Italy's Draghi presenting 'epochal' virus recovery plan

April 26, 2021

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Draghi is presenting a 222.1 billion euro ($268.6 billion) coronavirus recovery plan to Parliament on Monday, aiming to not only bounce back from the pandemic but enact “epochal” reforms to address structural problems that long predated COVID-19.

Italy has the biggest share of the EU’s 750 billion euro ($907 billion) recovery pot, with 191.5 billion euros ($231.6 billion) of its six-year plan financed by EU funds. Draghi, the former European Central Bank chief, was put in the premier’s office specifically to make sure the money isn’t wasted since Italy has long had one of the worst records in the EU of making use of available funds.

The plan is heavy on investments to modernize and digitize Italy’s economy and bureaucracy and encourage environmentally sustainable development. Both are directed particularly at the all-important tourism industry — think Venice, the Colosseum and Amalfi coast resorts — which accounts for 13% of Italy’s gross domestic product and was devastated by pandemic-related closures.

Employment options for women and young people are prioritized, given youth unemployment tops 30% and Italy has long ranked at the bottom of the EU in terms of the percentage of women in the workforce. Women accounted for more than half the 456,000 jobs lost in Italy last year.

Here’s a look at Italy’s plans, which were announced on the same day that most of the country began emerging from its latest coronavirus lockdown, with museums reopening and restaurants and bars open for outdoor service.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION and EMPLOYMENT

About 27% of the plan is directed at digital transformation of the Italian economy and public administration, broadening access to high-speed internet service, especially in schools, and providing incentives to the private sector to digitize.

Around 22.4 billion euros ($27 billion) are aimed at “social inclusion” investments and programs to boost training and employment opportunities for women and help cities improve access and opportunities for disabled people. The aim of both, coupled with increased day care spots, is to remove obstacles that have traditionally kept Italian women at home caring for the young, old, sick and disabled.

The plan envisages the Italian economy, which shrank 8.8% last year, will grow 3.6 percentage points beyond base forecasts in 2026 and that its employment rate will grow 3.2 percentage points.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The EU required that at least 37% of its funds be directed toward climate-related investments, part of the bloc’s aim for a cut of 55% of greenhouse gases by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Italy’s plan is directing 40% overall, or 68.6 billion euros ($82.9 billion), to green-related investments and initiatives: boosting recycling, overhauling public transport systems to favor low-emission vehicles, and reducing water waste through improvements to waterways.

The plan calls for some 31.4 billion euros ($37.9 billion) in transportation infrastructure improvements and extending high-speed rail lines across the peninsula, especially in the underserved south.

EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

Among other things, the plan aims to create 152,000 more day care spots for babies and 76,000 for preschoolers, addressing a structural shortage that has long dissuaded parents from having children and women from working.

Other destinations for the 31.9 billion euro ($38.5 billion) investment in education and research is to spiff up dilapidated school buildings and get them better wired, and revamp the higher-education curriculum to encourage more students to pursue higher degrees.

Italy has long been beset by brain drain, with its brightest students pursuing advanced degrees and jobs abroad, and not coming back.

HEALTH CARE

The structural weakness of Italy’s national health system was on full display during the pandemic, when hospitals in northern Lombardy were overwhelmed and general practitioners were largely left on their own to care for sick patients as Italy became the epicenter of Europe's outbreak.

The 18.5 billion euro ($22.3 billion) investment in health care aims to reinforce in particular the general medicine and preventive care provided at the local level, with a strengthening of home care and telemedicine. Digital infrastructure improvements aim to improve data analysis.

REFORMS

Italy’s lethargic justice system and cumbersome bureaucracy have long been accused of discouraging foreign investment, since lawsuits and criminal trials can last for years and securing permissions to do just about anything can take a similarly long time.

The justice system reform aims to reduce the backlog of court files with temporary hires, while revising norms and procedures to encourage more recourse to mediation. Other reforms are focused on modernizing Italy’s old and outdated public administration, aiming to increase turnover to get more young people hired, digitize systems, simplify procedures for permits and boost competition particularly in public services and utilities.

German lawmakers approve 'emergency brake' virus rules

April 21, 2021

BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers on Wednesday approved a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to mandate uniform restrictions in areas where the coronavirus is spreading too quickly, among them closures and a nighttime curfew.

As parliament's lower house debated the plan, thousands of protesters gathered on a nearby street. Police ended the demonstration after participants ignored coronavirus restrictions. The legislation to apply an “emergency brake” consistently in areas with high infection rates is intended to end the patchwork of measures that has often characterized the pandemic response across highly decentralized Germany’s 16 states.

Lawmakers in the lower house voted 342-250 for the plan, with 64 abstentions. The upper house, where state governments are represented, is due to consider the legislation Thursday. It would apply until the end of June.

“As hard as it is, as sick of it as we are, reducing contacts helps,” Health Minister Jens Spahn told lawmakers. “We are again seeing 5,000 COVID-19 intensive care patients and rising, with the age of the patients sinking,” Spahn said. “We want to avoid an overburdening of our health system, an overburdening that many of our neighboring countries have experienced painfully.”

Not far from the parliament’s Reichstag building, an estimated 8,000 protesters assembled, few of them wearing masks. Police ended the gathering after organizers failed to get participants to comply with coronavirus restrictions.

A group of demonstrators was prevented from climbing over barriers. Officers used pepper spray after bottles were thrown at them, police said. The police department said on Twitter that seven people were arrested.

“There are some people out there today on the streets of this city who say it isn’t serious and there’s almost nothing going on,” Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in parliament. “Yes, something is going on: 80,000 people in this country have died, and you can’t talk past or overlook that.”

“Because that’s the case, and because the situation is still serious, something must be done beyond what we have done so far,” Scholz said. “And what we need now is clarity and consistency for what happens when the…infection rates rise too much.”

The proposal features plans to impose a 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew, limit personal contacts, close leisure and sports facilities and shut or restrict access to many stores. The measures would kick in for areas where there are more than 100 weekly new cases per 100,000 residents. Schools would have to switch to distance learning at a higher rate of 165.

Germany’s nationwide rate stood at 160 new cases per 100,000 residents on Wednesday, though there were wide regional variations. Opposition lawmakers advanced a variety of arguments against the bill. Alexander Gauland of the far-right Alternative for Germany, which opposes lockdown measures in general, called it an “attack on rights of freedom, federalism and common sense.”

The Greens had different objections. “This emergency brake remains too half-hearted, too ineffective, too inconsistent and too disproportionate,” lawmaker Maria Klein-Schmeink said.

Learning to breathe: German clinic helps COVID long haulers

April 20, 2021

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (AP) — Simone Ravera rolls up her trousers, slips off her shoes and socks, then gingerly steps into the chilly waters of the Baltic Sea. The 50-year-old rheumatology nurse is slowly finding her feet again after being struck down with COVID-19 last fall, seemingly recovering and then relapsing with severe fatigue and “brain fog" four months later.

