Some countries tighten, others loosen restrictions in quest to beat COVID-19

TALLINN, April 1 (Xinhua) -- While some countries in Europe are extending or tightening their COVID-19 restrictions to slow down the spread of infections, others are temporarily easing the measures or working on a pandemic exit plan.

To pave the way for a gradual return to normalcy by mid-May, schools across France will be closed for three weeks and the restriction on people's movement, which is already in force in many regions, will be extended to the whole country, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday evening.

Starting on April 5, students, except the children of medical workers, will move to remote learning for one week before going on a two-week holiday.

From Saturday, shops not selling essential goods will have to close, people must stay at home, work remotely and sign a document if they plan to leave their homes beyond a ten-kilometer limit. Inter-city travel will be banned for at least one month.

The French government has already had similar rules in place in the country's 19 departments, including Paris and its surrounding areas, but Macron said the effects "remain too limited as the epidemic accelerates."

Since the beginning of March, the French hospital system has been under severe strain due to a sharp spike in the number of infections, triggering calls for a new lockdown.

Italy started to temporarily relax its coronavirus restrictions last Tuesday. The epidemiological status of Lazio, the region that includes Rome, was switched from "red" to the second most restrictive "orange" zone. Shops can now open and people can leave their homes for non-essential purposes as long as they stay within the limits of the city where they live.

However, Lazio will return to the toughest "red" zone along with the entire country for the period between April 3 and April 5.

The Italian government is struggling to find the right balance between measures designed to halt the spread of the virus and those that allow people the freedom to move around and businesses to be at least partially open.

In longer term, until at least the end of April, the whole of Italy will remain a "red" or "orange" zone. For 20 days in March, Italy reported at least 20,000 infections per day -- a level topped only three times during the first two months of the year.

In Romania, the authorities imposed a new series of restrictions starting Sunday, including the early closure of businesses and longer curfew hours.

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday that all his compatriots who sign up would be vaccinated by August.

Poland plans to have 20 million people inoculated by the end of the second quarter of 2021, the government's official in charge of the vaccination campaign Michal Dworczyk said on Tuesday.

In Cyprus, Minister of Health Constantinos Ioannou said on Wednesday that all students would be allowed to return to their classes on Friday for the first time in more than five months.

He also said that individual sports training will resume and up to seven people will be allowed in gyms and public swimming pools.

People will be allowed to go out for shopping, physical training and visiting relatives and friends three times on Saturdays and Sundays, but outings on workdays will still be restricted to two occasions.

Ioannou said the cabinet decided to relax the restrictions in slow steps in order not to endanger public health and destroy the achievements to date.

The authorities in Cyprus estimate that half of the population would receive the coronavirus vaccine shot by mid-June, when tourists are expected to arrive in large numbers.

Austria's Health Minister Rudolf Anschober on Wednesday described the country's pandemic situation as severe, calling on the public to strictly observe the rules and sanitary requirements.

Between April 1 and April 11, a special lockdown regime will be in force in three states in eastern Austria, including in the capital Vienna.

In Estonia, the government on Tuesday decided to extend the current coronavirus restrictions on shops, schools, restaurants and public events from April 11 until April 25. The restrictions will be reviewed in two weeks in light of the prevailing epidemiological situation.

"I am glad that the restrictions have started to affect the spread of the virus," Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said. She called on Estonians to observe the rules, while the government continues to closely monitor the coronavirus situation.

Estonia also decided that, starting April 5, asymptomatic people arriving in the country from Finland, Latvia and Lithuania will be subject to a ten-day mandatory quarantine, which currently does not apply to those who travel for work, study, medical treatment or are in transit.

In Sweden, the COVID-19 restrictions currently in force will not be lifted as early as planned, the government said on Wednesday.

"The spread of the infection is at too high a level and unfortunately it increases in many parts of the country," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said. "The pressure on the health care system is great and therefore it is important that we persevere for a little while longer." He urged citizens to follow the health authorities' recommendations.

The Lithuanian government has decided to extend the current nationwide COVID-19 lockdown for another month, until April 30, due to the worsening epidemiological situation in the country.

Malta is currently in a semi-lockdown with all schools, restaurants, bars, cafeterias and non-essential services shut since March 10. The rules will remain in place until at least April 11.

The country's health authorities are working on a pandemic exit plan as the infection rate appears to be declining, but no details have been made public yet.

Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) Europe warned Europeans on Wednesday against making "individual" travel plans that could "affect more people than those close by" and could "also impact communities."

Many countries across the region are in the midst of a serious resurgence of COVID-19 cases, and "at this point in the pandemic we cannot afford to drop our guard and give up any of the public health measures used so far," the organization said in a press release.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccinations are underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 267 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 83 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on March 30.