As the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the world, more and more cases are confirmed every day. 

There has been a major increase in cases since the end of August, as stated in a Statista.com article; a large second wave of cases has now swept across the European continent. Currently, there are 1, 339, 436 confirmed cases and as of November 9 there have been 274, 596 deaths in the EAU/ EU and the UK according to Europa.eu.

According to an article from the British Broadcast Center, each country is handling these new issues differently.  France, for instance, has been put into a second national lockdown as of October 30. The people of France are allowed to leave their homes for work if they can not work from home, they are allowed to go out for essentials, or if they need medical help. However, much like the original lockdown in March, citizens must carry a written statement to justify leaving their homes. Schools and essential jobs will be open during this time, but restaurants, bars, and nonessential businesses will be closed. These new rules are set to remain in place until December 1. 

Denmark has its own set of unique issues regarding the virus. As of November 6, seven North Jutland provinces were placed into lockdown due to concerns about a coronavirus mutation that was found in mink. This mutation can also pass on to humans. Other than those bizarre circumstances, the rest of the country just has to follow new restricted measures to lessen the spread of the virus. Social gatherings will be limited to 10 people instead of 50, and all alcohol sales are banned after 22:00 (10 p.m.) until January 2, 2021. The restrictions that were previously put in place including the closure of bars, nightclubs, and restaurants have also been extended until early January. 

On the other hand, Spain is dealing with things in a different way. A national curfew was put in place on October 25, and citizens have been told home to stay home between 23:00 and 06:00 (11 p.m. to 6 a.m.). Similarly to their neighbor to the north, Spain only permits people to leave their homes to work, buy medicine, and to take care of elderly relatives or children. The state of emergency was originally supposed to be only 15 days, but parliament extended it until early May 2021.

Looking at the recent statistics at Statista.com, France has the highest amount of cases in Europe as of November 16. Currently, France has about 1,787,324 estimated cases. To put that into perspective, Illinois is the state with the most cases at the moment with around 64,448 cases in the last seven days according to Covid.cdc.gov. The area with the least number of cases in Europe is currently Vatican City, which only has 26 confirmed cases. This number of cases is lower than any state in the United States. The state with the lowest confirmed cases is Vermont, which has 213 confirmed cases. 

“A proportional and targeted response is the way forward. Measures or tightening up in many countries in Europe…are appropriate and necessary responses to what the data is telling us,” stated Dr. Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director in Europe in a Cnbc.com article.

He continues, “It is never too late [to tighten measures] but of course, definitely, we are concerned. In general, this is the time to step up the restrictive measures … with lockdowns as a very, very last resort. We know much better than in March what can, and needs, to be done.”