“The symptoms were almost as bad as at the beginning,” Ravera said. Close to despair, she found a clinic that specializes in treating people with what have been called post-COVID-19, or long-term COVID-19, symptoms.

Located in Heiligendamm, a north German seaside spa popular since the late 18th century, the clinic specializes in helping people with lung diseases such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and cancer. Over the past year it has become a major rehabilitation center for COVID-19 patients, treating 600 people from across Germany, according to its medical director, Dr. Joerdis Frommhold.

Some of her patients came close to death and now have to relearn how to breathe properly, rebuild their stamina and overcome a host of neurological problems associated with severe illness. But Frommhold also treats a second group of patients who experienced mild to medium COVID-19 symptoms, and only spent a short time in the hospital, if at all.

“These patients get rebound symptoms after about one to four months,” Frommhold said. Most are aged between 18 to 50 and have no pre-existing conditions, she said. "They're the ones that are usually never ill.”

After recovering from a bout of COVID-19, these patients suddenly find themselves short of breath, depressed and struggling to concentrate, said Frommhold. Some suffer symptoms resembling those of dementia.

One former dialysis nurse found her kitchen flooded because she’d forgotten to turn off the tap. "Others are unable to do homework with their kids because they don’t understand the questions themselves,” Frommhold said.

Their symptoms aren’t always taken seriously by doctors. Despite suffering hair loss, joint and muscle pain, irregular blood pressure and dizziness, routine test results for such patients usually come back normal.

“They appear young, dynamic, high performing, but then they can’t do any of the things they used to," Frommhold said. Therapists at the clinic initially focus on stabilizing patients' breathing. Then they work to restore stamina and motor coordination with the help of occupational therapy and posture training. Cognitive therapy and psychological support are also part of the program.

Similar clinics for “long haulers" have sprung up around the world over the past year, including in the United States. In Germany, such treatment is increasingly being offered by the country's network of more than 1,000 medical rehabilitation centers, 50 of which specialize in pulmonary diseases.

"That doesn’t exist in many other countries yet,” Frommhold said. It is unclear how many people suffer from long-term COVID-19, partly because the condition isn't clearly defined yet. Scientists are still trying to understand what is behind the wide range of symptoms patients report.

“No two patients have the same experience and it varies within patients,” said Elizabeth Murray, a professor of e-health and primary care at University College London. “The symptoms they are experiencing this week are not necessarily a guide to the symptoms they would be experiencing next week,” said Murray, a former general practitioner. “It makes it difficult for everybody; it makes it very, very difficult for the patients.”

Britain’s Office for National Statistics said a survey of 9,063 respondents who tested positive for COVID-19 found that more than 20% reported persistence of some symptoms after five weeks. For about 10% of respondents that included fatigue, while similar numbers reported headaches or loss of taste and smell.

More than 140 million coronavirus infections have been confirmed worldwide to date, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, meaning even a small percentage of long-term COVID-19 sufferers would suggest millions could be affected.

"That’s a lot of extra people to treat and no health care system has got a lot of spare capacity," said Murray. She added that the economic impact of so many people dropping out of the labor force could be devastating, particularly as many sufferers are women who also shoulder a disproportionate burden at home.

Murray is developing a digital program, funded by Britain's National Institute for Health Research, to treat long-term COVID-19 symptoms and reach more patients faster than through traditional rehab facilities, ensuring they don't feel abandoned by the medical system.

Frommhold said a similar program might help Germany cope with the expected surge in long-term COVID-19 sufferers, but suggested that greater acceptance of the condition will also be necessary for those who don't fully recover.

“In my eyes we first need a campaign like the one there was for HIV awareness, that explains how there are different pathways even after recovery from COVID,” she said. Getting patients, their families and employers to understand that they now have a chronic condition could prevent long haulers from falling into a spiral of depression and anxiety, Frommhold said.

Heike Risch, a 51-year-old kindergarten teacher from the eastern city of Cottbus was hardly able to walk unaided upon leaving the hospital after recovering from COVID-19. “I felt like I’d aged 30 years in a short period of time,” she said.

At the clinic, Risch couldn't balance a table tennis ball on a racket and walk backward. She still can't read a clock properly. “You don’t trust your own body anymore. You don’t trust your own head anymore,” Risch said.

Still, she hopes to return to work someday. "I like working with children but I need to be able to concentrate. I need to be able to do two things at once occasionally,” she said. Ravera, the nurse, says she has come a long way thanks to the therapy in Heiligendamm and feels lucky to have support from friends and family.

But Ravera doubts she'll go back to doing three-shift weekends at the hospital she worked at in Bavaria. “You don’t know when you’ll be well again. The illness comes in waves," she said. Instead, Ravera is considering using what she learned in rehab to help others who are struggling to breathe properly again after COVID-19.

“It's a bit of a journey into the unknown,” she said. 

Pandemic puts tulips, bluebells, cherry blossoms in hiding

April 20, 2021

HALLE, Belgium (AP) — There is no stopping flowers when they bloom, blossoms when they burst. Unfortunately, people have been stopped from enjoying them these days. In pandemic times, when so much goes against the grain, some beauties of nature are no longer embraced but kept at bay.

From Japan's cherry blossom trees, to the endless Keukenhof tulip fields in the Netherlands, to the riot of purple bluebells in the Hallerbos south of Brussels, everything looks its best this spring when conditions are at its worst.

“The flowers are there. Nature refuses to be stopped by anyone," said Halle mayor Marc Snoeck, who for the second year in a row needs to keep people away from the municipality's famed woods instead of inviting them in.

Across the world, authorities are seeking to stave off a new surge of COVID-19 infections to contain a death toll which already exceeds 3 million. Crowds are anathema to health. Yet at the same time, the soothing glories of nature are said to be an ideal balm against the psychological burdens of loneliness, disorientation and fear that the pandemic has wrought.

When those two concepts clash however, caution beats joy by a long stretch these days. “The weather is great and there is beauty to enjoy,” Snoeck said. “But on the other hand we have to watch it. Safety trumps everything. And even though it is good to enjoy this nice time and the beauty of the purple bluebells, we absolutely don’t want anyone to get sick.”

Normally, more than 100,000 visitors spread over three weekends come to gaze at Halle’s fields of purple. Last spring, when Europe was already grappling with the first surge of infections, Snoeck already closed off the woods as much as possible.

Since it is an open forest, a full ban is out of the question, so Snoeck has canceled special bus shuttles, and issued parking bans to discourage people from coming. “If they all had to show up in these three weekends, then there really would be too many people and safe distancing couldn't be respected. Not everyone wears a mask at a moment like this, and it is of course necessary,” Snoeck said.

Keeping the masses away is a counterintuitive reaction seen in many places. For Snoeck and the Hallerbos, it is easy, even though tourism income hurts badly. With the bluebells, nature gives and little needs to be done but enjoy.

For the Keukenhof tulip fields 300 milometers (180 miles) north of Halle though, the tulip fields are very much a man-made creation with planting starting already in September. Two years ago, 1.5 million people visit in its eight-week run, but now, it took a special anti-virus pilot scheme to allow just a few thousands in on the rescheduled opening day.

