Europe Looking at Several More Weeks of Virus Lockdowns

Italy and Spain are preparing for several more weeks under lockdown as volatile coronavirus infection rates prevent Europe’s governments from easing curbs on public life, Bloomberg reports.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, whose country has reported the most virus-linked deaths worldwide, is leaning toward an extension to early May, though a small number of businesses may be allowed to reopen. Spain prolonged a state of emergency until April 25 and the U.K. also is likely to extend restrictions.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined Spain and Italy on Thursday in upholding curbs on people’s movement and face-to-face contacts, saying progress in defeating the pandemic is “fragile” and it’s too early to relent. In a plea echoed elsewhere in Europe, she called on Germans to abide by the measures over the long Easter weekend.

As the pandemic maintains its grip on Europe, policy makers are caught between the urgent need to restart battered economies and calls by health officials to maintain lockdowns, Bloomberg adds.

Political uncertainty in the U.K. eased after Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from intensive care, though he remained hospitalized to recover from a coronavirus infection.

Merkel’s cautious words echo the approach in other European countries faced with major outbreaks. Italy reported a rise in deaths and infections, while France’s death toll increased with a backlog of data from nursing homes. U.K. deaths, though lower than in Europe’s worst-hit countries, rose by 881 to almost 8,000.

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