Europe Covid lockdowns lead to riots


Thomas Harding
  • English
  • Arabic

Protests in Europe against Covid-19 lockdowns erupted into violence as a fourth wave of coronavirus sweeps across the continent.

Europe is experiencing a huge surge in case numbers from the Delta variant that is threatening its health systems as winter arrives, with potentially half a million deaths predicted, the World Health Organisation said.

Faced with at least a third lockdown since last year, many youths resorted to violent protest against new restrictions imposed to slow the spread.

In the Netherlands more than 50 people have been arrested and five police officers injured with officers at one point opening fire with live rounds on a crowd in Rotterdam.

Ahmed Aboutaleb, the city’s mayor, labelled the rioting an “orgy of violence” and said that "on a number of occasions the police felt it necessary to draw their weapons to defend themselves”.

Dutch authorities also used water cannon, dogs and mounted police to stop youths who lit fires and threw fireworks in the worst disturbances

Police officers on guard as demonstrators gather to protest against the coronavirus lockdown measures in Vienna. Reuters
Police officers on guard as demonstrators gather to protest against the coronavirus lockdown measures in Vienna. Reuters

In Austria 40,000 people demonstrated against harsh restrictions being imposed on Monday morning as infection numbers spiral upwards, mainly because of the country’s poor vaccination uptake.

The government is the first European country to make it mandatory for all adults to be inoculated, sparking outrage among some far-right parties who held up banners in Vienna decrying “Corona dictatorship”.

Austria also banned all tourist visits to the country until at least until December 13 because of the 20-day lockdown.

The WHO said it was “very worried” about Europe’s infection rate. “Covid-19 has become once again the number one cause of mortality in our region,” said Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO’s Europe director. He told the BBC that without urgent action there could be a further 500,000 deaths from coronavirus in Europe by March.

Thousands marched in Croatia and in Denmark, a thousand people demonstrated against plans to reinstate a Covid pass for civil servants at work. There is also growing anger in Italy over new restrictions.

In France a fifth wave of infections is rising at an alarming rate with new Covid cases nearly doubling in the past week to 17,000 a day.

“The fifth wave is starting at lightning speed,” a government spokesman said. “There is a very strong increase in infections, but we also know that in France we have a very large vaccination cover.”

As yet the surge has not led to an influx of hospital admissions, largely a result of the high vaccination rate, which appears effective against the Delta variant.

France has a Covid pass that must be shown in restaurants and elsewhere, with the government insisting that it will continue to enforce restrictions on non-vaccinated people

But it is Austria’s strict ruling that will be monitored closely by other countries in western Europe, especially Germany, which has recorded a fivefold increase in case numbers in the past month to almost 50,000 a day.

Despite the country having a high vaccination rate a booster campaign is rapidly required as immunity wanes.

Medical chiefs will want to follow Britain’s example where almost 15 million people, or 25 per cent of the adult population, have received a third dose.

With 88 per cent of over 12s having had at least a first vaccine, a leading doctor claimed that up to 500,000 lives have been saved by the drugs.

“If we just look at the UK, the predictions last year were that there would be between 300,000 and 500,000 deaths,” said Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, who helped to make the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Britain, which has a more liberal approach to restrictions, will tomorrow (Monday) introduce second doses for 16-year-olds and boosters for the over 40s.

Despite having an average daily infection rate of more than 30,000 since July it has recorded a 28 per cent fall in hospital admissions of new Covid patients over 85 in the past fortnight.

Russia, where cases are averaging more than 37,000 a day with just 42 per cent of people vaccinated, has experienced two days of record Covid deaths – 1,254 on Saturday and 1,252 on Sunday.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

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The 12 breakaway clubs

England

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur

Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus

Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid

Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

Essentials

The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours 
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.

Key recommendations
  • Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
  • Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
  • Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
  • More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
Company%20profile
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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About Tenderd

Started: May 2018

Founder: Arjun Mohan

Based: Dubai

Size: 23 employees 

Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital

How being social media savvy can improve your well being

Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.

As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.

Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.

Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.

Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.

However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.

“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.

People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.

Updated: November 22, 2021, 7:27 AM`