Coronavirus: Europe’s tough restrictions ‘absolutely necessary’

Tough restrictions are “absolutely necessary” to save lives, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned as Europe battles a second Covid-19 wave.

It comes as millions of people in European capitals and other cities have been told they must live under strict new measures.

From Saturday, socialising indoors will be banned in London, and a curfew will be imposed in nine French cities.

But the situation is not as bad as it was in March and April, the WHO says.

On Thursday, Poland designated red zones where schools and gyms will close, including in the capital Warsaw, and the Czech Republic said it was building its first field hospital for coronavirus patients.

Schools in Italy’s southern Campania region, including the city of Naples, are to close for two weeks, as the country recorded its highest daily rise of cases since mass testing began.

Coronavirus is the fifth-leading cause of death in Europe, where a threshold of 1,000 deaths daily has been passed, the WHO’s European director, Dr Hans Kluge, told a news conference on Thursday.

“It’s time to step up. The message to governments is: don’t hold back with relatively small actions to avoid the painful damaging actions we saw in the first round,” he said.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has called on countries to step up their preparations, advising governments to co-ordinate contact tracing and the eventual deployment of vaccines.