"Every year we make the most beautiful possible Keukenhof. We don’t think about visitors not coming. We always do it for visitors — if necessary. digitally — but there’s nothing better than having visitors,” Keukenhof gardening foreman Stefan Slobbe said.

Like Belgium, the Netherlands is struggling to stifle a third surge of COVID-19 and is still limiting public events, while the whole process of blooming and wilting takes no heed. It was no different in Japan when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom last month. The blossoms, known as sakura, have deeply influenced Japanese culture for centuries and regularly been used in poetry and literature with their fragility seen as a symbol of life, death and rebirth.

Yet, this year, like last year too, the pandemic had its impact. “Please refrain from gathering to enjoy the cherry blossoms," signs in Tokyo said, putting a dampener on the usually exuberant atmosphere.

Some, however, couldn't be restrained. “Last year I couldn’t come here due to the state of emergency. This year I wanted to come again, so here I am,” 21-year-old university student Miyu Obata said.

The lack of mass tourism flocking to the Hallerbos will have its beneficial side too. Any flower that gets trampled won't reshoot the year after, Snoeck said. So once the pandemic is contained, the bluebell fields might even look better.

“Fewer visitors will make nature even more beautiful," Snoeck said.

Mark Carlson and Virginia Mayo in Halle, and Mike Corder and Peter Dejong in Lisse, Netherlands, contributed to this report.

Pubs, hairdressers set to reopen as UK eases virus lockdown

April 11, 2021

LONDON (AP) — Millions of people in Britain will get their first chance in months for haircuts, casual shopping and restaurant meals on Monday, as the government takes the next step on its lockdown-lifting road map.

Nationwide restrictions have been in place in England since early January, and similar rules in the other parts of the U.K., to suppress a surge in coronavirus infections that swept the country late last year, linked to a more transmissible new variant first identified in southeast England.

Britain has had Europe’s worst coronavirus outbreak, with more than 127,000 confirmed deaths. Infections, hospitalizations and deaths have all fallen thanks to the lockdown, and a mass vaccination program that has given at least one dose to more than 60% of the adult population.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson and epidemiologists have urged caution, saying that many people remain unvaccinated and relaxing social distancing rules or allowing foreign holidays this summer could bring a new spike in infections.

“The situation in the U.K. is becoming clear and is stabilizing, but people have to remember that’s not the case elsewhere,” said Peter Horby, who chairs the government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Threats Advisory Group. “The pandemic is still raging globally.

“And many countries in Europe even are still seeing racing case numbers or having to reintroduce lockdowns. So it’s very hard to predict what will happen in the next couple of months,” he told Times Radio.

On Monday, nonessential shops will be allowed to reopen, along with hair salons, gyms and outdoor service at pubs and restaurants. The prime minister had promised to visit a pub for a pint to mark the occasion, but postponed the celebratory drink after the death of Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, on Friday.

Indoor drinking and dining won’t be allowed until May 17 at the earliest, and theaters, cinemas, nightclubs and most other venues remain closed, while indoor socializing is tightly restricted and foreign holidays remain banned.

The easing is good news for retail and hospitality businesses, which have endured several stretches of lockdown over the past year. But it’s a long way from business as usual; the British Beer and Pub Association estimates that just 40% of pubs in England have the space to reopen for outdoor service.

The rules apply in England. The other parts of the United Kingdom — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are following their own, broadly similar plans.

Marchers protest Romania's virus restrictions as cases soar

April 11, 2021

BUCHAREST (AP) — Marchers took to the streets Saturday in the Romanian capital of Bucharest to protest restrictive measures to fight the spread of COVID-19 even as new daily infections and deaths rose in the European Union nation.

About 1,000 people converged on Victory Square and University Square, expressing frustration with an earlier curfew and shop closures that took effect at the end of March. Many demonstrators waved tri-color Romanian flags and chanted “Freedom!” and “Down with the government!”

“We came to fight against this state of alert that buries all our rights and freedoms,” Dumitru Balan, leader of the civic movement Action for the Nation, told The Associated Press. “We do not agree with compulsory vaccination, with wearing a mask on our faces … the quarantine of cities, online schooling, the closure of churches, playgrounds, restaurants and shops," he said.

Romania does not have compulsory vaccinations. The protest was held on the same day that Romania passed the milestone of having 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. Hospital intensive care units are struggling to cope with the record demand of just under 1,500 COVID-19 patients and 12,000 others are in other wards.

“There are now very severe patients admitted in our clinical ward that normally would require intensive care … we don’t have enough ICU beds available and patients are waiting with sub-optimal care,” Dragos Zaharia, a pneumologist at Marius Nasta Institute, told the AP. “We are at risk of being accused of malpractice."

The protesters halted outside Cotroceni Palace, where President Klaus Iohannis resides, and called for an early election. “I think Romania has a perfect storm of conditions that create this climate of anti-restriction protests,” Dani Sandu, a sociologist affiliated with the European University Institute, told the AP. “Romania is a society with low levels of trust in public institutions."

On Friday evening, authorities transferred patients in the middle of the night from Bucharest’s Foisor Orthopedic Hospital to other facilities as it was turned into a COVID-19 hospital. An official from the governing National Liberal Party, Ben Oni Ardelean, called the situation a “circus” and said he will urge that Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu be fired.

Romania has recorded 25,006 deaths in the pandemic.

Nicolae Dumitrache in Bucharest contributed to this report.

Bouquet-bearing public honors Philip, ignoring COVID warning

April 10, 2021

LONDON (AP) — British authorities have implored people to stay away from royal palaces as they mourn the death of Prince Philip in this time of COVID-19, but they keep coming. Not just to honor him, but to support Queen Elizabeth II, who lost her husband of 73 years.

The mix included children, seniors, Sikhs and the children of African immigrants. A cross-section of British society and admirers from abroad descended on Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle on Saturday. They laid bouquets at the gates, offered prayers or just paused for a moment of reflection as they remembered a man who dedicated much of his life to public service.

Mourners talked about Philip’s work with some 780 charities and organizations, particularly his Duke of Edinburgh Award, which seeks to build confidence and resilience in young people. But they also recalled his role as the consummate royal consort, supporting the queen at thousands of public engagements and state visits.

“We had a really hard year all of us and there’s people uniting in a very special moment,'' said Carolina Przeniewska, originally from Poland, who came to Buckingham Place with her 5-year-old daughter Grace. “So I wanted her to see it and I wanted to pay respect.”

At Buckingham Palace, the queen’s London residence, well-wishers braved a chilly, gray day to line up and snake their way past the black iron gates, where tourists normally wait to watch the changing of the guard. People were allowed to approach the gates one at a time to lay their tributes as police tried to control the crowd amid Britain's coronavirus restrictions.

The crowd was smaller at Windsor Castle, west of the capital, where a steady stream of mourners quietly approached the gates to leave bright spring bouquets on a strip of lawn. People want to show their respect for both Philip and the queen, who turns 95 this month and will celebrate 70 years on the throne next year, said Nick Bullen, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of True Royalty TV.

