As the second wave of the coronavirus fills hospitals across Europe, and states reluctantly apply varying degrees of "lockdown," national television stations organize programming to make room for state leaders to address tense citizens.
When he announced a curfew and the closing of restaurants and cafes at six o'clock in the afternoon, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called for national unity. "If we all follow the rules during November, we will manage to keep the epidemiological curve under control. In this way, we will be able to relax the restrictions and enter the Christmas holidays more relaxed," Conte said.
Speaking from the Elysee Palace, Emmanuel Macron announced a new national lockdown, which will last until at least December 1, and warned France that the new wave of infections was likely to be "deadlier than the last".
In Belgium, where covid is spreading faster than in any other European country, new Prime Minister Alexandre de Croix hopes that "a team of 11 million Belgians" will succeed together in following stricter regulations.
Similar in tone and spirit, these messages reminded of those sent by the leaders in March, when in shock and fear the citizens stood by the leaders and agreed to restrictions that were not recorded in peacetime conditions.
Eight months later, that kind of trust and goodwill seems to be lacking, the Guardian writes.
The British newspaper points out that Europe is, once again, the center of the global pandemic and that it represents almost half of the infected in the world.
However, since the desperately needed financial support is absent and the monitoring and testing system fails to provide results due to the sudden increase in the number of patients, there is tension in the public, and in some cases, rebellion.
On Friday night, protesters threw Molotov cocktails at police in Florence in social unrest that followed Conte's new rules.
Pino Esposito, a Neapolitan barber, is one of those who have lost faith in the orders that come from the top. In his hometown, Esposito is leading a group of small businesses campaigning against the new restrictions.
"We are protesting," he told the Guardian, "because European governments, including ours, are unprepared for the second wave. They have been saying since March that the second wave will come in October or November and that it will be worse than the first. However, they did not prepare schools, the health system, workplaces, nor did they launch initiatives. And the financial aid that was promised to us is not available. However, it is necessary if they are thinking of closing down businesses, and workers need unemployment benefits immediately".
Across the continent, there are similar examples of people facing serious economic problems who are also psychologically exhausted.
Earlier this month, a World Health Organization study found widespread apathy and reduced motivation to follow public health guidelines.
The emotional toll of covid-19 is exacerbated by growing doubts about the capacity of governments to deal with this crisis that is destroying people's lives and endangering their health.
According to the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, the continent's partial economic recovery in the summer and early autumn was "unbalanced, uncertain and incomplete". In light of the impact of the second wave, she said in a recent interview, "now it risks being undone".
From Milan to Manchester, Marseille to Madrid, such assessments have sparked a wave of rebellion. Since the spring lockdown was relaxed, the subsequent measures and organizing have hit some workers and regions harder than others, the "Guardian" points out. The Spanish government's decision to declare a six-month state of emergency sparked fierce protests across the country and a dispute with Madrid's conservative regional government, which accused national authorities of overstepping their powers.
The mayors of nine cities, including Barcelona, Lisbon, Prague and Milan, bypassed their national governments and wrote directly to European Council President Charles Michel, asking for access to the EU's 750 billion euro recovery fund.
In Germany, where a partial lockdown begins today, thousands of employees and employers in the arts and hospitality industries took to the streets of Berlin last Sunday, demanding more financial aid.
In Italy, the culmination is unsettlingly close. First of all, fierce demonstrations broke out in Naples for a week, after the curfew was introduced. The protests were followed by civil unrest in Milan and Turin, where luxury goods stores were looted.
"I think this is just the beginning," Italian journalist and author of "Gomorrah" Roberto Saviano told The Guardian.
"During the first lockdown, Italians were united in the idea that this was a completely new kind of threat; a situation in which any government would find it difficult to manage. Now they feel cheated," said Savijano.
"They were told that things were going well, that we were winning. However, the savings are wasted, they see problems with a testing system that doesn't work, and there is confusion and disagreement among scientists. "People have started to lose faith that the institutions are able to save them," the Italian journalist believes.
A survey conducted after last week's riots found that three-quarters of Italians believe there will be more violence on the streets this winter.
"There will be riots all over Europe," Saviano said. "It will happen in different ways and with different drivers, but it will happen because the center no longer holds. We're miles away from the disposition that prevailed in March when it was all about obeying the rules and protecting ourselves or we're gone. Now people are thinking: I'm sinking anyway if I can't survive economically".
