Tag Archives: lockdown

The New York Times reports: Protests spread to cities and college campuses around China on Saturday night, reflecting rising public anger at the country’s draconian Covid controls, with some in a crowd in Shanghai directing their fury at the Communist Party and its top leader, Xi Jinping. The wider demonstrations followed an outpouring of online anger and a street protest …

Reuters reports: China’s financial hub Shanghai reported over 27,000 coronavirus cases on Thursday, setting a record a day after President Xi Jinping said that the country must continue with its strict “dynamic Covid clearance” policy and pandemic control measures. Shanghai is battling China’s worst Covid-19 outbreak since the virus first emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, with the city’s 25 …

Reuters reports: China’s commercial hub of Shanghai ground to halt on Friday after the government locked down most of the city’s 26 million residents to stop the spread of COVID-19. Fresh official guidance indicated that many in China’s most populous city will now be required to stay home as long as it takes to control the outbreak – instructed not …

The BBC reports: China has announced its biggest city-wide lockdown since the Covid outbreak began more than two years ago. The city of Shanghai will be locked down in two stages over nine days while authorities carry out Covid-19 testing. The important financial hub has battled a new wave of infections for nearly a month, although case numbers are not …

NBC News reports: Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said Tuesday that the police will investigate alleged parties held at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street offices due to an apparent breach of Covid-19 rules. It comes shortly after the latest disclosure that an event was held during lockdown to celebrate Johnson’s birthday on June 19, 2020. The London police chief …

The New York Times reports: Facing a potentially lethal threat to his leadership, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain on Wednesday offered a contrite apology in Parliament for attending a garden party at 10 Downing Street while the country was under lockdown. He acknowledged that he had deeply offended the public, even as he claimed that he had not breached …

The Detroit Free Press reports: A man who defied state orders and kept his restaurant open last year during the pandemic has died of complications from COVID-19. John Parney, 62, operated the Quincy Diner in Quincy in southern Michigan. Parney wasn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 but had pledged during his illness to get a shot “because the battle, at that point, …

Reuters reports: The Netherlands will go into a strict lockdown over the Christmas and New Year period to try to contain the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Saturday. Measures including the closure of all non-essential shops, restaurants, hairdressers and gyms will go into effect on Sunday and remain in place until Jan. 14. All …

“Europe is quickly becoming its own COVID police state. Just yesterday, the Austrian government approved and extended 20 day nationwide lockdown because they worked so well the first time. Now, this comes after the announced compulsory vaccinations for all. “Meanwhile, Germany is imposing its own strict lockdowns for the unvaccinated. And leadership there wants universal mandatory vaccinations. Now, with its …

Politico Europe reports: The German government and the leaders of the country’s 16 states on Thursday imposed a lockdown on people who are not vaccinated against coronavirus. “Today we talked about an act of national solidarity,” said outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, adding that restrictions are required due to Germany’s bad epidemiological situation. Referring to recently stabilizing infection rates, Merkel said …

The New York Times reports: Trying to stem a resurgence in coronavirus infections and prevent closures affecting everyone, Italy announced new restrictions for the unvaccinated on Wednesday, barring them from dining indoors in restaurants and bars; attending shows, sport events and public ceremonies; and entering nightclubs. “We want to be very cautious,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy said at …

Reuters reports: Austria will become the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full COVID-19 lockdown, it said on Friday as neighbouring Germany warned it may follow suit, sending shivers through financial markets worried about the economic fallout. A fourth wave of infections has plunged Germany, Europe’s largest economy, into a national emergency, Health Minister Jens Spahn [photo] said, …

The Associated Press reports: Austria took what its leader called the “dramatic” step Monday of implementing a nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated people who haven’t recently had COVID-19, perhaps the most drastic of a string of measures being taken by European governments to get a massive regional resurgence of the coronavirus under control. The move, which took effect at midnight, prohibits …

ABC News reports: Germany’s capital Berlin will ban unvaccinated people from restaurants, bars, cinemas and other entertainment venues from Monday, as the country grapples with its highest surge in Covid-19 cases to date. From next week those who are not fully vaccinated will be excluded from a number of entertainment sites in Berlin, the city’s Senate announced on Wednesday, as …

Reuters reports: The Russian capital brought in its strictest COVID-19 related lockdown measures in more than a year on Thursday as nationwide one-day pandemic deaths and infections hit new highs amid slow vaccination take-up across the world’s biggest country. Moscow’s partial lockdown, in which only essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets are allowed to remain open and schools and state …

Reuters reports: Moscow will reintroduce lockdown measures from Oct. 28 to combat surging COVID-19 cases, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin [photo] said on Thursday, with all shops, bars and restaurants due to close, except those selling essential goods, such as supermarkets and pharmacies. President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday approved a nationwide week-long workplace shutdown from Oct. 30 to Nov. 7 and said …

The Associated Press reports: Sydney hairdressers, gyms, cafés and bars reopened to fully vaccinated customers on Monday for the first time in more than 100 days after Australia’s largest city achieved a vaccination benchmark. Sydney planned to reopen on the Monday after 70% of the New South Wales state population aged 16 and older were fully vaccinated. By Monday, 73.5% …

Reuters reports: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday extended a lockdown in Auckland by two weeks, while officials reported the country’s first death linked to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. New Zealand had been largely virus-free for months, barring a small number of cases in February, until an outbreak of the Delta variant imported from Australia prompted Ardern to …

The New Zealand Herald reports: New Zealand will stay in alert level 4 lockdown until at least midnight on Friday, and Auckland will stay locked down until at least midnight on Tuesday next week. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement at the Beehive this afternoon. Cabinet decided to keep all of New Zealand in lockdown until 11.59pm this Friday, …

Reuters reports: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern put New Zealand under strict lockdown on Tuesday after the country’s first coronavirus case in six months was reported in the largest city of Auckland. Ardern’s “go hard, go early” strategy has helped curb COVID-19 but her announcement left people struggling to stack up essentials, businesses shutting abruptly and schools and offices making last-minute …