“If the queen wasn’t already loved enough, this is just going to move it to another level now,’’ Bullen said. “This is a woman who’s going to bury her husband and then in a matter of days later be celebrating her birthday and stepping into her platinum jubilee year. … So I think people will just be rallying around the queen as much as they will the Duke of Edinburgh.”

Philip, the son of a Greek prince, and the future queen first met as teenagers. They were married in 1947 when she was 21 and he was a 26-year-old naval officer. Elizabeth became queen when her father died in 1952. At her coronation, Philip swore to be his wife’s “liege man of life and limb” and settled into a life of supporting the monarch.

Philip retired from public life in 2017. At the time, he had conducted more than 22,000 public engagements on his own, given 5,496 speeches and made 637 solo trips abroad, in addition to countless more appearances by the queen’s side.

“He was a hero to me because he was the man I could look up to,” Nurtr Omar, a 20-year-old who was born in Somalia and now lives in Britain, said outside Buckingham Palace. “He showed me what I can achieve with my life, whether you are royal or not. You need to make hard work to achieve what you want to.”

The floral tributes grew throughout the day, even after the Royal Family on Friday asked people not to visit royal residences to pay their respects due to public health concerns. Instead of flowers, the family asked people to consider making donations to charity.

But for Windsor resident Billy Dohil, the day was about history. He took his children to the castle so they could be part of it. “As they grow up, we’ll remember this,” Dohil, 39, said. “We’ll remember the royal family and (it) will be part of their life. So we wanted to come here to pay our respects. My oldest son — five years old — wanted to bring some flowers and just put it down himself.’’

Associated Press Writers James Brooks and Tom Rayner contributed.

Visitors tiptoe through the tulips in Dutch virus test

April 09, 2021

LISSE, Netherlands (AP) — Finally, after bleak winter months of a coronavirus lockdown, springtime shoots of hope emerged Friday as restrictions were relaxed at a Dutch flower garden and other public venues.

Under a government-approved pilot scheme, the world-famous Keukenhof garden opened its gates to let a few thousand people tiptoe through the 7 million tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and myriad other flowers meticulously hand-planted throughout its manicured lawns by a small army of gardeners.

A maximum of 5,000 visitors were allowed into the garden, nestled amid the pancake flat bulb fields between Amsterdam and The Hague, if they could show proof that they had just tested negative for COVID-19.

Minke Kleinen, who visited the central city of Arnhem with her friend Ilse van Egten, said it felt like their “first legal day out.” The friends took rapid tests before setting off and got their negative results by email as they drove.

“It feels strange that we can stand next to one another," said Van Egten, giving Kleinen a quick hug. "It’s nice!” The Keukenhof lost an entire season last year to the pandemic as the first deadly wave of infections swept over the Netherlands. Its scheduled March 20 opening this year never happened because of the country's strict virus lockdown.

The limited opening — six days spread over two weeks in April — is welcome to the 40 gardeners who spend months preparing for the annual spring season. In a normal year, the garden the size of 50 soccer fields can accommodate 10 times as many visitors each day.

Park director Bart Siemerink had mixed feelings. “Of course, happy today. It's the first day of Keukenhof 2021," he said, but added that the park still felt different with such a relatively small number of visitors.

"So it’s a good feeling that we can open, but this is not Keukenhof as it’s supposed to be,” he said. In pre-pandemic years, Keukenhof's paths, park benches and cafes are crowded with visitors from around the world taking photos and selfies with one of the Netherlands' most iconic products — the tulip.

On Friday, small groups of visitors were scattered around the lawns. You could get a plate of poffertjes — a Dutch treat of tiny pancakes covered in icing sugar — without having to wait in a long line.

The Dutch government announced this week that hundreds of public venues would be allowed to reopen under strict conditions to evaluate whether rapid testing can safely help the country ease coronavirus restrictions amid rising levels of vaccinations and warmer weather.

Under the scheme, visitors to the Keukenhof — as well as museums, zoos and other venues — are allowed entry if they order a ticket online and get a negative virus test within 40 hours of their visit. All virus tests are free and a result is emailed within an hour to the tested person. That code, in turn, can be scanned at venues.

The tests come against a backdrop of stubbornly high infections that have begun edging lower in the past week after months of lockdown. Health Minister Hugo de Jonge sees the limited openings as a way of easing back toward normal life as vaccinations reach more and more people.

Visiting the Keukenhof felt like a privilege for those who got in. “This is a gift,” said blogger Berry de Nijs. “It feels great today. It is beautiful weather anyway ... but to walk through the tulips is fantastic!”.

No region in the world spared as virus cases, deaths surge

April 09, 2021

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Hospitals in Turkey and Poland are filling up fast. Pakistan is restricting domestic travel to bring a surge in coronavirus infections under control. Even Thailand, which has weathered the coronavirus pandemic far better than many nations, is now struggling to contain a new COVID-19 surge.

Even countries where vaccine rollouts are finally getting some momentum, infections, hospitalizations and deaths are surging. And that leaves even bleaker prospects for much of the world, where largescale vaccination programs remain a more distant prospect.

The World Health Organization said Friday that it's very concerned as infection rates are rising in all of the world's regions, driven by new virus variants and too many nations and people coming out of lockdown too soon.

“We’ve seen rises (in cases) worldwide for six weeks. And now, sadly, we are seeing rises in deaths for the last three weeks," Dr. Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, said at a briefing in Geneva.

In its latest weekly epidemiological update, WHO said new COVID-19 cases rose for a sixth consecutive week, with over 4 million reported in the last week. New deaths increased by 11% compared to last week, with over 71 000 reported.

Turkey is among the badly hit countries, with most new cases of the virus traced to a variant first found in Britain. Ismail Cinel, head of the Turkish Intensive Care Association, said said ICU units were not yet at full capacity, but that the surge was beginning to strain the nation's relatively advanced health care system.

“Every single day the number of cases is increasing. Every single day the number of deaths is increasing. The alarm bells are ringing for the intensive care units,” Cinel said. “The mutant form of the virus is causing more harm to the organs,” he said. “While two out of ten patients were dying previously, the number is now four out of 10. And if we continue this way, we will lose six.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan eased COVID-19 restrictions in early March, keen to minimize pain to his nation's ailing economy. Yet with this new spike, he was forced to announce renewed restrictions, such as weekend lockdowns and the closure of cafes and restaurants during Ramadan, which starts on April 13.

Turkish medical groups say the reopening in March was premature and that the new measures won’t go far enough to curb the surge. They have been calling for full lockdowns during the holy Muslim month.

In Iran, the death toll is also rising, prompting new restrictions that will take effect for 10 days in 257 cities beginning Saturday. They involve the closure of all parks, restaurants, confectionaries, beauty salons, malls and bookstores.

Authorities in Pakistan, which is in the middle of a third surge of infections, are restricting inter-city transportation on weekends starting at midnight Friday as part of measures aimed at limiting coronavirus cases and deaths.

