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Introduction – Jan 6, 2021

You have to ask whether it really is a coincidence that Britain has imposed a third national lockdown when so many other countries have done – or are considering doing – exactly the same?

That question is all the more pressing when one considers that for most, excluding the very old and frail, Covid-19 will be little worse than seasonal flu. Does it really justify jeopardising the economy and putting countless jobs and livelihoods at risk?

Normally one would think not but these are far from normal times and the extreme measures in uniform response to Covid-19 suggest that our governments are being told what to do. In other words the pandemic is being used as a pretext for the imposition of martial law, for that’s essentially what the lockdown is.

France considers third national lockdown as Covid-19 cases rise

France24 – Dec 28, 2020

President Emmanuel Macron meets with France’s health council on Tuesday to consider whether to reimpose lockdown restrictions for a third time amid concern over a rise in Covid-19 cases.

eased restrictions imposed during a second lockdown on December 15 but the average number of daily coronavirus cases has not fallen below a key 5,000 threshold set by the government. Although the number of new infections appeared to have fallen over the Christmas holidays – only 2,960 new coronavirus infections were reported on Monday, down from 8,822 on Sunday and 3,093 on Saturday – officials fear the figures are misleading. Many of the country’s testing facilities closed over the holidays and the drop could simply be due to fewer people getting tested.

France has remained under a strict 8pm-6am curfew, with Christmas Eve being the only exception. Although shops reopened in mid-December to help boost the ailing French economy, dine-in service at restaurants and cafés is suspended and cultural venues such as cinemas and theatres remain closed in a bid to stop the virus from spreading further.

France’s Health Minister Olivier Véran told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper on Sunday that the government had not ruled out a third total lockdown.

“We will never exclude measures that are necessary to protect the public,” he said. “That is not to say we have made a decision, but that we are watching the situation hour by hour.”

Continues …

Zanu PF Defends Renewed National Lockdown

New Zimbabwe – Jan 5, 2021

A HARD lockdown imposed by Zimbabwe’s government in response to a spike in Covid-19 cases is a “drastic yet necessary intervention” to save lives, said Zanu-PF’s spokesperson Kennedy Mandaza, in South Africa today.

“Given the state of the health-care facilities, and the economic challenges in Zimbabwe, coupled with the desire to curb the spread of the virus to save lives, the decision taken by the government, though drastic, was necessary due to the unprecedented spike in the reported number of new infections and deaths due to Covid-19,” Mandaza said.

“Faced with the challenge that the government was experiencing, the government should be commended for taking that decision to save lives and reduce the spread of the Covid-19.”

Mandaza said multitudes of Zimbabweans living in South Africa had travelled back home for the festive season, before Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also health minister, announced the month-long restrictions on Saturday including an immediate 6pm to 6am curfew and a ban on inter-city travel.

Continues …

Germany extends lockdown until the end of January and introduces toughest measures yet on those living in hard-hit areas of the country

  • Chancellor Angela Merkel and federal leaders announced the change today
  • Schools, bars, restaurants and shop will remain closed until the end of the month
  • New restrictions include travel limits on those living in areas with high case numbers and a reduction of numbers that can meet from different households

Reuters and Charlotte Mitchell – Mail Online Jan 5, 2021

is extending its nationwide lockdown until the end of the month and introducing Germany tougher restrictions in an effort to curb a surge in coronavirus infections, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

‘We need to reduce contacts further because we have seen that we have not been able to lower the incidence [of coronavirus] in the last [few] weeks as far as we would have wished for,’ Merkel told journalists after a meeting with the leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states.

The new rules will restrict for the first time non-essential travel for residents of hard-hit areas all over Germany.

They limit movement to a 15-kilometre (nine-mile) radius in towns and districts where the number of new coronavirus cases is above 200 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period.

The rules also include the strictest limit on gatherings since the first lockdown in the spring, with members of any one household being allowed to meet only one other person.

Continues …