Europe Faces Third Wave Surge... UK Launches 'Vaccine Passport' Initiative

France's New COVID-19 Cases Double in One Month

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The third wave of COVID-19 is intensifying across Europe. As the healthcare systems of European Union (EU) member countries face emergencies, the United Kingdom is accelerating the introduction of vaccine passports to reopen access to crowded facilities.

The country with the most pronounced surge is France. According to the international statistics site Worldometer on the 4th (local time), France reported 60,922 new confirmed cases. This number is equivalent to the combined new cases of the United States (36,249) and Brazil (31,359), which rank first and second globally in cumulative confirmed cases. In early to mid-last month, France's weekly average of new cases was in the 20,000s, but it has now soared to the 40,000s. In less than a month, the number nearly doubled.

In response, the French government announced a nationwide lockdown starting from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on the 31st of last month, including a nighttime curfew and restrictions on interregional travel. This is France's third nationwide lockdown following those on March 17 and October 30 of last year.

The situation in Italy, which has the second-highest number of confirmed cases in the EU after France, is similar. The occupancy rate of intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients nationwide is 41%, surpassing the government's risk threshold of 30% weeks ago. Due to bed shortages, makeshift beds have been placed in corridors and emergency staircases in hospitals. A major foreign news outlet explained, "In Italy, the variant virus originating from the UK is rampant, and despite various social distancing regulations, the number of confirmed cases is not decreasing."

Eastern Europe is no exception. Hungary, which has the highest death rate per capita among the 27 EU member countries, is one of the countries with a high fatality rate worldwide. Although Hungary, which individually procured vaccines from Russia and China, has a faster vaccination rate than the EU member average, it is insufficient to curb the rapid increase in confirmed cases.

Europe is experiencing a resurgence of COVID-19 due to the spread of variant viruses, vaccine shortages, and relaxed social distancing measures.

Meanwhile, the UK is considering introducing vaccination certificates such as vaccine passports to resume large-scale events like concerts, nightclubs, and sports stadiums. The UK plans to pilot vaccine passports and similar measures targeting the English Premier League FA Cup final, cinemas, and nightclubs in mid-May. Nigel Huddleston, Minister for Sport, said, "This is to understand the effectiveness," but added, "Nothing has been concretely decided yet." Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce plans regarding vaccine passports and the resumption of overseas travel on the 5th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.