Pandemic winter brings uncertainty to Europe

Thousands of protesters gather in front of the Swiss House of Parliament during a rally in opposition to the current measures to tackle the spread of COVID, health pass and vaccination, in Bern. Pic/AFP

Lockdowns, spiraling cases and a vaccine divide is framing the start of Europe's second COVID-19 pandemic winter, bringing chaos to eastern European countries and uncertainty to those in the West, CNN reported on Monday.

Despite the wide-scale availability of vaccines this winter compared to the last, Europe is the only part of the world reporting an increase in new COVID-19 cases globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said last week.

This is the third consecutive week the region has recorded a rise in cases, it added. The suffering has been acute in Eastern Europe and Russia, battling mounting deaths and cases fuelled by vaccine hesitancy that has seen coverage rates dip as low as 24 per cent, as per the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

On October 21, Latvia became the first country in the European Union (EU) to impose a lockdown as the country struggles with a spike in cases amid low vaccination uptake.

Only 56 per cent of all adults have had both doses of the jab compared to the EU average of 74.6 per cent. Western Europe is also driving the rise in COVID-19 cases despite some countries enjoying near universal vaccine coverage, the report said. Germany's COVID incidence rate rose to 100 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants on Saturday for the first time since May.

Tokyo lifts restrictions on restaurants

Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba, as well as Osaka on Monday lifted the COVID-19 restrictions on eateries following an ongoing downward trend in infections across Japan. Containing measures on the serving of alcohol and the operating hours in restaurants in the capital and Osaka was first lifted in 11 months, reports Xinhua news agency.

S Korea to phase out COVID curbs

South Korea will gradually phase out Coronavirus restrictions starting next month to embrace a new scheme of returning to normal life backed by the rising rate of vaccinations, health authorities said on Monday. A government-led committee announced a draft roadmap.

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