And elsewhere in Asia, authorities in Thailand on Friday ordered new restrictions in an effort to contain a growing coronavirus outbreak just days before the country’s traditional Songkran New Year’s holiday, when millions of people travel.

Japan, meanwhile, announced tougher measures ahead of the Summer Olympics. The only exceptions to the deteriorating situation are those countries that have advanced vaccination programs, mostly notably Israel and Britain. Even the U.S., which is a vaccination leader globally, is seeing a small uptick in new cases.

In Germany, Poland and other countries in the 27-member European Union, vaccination programs are finally ramping up after a very slow start in the first three months of the year due to delivery shortages.

In Germany, thousands of doctors’ practices joined the vaccination campaign this week. That helped Germany reach its second consecutive daily record on Thursday of 719,927 doses administered -- meaning that 14.7% of the population has now received at least one dose and 5.8% have received both shots.

Yet German health officials are warning of a steep rise in intensive care patients and are calling for stronger action to contain coronavirus infections. Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany’s disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, said Friday that “intensive care units are filling up fast” across the country. He said nearly 4,500 COVID-19 patients are receiving intensive care, with the number increasing by 700 over the past week — a 20% rise.

Neighboring Poland is also seeing a dramatic spike in deaths, and hospitals have been forced to turn away cancer and other patients as ICU and other hospital beds are taken by COVID-19 patients. Hospitalizations of virus patients there have jumped 20% in the past two weeks.

Harris, from the WHO, says the world knows how to fight these surges. She said good news was coming out of the U.K. — which saw new coronavirus cases drop 60% in March amid a strong vaccination program — “that indeed the vaccination programs have averted very large numbers of deaths. But we have to do it all.”

“We have to keep on social distancing. We have to avoid indoor crowded settings. We have to keep wearing the masks, even if vaccinated," she said. “People are misunderstanding, seeming to think that vaccination will stop transmission. That is not the case. We need to bring down the transmission while giving the vaccination the chance to stop the severe disease.”

Associated Press writers from around the world contributed to this report.

Czechs partially ease lockdown; kids to return to school

April 06, 2021

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech government on Tuesday approved the first easing of its tight lockdown in one of the European Union's hardest-hit countries, allowing at least some children to return to school.

“It’s not a full relaxation,” Health Minister Jan Blatny said. “The situation hasn't been ideal yet." Starting Monday, people in the Czech Republic will be allowed again to travel to other counties and the night-time curfew will end. The measures took effect at the beginning of March as the Central European nation was desperate to slow down the spread of a highly contagious virus variant first found in Britain.

With numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients on the decline, the Czechs have offered to treat patients from other European countries where infections have been on the rise, Blatny said, offering up to 50 beds.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Czech hospitals dropped to 5,700 on Monday, down from 9,500 a month ago. A month ago, European countries — including Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland and Hungary — offered similar help to the then-struggling Czech health system.

Despite the recent decline, the Czech Republic still has the highest number of cumulative deaths (252.7) per 100,000 people in the world and the third-highest number of cumulative cases (14,509.5) again per 100,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The nation of 10.7 million has 1.56 million confirmed cases with over 27,000 deaths. Education Minister Robert Plaga said the children up to the fifth grade will be back at schools on Monday under strict conditions “to make their return safe and permanent.”

All will have to wear face masks and will be tested twice a week, Plaga said. To start, students will return on a rotating basis, in school one week and distance learning the next. Stores selling children's clothes and shoes, laundries, outdoor farmers' markets, zoos, botanical gardens and some other stores will be allowed to reopen Monday.

An advisory group of scientists at the Health Ministry cautiously agreed with the careful school reopening but said the situation still “hasn’t been good despite the gradual decline (of infections).” But it was not consulted on many other easing measures.

Epidemiologist Rastislav Madar, a member of the group, told the Czech public radio that the relaxed measures pose a risk because “the numbers (of infections) are still too high.”

France: Ministers accused of dining at secret restaurants

April 05, 2021

PARIS (AP) — French authorities are investigating accusations that government ministers and others dined in secret restaurants in violation of pandemic restrictions. The Paris prosecutor’s office said an investigation was opened Sunday into possible charges of endangerment and undeclared labor, and to identify the organizers and participants of the alleged gatherings.

A documentary that aired on French network M6 over the weekend included an unidentified man saying that he had eaten in two or three clandestine restaurants “with a certain number of ministers.” Government members quickly denied knowledge of such wrongdoing. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin asked police to look into the claims.

The prosecutor’s office said Monday that the investigation is continuing despite reports that the man featured in the documentary had retracted his claim. French restaurants have been closed since October to slow the spread of the coronavirus virus. France just entered a new partial lockdown in response to intensive care units again filling with COVID-19 patients.

Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on LCI television Sunday night that authorities have been investigating reports of clandestine parties and restaurants for months, and 200 suspects have been identified and face “heavy punishment.”

Government ministers “have a duty to be totally irreproachable and exemplary.” Attal said.

Polish hospitals struggle with surge of virus patients

April 05, 2021

BOCHNIA, Poland (AP) — Polish hospitals struggled over the Easter weekend with a massive number of people infected with COVID-19 following a huge surge in infections across Central and Eastern Europe in recent weeks.

Tougher new pandemic restrictions were ordered in Poland for a two-week period surrounding Easter in order to slow down the infection rate. The country hit new records of over 35,000 daily infections on two recent days, and deaths have been in the hundreds each day.

The aim of the new restrictions was to prevent large gatherings over the long weekend culminating with Easter Monday. Meanwhile, the government is also trying to speed up the country's vaccine rollout, but the pressure on the country's hospitals is still relentless.

On Easter Sunday, coronavirus patients filled almost all of the 120 beds at the County Hospital of Bochnia, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the southern city of Krakow. “It is a difficult situation, because there are a lot of patients," said Bozena Gicala, a nurse treating COVID-19 patients who spoke to Associated Press reporters visiting the hospital.

She said the support of her colleagues was critical in managing the unprecedented situation. Another nurse, Ewa Ptak, said she had COVID-19 herself and is on a mission to help those who are suffering more than she did.

"Thank God I went without a hospital and I was fine. But I know what it is and I just want to help people,” Ptak said. One patient, 82-year-old Edward Szumanski, voiced concerns about how some people still refuse to see the virus that has killed over 2.8 million people worldwide as a threat. Poland has seen about 55,000 of those deaths.

“The disease is certainly there and it is very serious. Those who have not been through it, those who do not have it in their family, may be deluding themselves, but the reality is different,” he said.

Szumanski said he is also worried that ICU spaces in hospitals could soon run out and that more people will die. There have been warnings and reports in Polish media about how the nation's health care system is reaching a breaking point.

The hospital's medical director, Jaroslaw Gucwa, said the pandemic has been made worse by those who believe it is all a hoax and have shunned masks or ignored restrictions. The hospital is so stressed that it is discharging patients who still need more treatment "in order to make room for the next ones in a serious condition. This is not a normal situation,” he added.