Geographer Christophe Gilly, whose books have pointed to the growing social differences and divisions between provincial and metropolitan France, is also pessimistic about preserving the spirit of unity.
Over the summer, local leaders in Marseille complained bitterly that the curfew and mandatory mask use had been imposed by Paris without prior consultation.
Macron's decision for a new lockdown, according to Gilli, is already creating further divisions, while insulating those with sufficient means from the worst to come.
On Thursday evening, there were huge traffic jams as Parisians tried to escape the capital and go to their cottages before the nine o'clock curfew.
"Parisians who have fled to cottages risk infecting residents of provincial and rural areas. They were not well received. The pandemic highlighted inequality between classes and regions. It is true that social and cultural tensions have never been as acute in France as they are now, and the political classes are trying to mask them by appealing to the feeling of republican unity," said Gili.
Political rivalries and ambitions that date back to the time before the corona also complicate the response to the second wave of infection.
In Belgium - where overcrowded hospitals in some cities also have covid-positive members of the medical staff - the unified action was undermined by conflicts between politicians from the Flemish north and the francophone south of the country.
The country is now locked until mid-December.
However, the leader of Flanders, Jean Jambon, previously claimed that strict measures were necessary only in Wallonia.
By the time he changed his mind last Sunday, 600 Belgians were spreading the virus.
"From May through June and until recently, we witnessed a growing polarization of opinion in the public debate," said Dave Sinardet, a political scientist from Saint Louis University in Brussels.
"Virologists are in favor of stricter measures, but there is an increasingly strong lobby demanding that the economy remain open. So in September, when the rate of infection was growing rapidly, more relaxed restrictions were still in place. Strong criticism was directed at people who advocated for the introduction of tougher measures".
The apparent failure of the system to locate and track those infected has contributed to disillusionment with the way the crisis has been managed.
"There is dissatisfaction and a feeling that businesses like cafes and restaurants have done a lot, but the government has not done enough," said Sinardet.
On Thursday, Boris Johnson will put England on the list of European countries that are closing for the second time.
According to German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, "November will be the month of truth" in the fight against the second wave of covid-19. However, there are indications that the fight could go in any direction, writes the British newspaper.
The speed and intensity of the growth of infections has caught governments by surprise and they are now acting unprepared.
For the public to accept the new lockdowns, the government will obviously have to show more support and solidarity, and the financial cost will be huge.
In a column for "Stampa" last Sunday, the philosopher and former mayor of Venice, Masimo Kačari, wrote. "The social crisis was followed by a public health crisis, and this creates differences in income and living conditions that are completely incompatible with what we mean by democracy. Are we aware of that? I don't think that was the case until now. However, we must not waste time".
The stakes were dramatically high before the first lockout in March. Now they may be even bigger, concludes the British newspaper.
Children's education must not be a victim of the virus
When Chancellor Angela Merkel announced new restrictions on public life, she listed cafes, restaurants, theaters, concert halls, gyms and tattoo parlors as institutions that would be forced to close.
However, that list did not include schools and kindergartens - which are among the first to be closed in the spring.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron also said schools would be exempted from restrictions, while Ireland said schools would remain open despite a national lockdown that came into effect earlier this month.
A series of measures and restrictions to prevent the spread of the new wave of coronavirus in Europe this time mostly bypassed schools, foreign media note and state that not everyone is satisfied with such a decision, but that the authorities have taken additional precautionary measures so that children's education can continue.
Decision makers say they are applying hard-learned lessons after months of battling the pandemic and are ready to change course if the situation worsens dramatically.
Michael Martin, the Irish Prime Minister, said that although his country can no longer avoid restrictions, despite the devastating impact on the economy, it is crucial that schools remain open.
"We cannot and will not allow the future of our children and young people to be another victim of this disease," said Martin in his address to the nation. "They need education."
Concerns are growing around the world that the pandemic is causing lasting damage to the academic and emotional development of an entire generation of children.
Earlier this month, the German government highlighted children's right to education, which is best fulfilled in classrooms with their peers.
"This must be the highest priority when adopting all restrictive measures," announced the Ministry of Education.
In her statement, Merkel cited another reason why she believes it is important to keep schools open, pointing to the "dramatic social consequences" that closing schools and kindergartens had on families during the March and April closures.
"Let me be clear: violent attacks on women and children have increased dramatically," Merkel said, explaining the government's decision to close restaurants and ban sports and cultural events instead of schools.
"It is important to keep in mind the social consequences when we make such decisions."
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