FT  :   Fourth Wave of   Coronavirus   Hits   Europe Hard

The Financial Times, a UK  newspaper,  said on Monday that "the fourth wave of the novel Coronavirus (known also as COVID-19) is expected to hit the  European countries hard, forcing governments to take drastic measures to contain the spread of the deadly virus and stop the deterioration of conditions inside hospitals.

And the newspaper added - in its today's issue, that  Germany, like some of her neighbors, has restricted the access of the unvaccinated to public places.

And last Friday the Austrian government took harsher measures, ordering a national closure for three weeks, and said that from next February vaccination will become mandatory.

It is the first of its kind in any advanced economy.

The Financial Times pointed out that with the advent of the autumn, the expectations of the outbreak of (COVID-19) in Europe were almost certain, especially with the spread of the most contagious (Delta) strain, in addition to the cold weather that leads to concern at the sudden rise in hospital admissions and death rates.

The newspaper revealed that the death rate in Slovakia is now four times that in the United Kingdom (UK), and Austrian hospitals, which have the second-highest proportion of critical care beds per capita in Europe after Germany, are at stake.

Hospitals in parts of Germany, where new cases have reached their all-time high, it's also under intense pressure.

And the Financial Times continued, to say that  “some parts of Europe, especially in the eastern part are now paying a heavy price for insufficient vaccines, as the vast majority of those countries with deadly symptoms of (COVID-19) are not immunized.

The problem is exacerbated in Central and Eastern Europe, where only 43% of Romanian adults have been vaccinated.

And in Bulgaria, the vaccination rate is only 29%, and in these two countries, there is no stable government, which spreads distrust of governmental or medical authority, as is the case in many former communist countries.