Poland registered 204 new COVID-19 deaths on Easter Sunday, but the numbers in recent days have been much higher, mostly around 500 per day, On Wednesday, they hit a high for this year of 653. “The hardest part is when you intubate your friends and leave them in intensive care,” Gucwa said.

Former army chief infected with Corona virus

05-04-2021

Ammon News - Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces, Mahmoud Freihat has infected with Corona virus.

Freihat is in self-isolation after the infection where he receives medical treatment at home.

Source: Ammon News.

Link: https://en.ammonnews.net/article/48433.

COVID fatality curve needs 2 weeks to fall

05-04-2021

Ammon News - Lower House Environment and Health Committee on Sunday discussed the Kingdom's epidemiological situation.

During a meeting attended by Health Minister Firas Hawari, the committee highlighted the necessity of reconsidering coronavirus-containment measures to strike a balance between economy and public health.

MP Ahmed Sarahneh, head of the committee, stressed the need for speeding up the vaccination program, reconsidering Friday lockdown, and reducing curfew to prevent crowdedness. He also called for reopening the Kingdom’s mosques during the holy month of Ramadan.

Hawari said that the Kingdom's epidemiological curve is falling, noting that Friday lockdowns and the extension of partial lockdowns have contributed to the decline of the curve.

The COVID-19 fatality curve needs two weeks to fall, Hawari added, pointing out that the current coronavirus wave seems to be stronger by 30 per cent, compared with the previous one.

The health minister also revealed that changes to curfew measures will be introduced, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He also said that reopening sectors will be gradual.

It is noted that a total of 370,000 people received their first dose of COVID vaccine, while the number of those who got the second jab across the Kingdom reached 115,000.

Source: Ammon News.

Link: https://en.ammonnews.net/article/48431.

81945 active COVID-19 cases in Jordan

05-04-2021

Ammon News - worldometers showed on Monday that there are 81945 active COVID-19 cases in Jordan.

According to worldometers, Jordan recorded a total of 7201 COVID-19 deaths.

According to the Health ministry, Jordan recorded 632907 COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the pandemic.

The recovered COVID-19 cases in Jordan has reached 543761.

Globally, the number of Coronavirus cases is 131,920,255, the number of the recovered cases is 106,202,786.

Source: Ammon News.

Link: https://en.ammonnews.net/article/48424.

NATO prepares 'virus-free' zone for summit; Biden invited

March 23, 2021

BRUSSELS (AP) — Since the coronavirus started spreading through Europe over a year ago, NATO's headquarters in Brussels has been off-limits to the media and others, but the military alliance now aims to get ahead of Belgium's vaccine program and have its staff guaranteed to be “virus-free” for a summit in June.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his NATO counterparts are meeting Tuesday in person at the 30-country organization’s headquarters to prepare the summit of national leaders, including President Joe Biden. It’s the first face-to-face meeting of foreign ministers at NATO since 2019.

The European Union, in contrast, called off an in-person summit in Brussels as virus cases spike and will now meet this week by videoconference. Belgium’s health authorities have said the country stands “at the foot of a third wave” of infections unless restrictions are strictly respected.

Across town at NATO on Thursday, around 20 Polish medical personnel will begin inoculating some of the estimated 4,000 people who work at the military alliance’s headquarters against COVID-19. They plan to administer around 3,500 AstraZeneca vaccines.

Before the foreign minsters’ meeting he will chair, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg praised Poland as “a highly valued ally” that is helping “to support NATO, to manage the consequences of the pandemic.”

“This is a joint fight, and we are stronger together. And of course, the vaccines will help and support our work here at the headquarters of NATO,” Stoltenberg said. Asked for details, NATO said the offer is available to all headquarters staff, including people working at the 30 national delegations. It didn't reply to questions as to why a vaccination campaign is needed and why people working at NATO should have priority for shots.

Belgium is currently vaccinating people over 65 and those with medical conditions that might endanger their lives should they catch the virus. The disease has killed more than 22,000 people in the country.

Around 7% of the population has been vaccinated, and the government’s program is not running fast enough to ensure that everyone at NATO would be inoculated by the time leaders from Europe and North America gather in about three months. A Belgian official at NATO declined to comment.

NATO did say that “we continue to coordinate closely with the Belgian authorities” and that it will help arrange vaccinations for contractors, personnel from partner countries and the families of NATO staff through a Belgian vaccination center.

In Warsaw, the Polish government official in charge of the national vaccination program, Michal Dworczyk, said that as an ally, Poland was prepared “not only to take but also to give,” and that the vaccines will help ensure health safety at the NATO summit.

Dworczyk insisted that the program will not hurt government efforts to fight the coronavirus, despite some worry in Poland that the vaccine rollout is moving too slowly. He said the 3,500 doses make up less than 1% of the shipments the country is due to receive this week and that the medical personnel involved won't be taken from hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.

Many people in Poland didn't show up for AstraZeneca appointments last week because of the concern about the possibility of blood clots — fears the government rejects — and the vaccine doesn't appear to be in short supply.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Poland has received around 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and administered just over 640,000 doses, leaving around 600,000 doses in storage.

Since the coronavirus began spreading, NATO’s sprawling headquarters complex has been off-limits to reporters, but some were being allowed back in for Tuesday’s meeting, provided they could show a recent negative virus test result.

In downtown Brussels, journalists can freely enter the European Parliament building with their media credentials after passing through a temperature scanner. Donald Trump was the first U.S. president to meet with his NATO counterparts at the new headquarters, in May 2017. The move from the old headquarters wasn't complete, and the leaders had the building mostly to themselves. The plan for Biden’s inaugural gathering is to have more staff on hand, aiming to ensure that the environment for the summit is as safe as it can be in terms of the coronavirus.

Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.

Germany extends virus lockdown till mid-April as cases rise

March 23, 2021

BERLIN (AP) — Germany has extended its lockdown measures by another month and imposed several new restrictions, including largely shutting down public life over Easter, in an effort to drive down the rate of coronavirus infections.

Speaking early Tuesday after a lengthy video call with the country's 16 state governors, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that restrictions previously set to run through March 28 will now remain in place until April 18.

Coronavirus infections have increased steadily in Germany as the more contagious variant first detected in Britain has become dominant, and the country's daily number of cases per capita has passed that of the United States.

“We basically have a new pandemic,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin. “Essentially we have a new virus, obviously of the same type but with completely different characteristics,” she added. “Significantly more deadly, significantly more infectious (and) infectious for longer.”

Since their last meeting three weeks ago, which saw the two sides agree a multi-step plan to relax restrictions, several states have tried to avoid going back into tougher lockdowns when the weekly number of new infections exceeds 100 per 100,000 residents on three consecutive days.

Merkel made clear that she wouldn't accept that. "Unfortunately, we will have to make use of this emergency brake,” she said. The weekly infection rate per 100,000 people stood at 107 nationwide on Monday, up from the mid-60s three weeks ago.

