(CN) — Europe is being shaken by a new wave of the coronavirus crisis with a surge of infections across the continent, throwing into confusion the reopening of schools and casting shadows over its politics and economies.
The worst-hit countries are Spain and France. Each is reporting thousands of new infections a day, a level similar to when both countries were in the midst of the darkest weeks of the pandemic during lockdowns in March and April.
Deaths caused by the virus, however, remain low and stable across Europe, in large part because those getting infected are younger, health experts say. Also, treatments for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, have improved and older and more vulnerable people are taking precautions against infection.
However, the number of patients needing treatment at intensive care units is rising in a few countries, according to a report from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Across the continent, restrictions are being imposed, including the quarantining of travelers, localized lockdowns and mask mandates. Hungary, Greece, Denmark and Finland have closed or restricted border crossings, and in turn frustrated the European Union's principle of borderless travel.
The toughening restrictions also have sparked angry protests and led to confrontations between police and people violating mask orders, as happened on Wednesday when a man was forcefully removed by a police officer and pepper sprayed on a train in Liverpool when he refused to wear a mask. Video of the scuffle was widely watched.
But the wildest scenes were in Germany last Saturday when about 38,000 people – many affiliated with far-right extremist groups – took part in a demonstration against mask mandates and other coronavirus restrictions. The demonstration turned chaotic after police tried to break up the protest because people weren't wearing masks and made arrests. The demonstration ended with crowds seeking to storm the Reichstag, Germany's parliament building.
For now, European leaders are not talking about re-imposing nationwide lockdowns and believe they can handle this second wave with the use of local lockdowns, large-scale testing and restrictions.
“We managed to flatten the curve in a worse and more dramatic situation than this,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said last week during a news conference where he ruled out a nationwide lockdown. “I’m confident that we can do it again if each and every one of us acts responsibly.”
Increasingly, European leaders also are expressing hopes for the distribution of vaccines in the near future. The EU is signing contracts with drug makers to get hundreds of millions of vaccines when they are approved for general use.
On Wednesday, Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said he was hopeful the first vaccine doses will be available by the end of the year. On the same day, Xavier De Cuyper, the director general of Belgium’s Medicines Agency, said he expects the first vaccine doses in Belgium by March.
“Based on all the information I have, I dare to say that in March 2021 we could have a vaccine against Covid-19 in Belgium,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws. “It’s a realistic deadline.”
Globally, there is a race to develop vaccines. Russia and China are already pushing forward with vaccines they say are safe for general use. The United States is also telling public health agencies to get ready for a vaccine by the end of the year.
On Friday, the World Health Organization sought to dampen those expectations and said a safe and effective vaccine likely won't be widely available until the middle of 2021.
“We have to be optimistic and realistic at the same time,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, during a news briefing. “So realistically speaking, probably the middle of 2021 – maybe the second quarter, the third quarter of 2021 – is when we can start seeing doses actually flowing into countries so they can start immunizing their populations.”
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