Covid-19: Netherlands, Belgium, Austria … Europe rebels against health restrictions
POWDER FIRE – From violent clashes in Belgium to new riots in the Netherlands, anger is roaring in Europe at the anti-Covid measures adopted to stop the fifth wave. This weekend, the tension has gone up a notch.
The drafting of LCI with AFP –
There are signs that never fail. All over Europe, the numbers are soaring. On November 8, 2020, in the middle of the second wave, 287,103 cases had been recorded. A year later, for the fourth day in a row, that “record” was erased. More than 324,000 new contaminations were recorded Sunday, November 21, according to government data gathered by Our World in Data. In parallel with this epidemic outbreak, which affects countries to different degrees, health restrictions are reappearing on the Old Continent, which has once again become the epicenter of the pandemic.
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Coronavirus: the pandemic shaking up the planet
Curfews, confinement, compulsory vaccination … Part of the population in Europe does not adhere to anti-Covid measures. This weekend, the protest hardened against the anti-Covid measures adopted to stem the resurgence of the epidemic, which is racing in Europe. If the images of Guadeloupe, on the verge of conflagration, have turned a lot, the situation is just as tense elsewhere. This Sunday, some 35,000 demonstrators, according to the police, took part in a march in Brussels. While it had started peacefully, the rally escalated. Clashes erupted, forcing the police to use water cannons and tear gas in front of a group of people throwing projectiles.
Clashes of rare violence
The face-to-face with anti-riot forces took place in the Belgian administration and EU government district, right next to the US and Russian embassies. In the violent clash, several demonstrators wore balaclavas and waved Flemish nationalist flags, while others sported yellow stars reminiscent of the Nazi occupation. Wooden pallets were burned in the middle of the roadway, and images on social media showed protesters attacking police vehicles.
With nearly 10,300 new infections per day on average over the past week, Belgium is back to a rate of spread of the virus that had not been reached for a year, like many other countries in Europe. The country has experienced levels of hospitalization of Covid patients that it had not recorded since May (more than 2,000 patients, including more than 25% in intensive care). To stem this recovery, the authorities announced the generalization of the wearing of masks and the ban on unvaccinated people from accessing public places, such as restaurants and bars.
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An “orgy of violence” in the Netherlands
Similar episodes took place in the Netherlands, where protests turned to riot, in the aftermath of an “orgy of violence”, which struck Rotterdam where 51 people were arrested and three wounded by gunshot. New clashes erupted on Saturday, November 20, in The Hague, where the government sits, on the sidelines of the procession against the partial confinement and the ban from certain places to the unvaccinated, in particular bars and restaurants. Local police said on Sunday they had arrested 19 troublemakers. Violence also broke out in Urk and in several localities in the province of Limburg.
In the evening, in Enschede, on the German border, where the state of emergency was declared. Breakers have engaged in degradation for the third consecutive evening. At least five people were arrested “for inciting public violence”, according to the police. Protesters also fired fireworks and ransacked what came to their fingertips in the towns of Groningen, Leeuwarden and Tilburg, law enforcement and local media reported.
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Reconfinement for all in Austria: the demonstration is full
In time, in Austria, more than 40,000 people gathered in Vienna, a stone’s throw from the former Hofburg Imperial Palace to denounce “the corona-dictatorship” and the “fascism”, before the entry into force, Monday, November 22, of a confinement until December 13. The rally, which remained peaceful, was organized at the call of a new party opposed to the restrictions, the MFG, which had recently entered the regional parliament. In the middle of the red and white flags of Austria, one could read on the banners: “The injection is the greatest crime against humanity”, “No to compulsory vaccination” u “Hands off our children”. They were again 6,000, according to the police, to march peacefully on Sunday in Linz.
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