Officials agreed to largely shut down public life from April 1-3, adding a public holiday and shutting down most stores for the period. Public gatherings will be banned from April 1-5, to encourage people to stay at home.

Amid concern over the rise in Germans traveling abroad on holidays, authorities also agreed on a blanket requirement for air travelers to be tested for COVID-19 before boarding a flight to Germany. Drawing up legally watertight rules has proved a headache at times. A court in Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, said Monday it struck down rules requiring people to get appointments to visit shops. It said they violated a requirement that businesses get equal treatment.

The state government promptly reinstated the rules, tightening them for some businesses — such as bookshops and garden centers — that were previously exempt. According to Tuesday's agreement, authorities will aim to offer free tests to all students and teachers in German schools, many of which have only recently reopened after months of remote teaching.

Merkel said Germany, which had comparatively low deaths during the first phase of the pandemic last spring, has seen "successes but also of setbacks” and insisted that the situation would improve as more people get vaccinated.

Germany's vaccination campaign has so far lagged behind expectations, with only about 9% of the population receiving at least a first shot and 4% receiving both doses by Sunday. “It's difficult for longer than we thought,” said Merkel. “But there's definitely light visible at the end of the tunnel.”

Asked about the EU's plans to restrict the export of vaccines and components, Merkel said she supported efforts by the bloc's executive Commission to ensure contracts are fulfilled, citing the supply problems the EU has had with the AstraZeneca shot.

Britain, which left the EU last year, has strongly protested against the plans, fearing it could get cut off from deliveries. Merkel said she and French President Emmanuel Macron had each spoken to Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the issue in recent days and EU leaders would aim to reach a decision “in a responsible way” at a virtual summit Thursday.

AP journalist Geir Moulson contributed to this report.

UK reflects on 'grief and loss,' a year from first lockdown

March 23, 2021

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has a lot to reflect on. A year to the day since Prime Minister Boris Johnson first put the country under lockdown to slow the fast-spreading coronavirus, a national day of reflection has been organized by the end-of-life charity Marie Curie to remember the people who died after contracting COVID-19.

The U.K. has registered more than 126,000 virus-related deaths, the highest pandemic death toll in Europe and one of the highest in the world as a proportion of population. “As we look forward to a brighter future together, today we pause to reflect on the grief and loss that continues to be felt by so many people and families, and pay tribute to the immeasurable service of those who have supported us all over the last year," Queen Elizabeth II said in a note accompanying a bouquet of flowers sent to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London, where her husband, Prince Philip, was recently treated for a heart condition.

The country observed a minute’s silence at noon to remember those who have died after contracting the virus. Later, people are being encouraged to stand on their doorsteps at 8 p.m. with phones, candles and flashlights to signify a “beacon of remembrance.”

London’s skyline will turn yellow when landmarks including the London Eye, Trafalgar Square and Wembley Stadium light up at nightfall. Other notable buildings that will be illuminated include Cardiff Castle and Belfast City Hall. Churches and cathedrals plan to toll bells, light thousands of candles and offer prayers.

“Today, the anniversary of the first lockdown, is an opportunity to reflect on the past year — one of the most difficult in our country’s history," Johnson said. “We should also remember the great spirit shown by our nation over this past year."

Few foresaw the scale of death and grief to come when Johnson, in a prime-time televised address on March 23, 2020, issued a “very simple instruction” for the British people to stay at home. Johnson, who within days of issuing the stay-at-home order tested positive for the virus and eventually ended up in intensive care at a London hospital, has faced criticism for delaying the first lockdown. Italy had been the first European country to go into lockdown earlier in March 2020, followed by most of the rest of the continent.

The delay, many argue, led to the U.K. recording the most deaths in Europe during the first wave of the pandemic, despite the valiant efforts of people working in the National Health Service, which has undoubtedly endured its most difficult period since its creation in the aftermath of World War II.

Further delays in reimposing nationwide lockdowns following the easing of restrictions over the summer and fall have similarly been blamed for exacerbating Britain's high coronavirus death toll, especially this year, when a new, more contagious variant of the virus first identified in southeast England became the dominant strain.

Calls are growing, particularly among bereaved families, for the government to back a public enquiry into its handling of the pandemic. Johnson has said one will come but that it would be a distraction now.

Beyond the devastating death toll, the pandemic has seriously impacted every aspect of day-to-day life, most evident in the boarded-up shops and the eerily quiet city centers. Children have spent many months cooped up at home with their often-agitated parents and siblings also struggling to deal with the realities of life under lockdown.

The pandemic has also battered the British economy, which suffered its deepest recession in more than 300 years. Pubs, restaurants, theaters, hair salons and all stores selling nonessential items such as books and footwear have spent much of the past year closed.

Despite recovering some of its lost output as firms pushed through their online capabilities, the economy remains around 10% smaller than it was just over a year ago. There are fears that many businesses, particularly those serving the public, will not be able to survive for long once the government starts withdrawing its unprecedented financial support.

There is some hope that the rapid rollout of coronavirus vaccines — more than half the adult population has already had one of the two doses they need — will herald a period of lockdown easing in the weeks to come. Johnson insists his government's plan to lift restrictions in England will be guided by “data, not dates,” but that life could be very much more normal by the height of summer. The other nations of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — have outlined similar plans.

But confirmed cases are again increasing in much of Europe, and Johnson said Britain would also likely face a new wave of the pandemic. “Previous experience has taught us that when a wave hits our friends, it washes up on our shores as well," he said.

Germany: police clash with protesters against virus measures

March 20, 2021

BERLIN (AP) — Protesters in a central German city clashed with police on Saturday over coronavirus measures, with officers using pepper spray and batons against people trying to break through police barriers, the German news agency dpa reported.

Several thousand people participated in the protests in Kassel, and in addition to clashes with police there were also several scuffles with counter-protesters. Several groups, most of them far-right opponents of government's regulations to fight the pandemic, had called for protests Saturday in cities across the country.

In Berlin, some 1,800 police officers were on standby for possible riots, but only a few dozen protesters assembled at the city's landmark Brandenburg Gate. Meanwhile, around 300 citizens came together on Berlin's Unter den Linden boulevard to protest against the far-right demonstration.

Police had to intervene when some far-right protesters tried to attack press photographers, but in general, a police spokeswoman told dpa, “there's not much going on here.”

As vaccinations lag, Italy's elderly again pay a price

March 20, 2021

BERGAMO, Italy (AP) — One year ago, Bergamo’s state-of-the-art Pope John XXIII Hospital verged on collapse as doctors struggled to treat 600 patients, with 100 of them in intensive care. Army trucks ferried the dead from the city’s overtaxed crematorium in images now seared into the collective pandemic memory.

The picture is much improved now: The hospital is treating fewer than 200 virus patients, just one quarter of whom require intensive care. But still unchanged as Italy’s death rate pushes upward once again is that the victims remain predominantly elderly, with inoculation drives stumbling in the country and elsewhere in Europe.

