European countries are closing schools, canceling surgeries and recruiting masses of medical students as overstretched authorities face a worst-case scenario of a resurgence of Covid-19 at the start of winter.
The number of new cases reaches 100.000 per day, so Europe has greatly overtaken the United States of America (USA), where on average more than 51.000 new cases of covid-19 are reported every day.
The return to normal activities after the easing of measures in the summer has caused a sharp increase in cases across the continent.
Coffee shops are among the first to be closed, or have their working hours reduced in the new lockdown, but the increase in the number of infected is tempting and the determination of governments to leave open schools and medical facilities that are not for covid patients.
The Czech Republic has switched to online learning and plans to invite thousands of medical students.
Hospitals are canceling non-urgent procedures to free up beds.
"Sometimes we are on the verge of crying," Lenka Krejcova, head nurse at Slani Hospital near Prague, told Reuters as workers rush to prepare the general ward for Covid-19 patients.
Poland is intensifying nurse training and setting up military Polish hospitals, Moscow will shift many pupils to online classes, and Northern Ireland is closing schools for two weeks.
"I don't have any good information. We are on the brink of disaster," said immunologist Pavel Grzeszowski in Poland, which yesterday reported a record 6.526 cases of infection and 116 deaths.
Yesterday, Russia reported a record 14.321 daily cases of infection, and another 239 people died. The "Guardian" reported that Moscow authorities will hire university students to replace teachers at primary schools that are old and vulnerable.
Italy recorded 7.332 infected yesterday, which is the highest daily figure since the beginning of the epidemic.
Even in countries that have had more success than most in curbing transmission, the number of infected people is rising.
Germany had more than five thousand new cases for the first time since April.
Efforts to produce a vaccine have hit obstacles in some areas. Johnson & Johnson discontinued the trial due to an unexplained illness of one of the trial participants. The testing that "Astra Zeneka" is conducting in the USA was suspended more than a month ago.
Russia, meanwhile, has given regulatory approval for a second vaccine.
Major European economies such as Germany, Britain and France have so far resisted pressure to close schools, but politicians in Germany are debating whether to extend the New Year-Christmas break to contain the contagion.
Critics, on the other hand, say there is no evidence that schools are hotspots.
The Netherlands re-introduced a partial lockdown yesterday and closed cafes and restaurants, but not schools.
The number of infections in Europe averages almost 100 a day - about a third of the world's total - which has forced governments to tighten measures while trying to adjust them to protect health without endangering livelihoods.
More than half of the new European cases in the week to October 11 were in Britain, France, Russia and Spain, according to the World Health Organization.
In the US, 22 states hit records in October for the number of new cases, but the number of victims is on a downward trajectory and averaged 700 a day during the last week.
The French government yesterday declared a public health emergency, giving officials more powers to introduce new measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Last night, President Emmanuel Macron announced that a curfew would be introduced in Paris and other major cities from nine in the evening to six in the morning.
The measure comes into force on Saturday and will last for four weeks.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has faced opposition calls for another national lockdown in England, but has so far resisted.
Reuters writes that hospital admissions are on the rise, and Polish hospitals built in the spring are being prepared again.
In Spain, authorities in Catalonia have ordered the closure of bars and restaurants for 15 days and limited the number of people who can be in shops at one time.
Hospitals in Belgium are obliged to leave a quarter of their beds for covid patients.
"Today we are not in sight of the end of the tunnel," Renaud Mazi, director of the Saint-Luc University Clinic in Brussels, told Radio Premijer.
In Australia, one of the most successful countries in the fight against the virus, clusters have appeared in the two most populous states, and New South Wales has delayed easing some restrictions.
Record figures in the region
Croatian health authorities reported 748 new cases of infection with covid-19 yesterday, which is a daily record.
Zagreb also registered a record 211 new cases.
The previous record of 542 new cases was recorded a week ago.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 21.741 people have been infected in Croatia, and 334 have died.
The authorities there tightened the measures in the fight against the spread of covid-19 this Sunday.
Wearing masks is mandatory indoors and in public places, cafes and restaurants are not allowed to work after midnight and the number of customers is limited.
Organizers of public gatherings of more than 50 people must request permission at least five days in advance.
Slovenia reported 707 infected yesterday, which is a new record after last week's 211 infected in one day.
Bosnia and Herzegovina also recorded a record number of new cases of infection - 482, and 11 deaths.
British spies defend vaccines against hackers
British spies are trying to defend work on a vaccine for covid-19 from hostile forces trying to steal or sabotage scientific research data, writes Reuters.
Oxford University's vaccine, licensed by Astra Zeneca, is in late-stage trials, while a vaccine being developed by Imperial College London is in early-stage clinical trials.
"It is clear that the prize for the first vaccine against this deadly virus is huge, so it is to be expected that a number of other parties around the world will be interested in the research," said Ken McCallum, director general of the security service MI5.
"We are on the lookout for attempts to steal intellectual property created through research and for the possible endangerment of data."
Britain's National Cyber Security Center said in July that Russian state-backed hackers had tried to steal data on a Covid-19 vaccine and research on therapies from academic and pharmaceutical institutions around the world.
McCallum, a mathematician by profession, said Britain faces a range of threats - from growing right-wing terrorism to Chinese economic espionage.
"The right-wing threats are not on the same level as the threats from Islamic extremists - but they are on the rise."
McCallum pointed out that MI5 was increasingly dealing with state espionage.
"The various threats from Russian, Chinese, Iranian and other factors are growing in severity and complexity," he said, arguing that China is trying to hack commercially sensitive data and intellectual property, as well as interfere in politics.
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