Christmas curbs, Dutch set to impose stricter measures

Italy on Saturday overtook Britain as the European nation with the highest death toll with a total of 64,520 COVID-19 fatalities.

Almost 1 in 30 Italians have been infected since February, when Italy became the first Western country hit by the pandemic.

The easing of some restrictions Rome had imposed last month to fight a resurgence of the coronavirus brought crowds of shoppers to many sun-bathed city centres on Sunday, heightening concerns about a possible spike in infections in January.

Germany will close most shops from Wednesday until at least Jan. 10, after reporting 321 Covid-19 deaths and 20,200 new cases on Sunday.

“All the main information websites today are full of pictures of city centres awash with unacceptable large gatherings,” Domenico Arcuri, Italy’s special commissioner for the healthcare emergency, told TV programme’s Che Tempo Che Fa.

“We don’t want to see those again … we must avoid the third wave at all costs. It would be really complicated to launch the vaccination campaign amid a resurgence in cases.”

Arcuri said Italy hoped to kick off the campaign between Jan. 12 and 15.

At an emergency meeting on Sunday, the government discussed whether to loosen a ban that currently prevents people from leaving their hometown on Christmas day, allowing an exception for small towns.

Vincenzo De Luca, governor of Naples’ badly hit Campania region, said he would fight such a step.

“If the government allows free movement of people for towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants we’ll need to open a ward for democratic madness at the prime minister’s residence,” he told Che Tempo Che Fa.

The Dutch government is set to decide on stricter measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the Netherlands on Monday, as the infection rate has climbed back to the peak levels reached at the end of October.

New coronavirus infections in the country jumped by almost 10,000 in the 24 hours through Sunday morning, data released by national health authorities showed, the biggest rise in more than six weeks.

The increase continues a rising trend seen over the previous week, as the effects of a partial lockdown that has been in effect since Oct. 13 seem to have waned.

All bars and restaurants in the country have been closed since mid-October, and people were urged to work from home as much as possible, but schools and shops have remained open.

This, however, looks likely to change after an emergency cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday, Dutch media said.

Citing government sources, public broadcaster NOS said the government was considering closing all non-essential shops for several weeks and extending the Christmas break for schools among measures to stop the spread of the disease.

REUTERS