France has announced their second national lockdown during the pandemic and Germany will impose an emergency lockdown.
What We Know:
- French President Emmanuel Macron announced a second national lockdown that will last at least until the end of November. Starting Friday, French people will only be allowed to leave their residences for essential work or medical reasons. Non-essential businesses will close and schools and factories will stay open.
- France’s daily coronavirus deaths are at their highest levels since April. They recorded 33,000 new cases on Tuesday alone. Macron said that France risks being “overwhelmed by a second wave that no doubt will be harder than the first”.
- Germany is imposing an emergency lockdown that will be less severe. Non-essential businesses like restaurants, gyms, and theaters will close. In addition, several countries across Europe are enforcing night curfews to curb the spread of disease.
- Covid cases are increasing dramatically across Europe. The UK announced 310 deaths and 24,701 new infections on Wednesday. A new British study estimates that almost 100,000 people could be catching the virus every day.
- The new restrictions put in place across Europe will no doubt have a massive economic impact as well. On Wednesday, The UK’s FTSE 100 fell 2.6 percent and Germany’s Dax dropped 4.2 percent. Major U.S. indexes fell 3.4 percent as well.
President Macron addressed France on Wednesday, saying that they must “brutally apply the brakes” to avoid being “submerged by the acceleration of the epidemic . . . The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated.”
