COPENHAGEN: European countries have unveiled tough new measures to try to curb a surge in coronavirus infections which the World Health Organization warned Thursday is of "great concern".
Underscoring the disruption wrought by Covid-19 even in the corridors of power, US presidential candidate Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris suspended travel after a staffer contracted the disease and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen abruptly left a summit in Brussels for a similar reason.
And in France, police searched the home of the health minister as part of a probe into the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis. As the disease marches on relentlessly, millions in England are facing tighter restrictions, including a ban on household mixing, while a curfew is to be imposed in Paris and eight other French cities and in Germany there are new limits on people gathering at events.
With nearly 1.1 million coronavirus deaths and close to 40 million cases worldwide, countries in many parts of the world are facing tough choices on how to control the disease without the economic and social devastation wrought by nationwide lockdowns.
In India, where the pandemic has upended a movie-mad culture, some cinemas were allowed to reopen Thursday to try to attract punters back to the cash-strapped big screen.
Israel, meanwhile, said it was lifting an unpopular ban on citizens flying out of the country in an easing of a second nationwide lockdown. At a press conference in Copenhagen, the WHO's regional director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters it was time to "step up the measures" as rising case numbers on the continent were of "great concern."
But he said the situation was not as bad as the peak in March and April, and stressed that full-on lockdowns "where every corner of our society and economy has been halted" should be avoided.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seeking to do just that with a targeted, local three-tier alert system based on infection rates. London was preparing to move into level two of the system at the weekend along with other areas as Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned "infection rates are on a steep upward path" in the capital.
Liverpool, in northwest England, is the only area in the top level, with strict limits on social mixing, including the closure of pubs. In France, police searched the home of Health Minister Olivier Veran, one of several current or former ministers being probed following complaints by victims of Covid-19 that they were slow to act to check its spread.
The action came after France announced a virus shutdown between 9 pm and 6 am in Paris and other hotspot cities that will remain for as long as six weeks. In neighbouring Spain, bars and restaurants will close across the northeastern region of Catalonia for the next 15 days, while Germany said daily infections have reached levels not seen since the start of the pandemic. Breaking with past practice, China has sought to avoid a major lockdown after an outbreak in the port of Qingdao.
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