“No, this thing, alas, I was not able to protect the elderly, to make clear how important it would be to protect the elderly,’’ said Dr. Luca Lorini, head of intensive care at the hospital named for the mid-20th century pope born in Bergamo. “If I have 10 elderly people over 80 and they get COVID, in their age group, eight out of 10 die.”

That was true in the first horrifying wave and remained “absolutely the same” in subsequent spikes, he said. Promises to vaccinate all Italians over 80 all by the end of March have fallen woefully short, amid well-documented interruptions of vaccine supplies and organizational shortfalls. Just a third of Italy’s 7.3 million doses administered so far have gone to that age group, with more than half of those who carry memories of World War II still awaiting their first jab.

“We should have already finished with this,” Lorini told The Associated Press. Italy's new premier, Mario Draghi, pledged during a visit to Bergamo on Thursday that the vaccine campaign would be accelerated. His remarks came as he inaugurated a park to honor Italy's over 104,000 dead. Through early March, two-thirds of those deaths have been among those over 80.

“We are here to promise our elderly that it will never happen again that fragile people are not adequately helped and protected. Only like this will we respect those who have left us,” Draghi said on the anniversary of the first army convoy carrying the virus dead from Bergamo.

Italy can hope to see its future by looking to Britain, the first country in Europe to authorize widespread vaccinations. More than 38% of the U.K. population has been inoculated since early December, starting with those over 70, health care workers and staff of care homes.

Britain, which leads Europe in virus deaths, has seen the percentage of fatalities among those over 75 diminish from 75% of the total before the vaccination campaign to 64% in the week ending March 5. Deaths across Britain have dropped from an average of 128 a day in the most recent seven-day period, from a high of 1,248 in the week ended Jan. 20 -- also thanks to lockdown measures.

Along with health care workers, Spain, France and Italy prioritized vaccinating residents of nursing homes, by far the single hardest-hit population in the spring surge. They account for nearly a third of the dead in Italy’s first wave, and a third of France’s pandemic death toll of nearly 91,100.

In France, COVID-19 infections and deaths in care homes have been steadily trending downward as the numbers of vaccinated has climbed, with 85% having received at least one shot. Early signs are that the proportion of ICU patients aged 75 and older has also started to decline since February, with nearly half in this age group at least partially vaccinated. The improved picture for residents of care homes comes despite a renewed worsening of France’s outbreak.

Spain has seen a huge drop in infections and deaths in nursing homes, following the first phase of its vaccination program, with a significant decline in deaths. In Italy, where vaccinations of nursing home residents got under way in January, compared with mid-February for other elderly, lower infection rates in nursing homes have been declared “an early success.”

“We cannot count it as a victory, absolutely not, of the vaccine strategy,” Dr. Giovanni Rezza, director of infectious diseases at the Health Ministry, acknowledged recently. Rezza said Friday that they aim to double the 200,000 daily vaccinations now that the AstraZeneca shot is being used again. Its use was suspended briefly after reports of blood clots in some recipients of the vaccine, even though international health agencies urged governments to press ahead with the shot, saying the benefits outweighed the risks.

With Italy’s infection rate up for the seventh straight week propelled by the fast-moving U.K. variant, more than 2.5 million Italians over 80 are awaiting their shots. What’s worse, many still have no indication when they might get them.

Luca Fusco founded a group to remember the dead and advocate for justice in their memory after his father died of COVID-19 on March 11, 2020. His mother, who celebrated her 83rd birthday on the anniversary of her husband’s death, still hasn’t received an appointment to be vaccinated more than a month after submitting a request. Fusco said that was true for most of the several hundred elderly in their small town near Bergamo, noting they were being required to travel 30 miles (20 kilometers) to get each shot, a burden for many.

Italy’s aim is to vaccinate 80% of the population by September, and Draghi has appointed an army general to relaunch the campaign. Fusco said his group, “Noi Denunceremo,” (“We Will Denounce”) will act as a watchdog on the issue.

“Draghi said that by September, we will all be vaccinated. Perfect,’’ Fusco said. “We have taken note of it. If this is not true, we will make our voices heard ... and we will ask Draghi for explanations.”

Associated Press writers Danica Kirka in London, John Leicester and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Samuel Petrequin in Brussels contributed.

Medical workers conflicted by France's lockdown that isn't

March 19, 2021

PARIS (AP) — When nurse Anaelle Aeschliman started her 12-hour night shift caring for unconscious patients with COVID-19, the French prime minister was announcing new restrictions to combat the resurgent coronavirus epidemic in Paris.

She was not impressed. The 26-year-old had been hoping for a full nationwide lockdown to slow the streams of gravely ill patients filling ICUs like hers, in the west of Paris. Instead, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced a mishmash of measures — including closures of nonessential shops — that are mostly limited to Paris and northern France and don't oblige people to spend most of the day indoors. Announced Thursday night, they take effect on Friday night, when Aeschliman will be back in the ICU, for another 12-hour shift.

"Locking down region by region isn’t enough. I think it’s a sanitary suicide,” she said Friday morning, as she went home for a shower and some sleep after working through the night. “I admit I was a bit disappointed that we aren’t being locked down nationwide," she said. "When you look at the numbers, they’re unsustainable, and it is going to become ever-harder as the virus continues to circulate.”

In March 2020, when France first locked down with some of the toughest restrictions in Europe, the government exhorted people to stay home. This time, it is, in effect, urging them to go out and get some fresh air.

People in the Paris region and in the north of the country covered by the new rules can walk as long as they like in a day, within a 10-kilometer (six-mile) radius of their homes and carrying a paper authorizing the stroll. Schools will remain open.

The new measures affect about 21 million people in the country of 67 million. At the same time, however, a change in the nationwide curfew will give citizens an extra hour of freedom. It will start at 7 p.m. instead of the previous 6 p.m., and run until 6 a.m. Restaurants, bars, cinemas, gyms, museums, theaters and concert halls have been shut for almost five months.

For Pierre Squara, the doctor in charge Friday at the ICU unit of the Ambroise Paré private hospital where Aeschliman also works, encouraging people to leave their Paris apartments makes sense, especially with spring around the corner.

“Now that good weather is coming and people will be able to go outside, it will disperse the virus a bit more,” he said. "It is better to be outside than to be four people in an apartment of 25 square meters. Because Paris apartments are small.”

Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said the government had sought to draw conclusions from better scientific knowledge of the virus and from France’s two previous lockdowns in spring and autumn. “Everything we can do outside, we need to do it outside,” he told RTL radio.

Attal urged people to limit social interactions, keep wearing masks outdoors and limit gatherings to six people maximum. As the measures apply for at least four weeks and travel between regions will be forbidden without a compelling reason, many people were rushing on Friday to Paris train stations to leave for other less-affected regions.

French authorities also announced that the country is resuming shots with the vaccine made by AstraZeneca on Friday. Castex was to be vaccinated in the afternoon, aiming to show “confidence” in the product.

France on Thursday reported about 35,000 new confirmed infections in 24 hours nationwide, numbers that have steadily increased in recent weeks. The variant first identified in the U.K. accounts for most infections, and around 250 people are dying each day.