CORONA IN EUROPE: WHILE UK, ITALY, AND SPAIN SUFFER, OTHERS SLOWLY RECOVER!

While some European countries are continuing to fight the novel coronavirus through shutdowns, some others are taking small steps out of the shutdown.

The Health Ministry of Spain reported a rise in the total number of deaths today, which breaks the three–day decline in the number of deaths. The death toll has been confirmed as 16,972 from 16,353; while the total number of cases rose to 1,66,019 from 1,61,852. However, a few non-essential services are to be opened from Monday after a two-week stoppage, with strict rules to follow.

In the United Kingdom the number of cases have increased to 78,991 and the death toll is nearing 10,000. The country remains shutdown but for essential services. Pressure has been mounting on the government to provide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for the frontline medical staff. This pressure has been severe as the country recorded the death of eight doctors and over six nurses over a span of one week. “We are in an unprecedented global pandemic. There are going to be problems,” said Home Secretary Priti Patel, on Saturday, acknowledging the lack of PPE supplies.

The re-opening of non-essential products manufacturing and services has been extended until after May 03 in Italy. The pandemic has claimed the lives of 19,468 people and the total number of cases recorded is 152,271. However, if the condition permits, a few non-essential small businesses will be permitted to re-open.

Despite sharing boundaries with Italy, Austria has recorded 319 deaths and 13,337 cases. Suspecting a gap in the testing procedure, research was conducted in Austria by a company called Sora to estimate the prevalence of the infection in those at home. The co-founder of Sora, Christoph Hofinger, at a news conference said, “Based on this study, we believe that 0.33% of the population in Austria was acutely infected in early April.” Hence, it is said to have less than 1% of the population who have been “acutely affected” by the coronavirus apart from the existing cases.

Germany records a decline in the total number of cases that have increased today. While more than 4,000 cases were reported on Saturday, 2,821 cases have been reported on Sunday. The shutdown is being followed for weeks now.