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100,000 INFECTED Alarm in Europe: 'We are worse than America, consider family gatherings for Christmas' Portugal and the Netherlands recorded record numbers of new infections on Friday, and the situation is similar in other countries of the Old Continent Writes: HinaPosted: October 9, 2020 9:05 pm Illustration Illustration Angela Weiss / AFP Facebook Twitter Messenger E-mail Portugal and the Netherlands recorded record numbers of newly infected with the coronavirus on Friday, and the Portuguese president called on citizens to "think carefully" about large family gatherings for Christmas. Portugal on Friday reported the highest number of new coronavirus infections in a single day in the last six months, two-thirds of whom became infected at family gatherings. Official figures released on Friday show that the 10 million-strong country had 1,394 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in 24 hours, the highest since April 10, when there were 1,516. Thus Portugal has a total of 83,928 confirmed cases and 936 hospitalized persons, among whom 125 are in intensive care. With 12 dead on Friday, the pandemic has killed 2,062 people so far. “Family gatherings like weddings and baptisms are responsible for 67 percent of cases of the infection reported in Portugal these days,” public health director Graca Freitas told reporters . In such circumstances, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that "Christmas in the family should be well thought out", urging fellow citizens not to organize larger gatherings on that occasion. The Portuguese government said Thursday that it would consider next week whether new measures are needed to stop the epidemic from spreading again. The Netherlands reported nearly 6,000 new infections in one day, the State Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced on Friday. In the past seven days, about 34,000 new infections have been reported, with a sharp increase in the number of patients in need of hospital treatment and intensive care. Prime Minister Mark Rutte is very concerned about these numbers: "We are among the three hardest hit countries in Europe, we are worse than America." Without outlining a concrete plan, he said he did not rule out drastic measures if the situation does not improve within the next 72 hours. Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Amsterdam have particularly high rates of spreading the infection, reports show. RELATED NEWS Illustration RECORDS ARE FALLING Montenegro has more people infected in one day than in the entire first wave of the coronavirus epidemic CONCERNING Europe is facing a booming coronavirus epidemic, with many countries introducing local quarantines Since the outbreak of the crisis in March in the Netherlands, 6,500 people have died from coronavirus. The WHO is urging governments to take decisive action The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday called on European governments to take decisive action to reduce coronavirus transmission, for example to ban larger gatherings. Europe had over 100,000 new infections for the first time on Thursday. "There are no new answers, we know what we need to do," said Mike Ryan, director of the WHO's emergency program, at a briefing in Geneva . Social distance, wearing masks and good ventilation are key, he added. "It is really sad to see that many countries in Europe are facing a rapid rise in the number of infected, and governments must take decisive action to try to stop the transmission." We need to be extremely careful with larger gatherings, Ryan points out and reiterates that it is necessary to protect the elderly population and vulnerable groups. The WHO on Friday recorded the largest daily increase in coronavirus cases globally, 350,766 in 24 hours. More than 36.58 million cases have been reported since the start of the pandemic worldwide, and more than a million people have died. Read more about the situation in other European countries HERE EU: Agreed criteria for marking green, orange and red zones EU ambassadors on Friday harmonized criteria for labeling regions according to the number of coronavirus infections per 100,000 inhabitants and the percentage of positives among those tested, to facilitate the movement of people in the face of a pandemic. An agreement was reached on which regions would be considered a green, orange and red zone, according to common criteria. Areas for which there is insufficient data will be highlighted in gray. This should help end the current chaotic situation in which it is very difficult to cope because different countries define zones differently. The agreed guidelines should be confirmed next week at ministerial level. Colors will be determined according to updated data published weekly by the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Regions with less than 25 infected per hundred thousand inhabitants in 14 days and where the percentage of positive on testing is below four percent will be marked in green. The red zone means there are 50 or more infected per 100,000 residents and more than four percent positive for covid-19 on testing. Orange will indicate areas where the number of infected per 100,000 population is less than 50 and the test positive rate is four or more percent, or if the number of infected varies between 25 and 150 cases, but the test positive rate is below four percent. A Member State which envisages imposing restrictive measures on travelers coming from or traveling to an area shall be required to notify that country at least 48 hours in advance of the entry into force of the new measure. In Italy, more than 5,300 infected a day, the most since the end of March Italy saw a large increase in coronavirus infections on Friday, with 5,372 new cases, the most since the end of March. There were 4,458 infected on Thursday, and with today's number, Italy is approaching the record of 6,557 infected on March 21. A total of 343,700 people have been infected in the country. Another 28 people died, a total of 36,111, according to Italian civil protection data. Until last week, Italy seemed to control coronavirus spread and a potential second wave of infection better than other European countries. By October 1, the number of daily infections was below 2,000. The government announced new measures on Wednesday, introduced mandatory wearing of masks outdoors and extended the state of emergency in the country until January 31st. Additional restrictions are possible at the local level "where necessary", but there will be no new national 'lockdown', Deputy Health Minister Sandra Zampa told the Affaritaliani.it portal. The Italian healthcare system is now much less burdened than in March when Italy struggled with a shortage of hospital beds, respirators and masks. There are 387 people in intensive care, and at the end of March and the beginning of April there were more than 4,000 of them. Jansa: Everyone must respect the measures to overcome the epidemic Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said on Friday that everyone should respect the epidemiological measures adopted in order to control the spread of the coronavirus infection, without about five percent of citizens doing so. "We are able to stop the virus and we proved it in the spring in the first wave of the epidemic. But the question is what price we will pay for it, and it does not depend on the government that has adopted sufficient measures, but on whether we will respect the measures," he said. Janša said after the session of the National Security Council, adding that about five percent of citizens do not respect the prescribed measures and decisions made by the government in accordance with the medical profession. Jansa said that the government has several variants of measures to stop the further spread of the virus, and that they are "appropriate and balanced", but that it is important that no one threatens or belittles the measures respected by the vast majority of citizens. In the last 24 hours, Slovenia recorded 363 new cases of coronavirus infection, and for the second day in a row, the number of newly infected is over three hundred. Four more people died, so despite the new restrictive measures of the government, Slovenia approached the criteria for entering the "red" risk zone. Today's session of the National Security Council was held in an expanded composition, in the presence of opposition political leaders. As former Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said before the session began, Janša's government has lost control of the epidemic, and by convening a security council it is trying to "share responsibility" with others, albeit without justification.