Covid-19: How Europeans are preparing for Christmas and New Year

Germany has entered a hard lockdown, closing schools and non-essential businesses in an attempt to stop a sharp rise in Covid-19 infections.

The measures will be in place until 10 January. Christmas will see a slight easing, with one household allowed to host up to four close family members.

The country reported another 952 deaths and 27,728 cases on Wednesday.

Other European countries have tightened restrictions ahead of Christmas, with France introducing a night-time curfew.

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Under Germany’s new measures, only essential businesses such as supermarkets and banks will be allowed to remain open. Restaurants, bars and leisure centres have been shut since November and some areas of the country had imposed their own lockdowns.

Hair salons are among the businesses which must close, while drinking alcohol in public places, such as popular mulled wine stalls, is forbidden. Companies are being urged to allow employees to work from home.

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Germans start holiday lockdown amid Covid surge
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The 952 new fatalities announced on Wednesday are a new peak for Germany’s pandemic, but may cover numbers that were not included in previous days.

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Lothar Wieler, head of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, which is overseeing the Covid-19 response, said the situation was “more serious than it has ever been”.

“The number of cases is higher than ever and they keep rising. There is the danger that the situation will keep getting worse and it will get harder and harder to deal with the pandemic and its consequences,” he said.

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It comes as the German government said it was pressuring the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to speed up approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which was developed in Germany. It has already been approved by regulators in the UK and the US.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said he wanted the vaccine to be approved before Christmas. A meeting by the EMA to discuss whether the vaccine should be rolled out around the bloc has been brought forward from 29 December to next Monday.

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What’s the situation elsewhere in Europe?
France has replaced its second national lockdown with a curfew from 20:00 to 06:00. People will not be allowed out of the house without an authorisation form.

Christmas Eve will be exempt, but the rule will stay in place for New Year’s Eve. Bars and restaurants are to remain closed until at least 20 January.

The number of people in France who have died from coronavirus infections rose by 790 on Tuesday to a total of 59,072.

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People in France are no longer required to print or download an official justification for leaving their homes during the day.

The Netherlands is currently under a five-week lockdown, the strictest set of measures announced in the country since the pandemic began.

Non-essential shops, cinemas, hairdressers and gyms have all closed, and schools will follow suit on Wednesday. People have also been told to refrain from booking non-essential travel abroad until mid-March.

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But restrictions will be eased slightly for three days over Christmas, when Dutch households are allowed three guests instead of two.

In the UK, London entered England’s highest tier of lockdown rules on Wednesday. Pubs and restaurants must close, except for takeaway and delivery, and indoor entertainment venues such as theatres, bowling alleys and cinemas must remain shut.

Meanwhile, Italy’s daily death toll is still close to 500 and the government is considering a further tightening of measures over Christmas.

The exact details are unclear, but a new lockdown could come into place between Christmas night and New Year. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described the potential lockdown as a “new squeeze”.

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Netherlands: Five-week lockdown
Prime Minister Mark Rutte says the country will go into a strict lockdown for five weeks, from 15 December to 19 January.

Non-essential shops, cinemas, hairdressers and gyms closed on Tuesday and schools were to follow on Wednesday. Citizens have been told to refrain from booking non-essential travel abroad until mid-March.

Restrictions will be eased slightly for the three days of Christmas, when Dutch households are allowed three instead of two guests, not counting children under 13.

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Mr Rutte delivered his address as protesters could be heard whistling and shouting outside his office.

“We need to bite this very sour apple before things get better. And yes they will get better. There will come a time when coronavirus will be behind us, when our lives will be normal again,” he said.

“It won’t be now, or in a week, or a month. But with the vaccine, 2021 will indeed be a year of hope and of light at the end of the tunnel.”

The announcement comes amid concern at the surge in infections in the country, recently seeing some 10,000 infections recorded in a single day.

Over the weekend a number of Dutch cities asked people to stay away as photos showed stores packed with Christmas shoppers.

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UK: Temporary ‘Christmas bubbles’ allowed
A brief window of special restrictions has been introduced across the UK to allow people to celebrate Christmas.

Between 23 and 27 December (or 22 to 28 December in Northern Ireland) there will be no travel restrictions and people will be able to mix indoors and stay overnight.

The number of people who can mix is limited, however. So-called “Christmas bubbles” can include a maximum of three households in most of the UK or up to eight people in Scotland.

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These bubbles, which can also meet in places of worship and outdoor public spaces, are fixed throughout the festive period. This means people cannot mix with two households on Christmas Day and two different ones on Boxing Day, for example.

However health experts have urged people to think carefully about who they mix with.

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It comes as the capital London and some surrounding areas will move to top tier 3 level of rules following a rise in cases and the identification of a new variant of the coronavirus.

From 16 December, pubs and restaurants will close except for delivery and takeaway and most indoor entertainment venues as well as sports stadiums will also shut.

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Italy: No Christmas markets and a nationwide curfew
Italy is currently seeing the highest number of deaths since the end of March and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has told Italians to expect a “more sober Christmas, without Christmas Eve gatherings, hugs and kisses”.

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Many Italian regions are under partial lockdown and a ban on travel between different regions from 21 December to 6 January has been announced.

On top of the regional travel bans, people will not be allowed to leave their home towns on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. There will be exceptions for work, medical reasons or emergencies.

A curfew from 22:00 to 05:00 will also be in place.

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How new lockdowns are changing life across Europe
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Churches are free to remain open, but the curfew means the traditional midnight Mass is unlikely to happen. The beloved Italian Christmas market, meanwhile, has already been banned.

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“We think we need to introduce greater precautions to prevent a surge in infections,” Mr Conte said.

But it is not all bad news: Mr Conte has reassured children that Babbo Natale (Father Christmas) will definitely be visiting as he is exempt from global travel restrictions. Phew.

Europe divided over lucrative ski resorts

Many Europeans head to the ski slopes over Christmas, but the continent is divided over whether to keep the resorts open.

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Italian Prime Minister Conte has warned against these traditional breaks. “We cannot afford it,” he said. He is one of several EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, who have tried to co-ordinate a Europe-wide deal to postpone the ski season.

All three countries have closed their ski lifts over Christmas.

These widespread closures mean popular resorts in the Alps and Dolomites will lose out on billions of euros in revenue. Tourism officials were quick to criticise the plan, with the president of one French tourism body asking: “So 400 people on a Paris metro won’t get infected, but four people on a ski lift will?”

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Austria believes it can offer safe holidays once restrictions are eased and skiing will be allowed there from 24 December, although quarantine rules could mean it’s mainly domestic — especially as hotels will not be o