Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Against the background of a sharp increase in the number of cases of coronavirus, the EU countries are introducing more and more stringent measures to combat the spread of infection. However, the measures taken differ in many ways, which prompted representatives of the expert community to call on European leaders for a common action plan.

I. Europe is currently the most infected part of the world.

The total number of cases of infection in Europe is more than 21 million. The daily number of infections during the last week is over 230,000. The number of deaths per day exceeds 4 thousand, and the total number of deaths is about 500,000.

According to experts, European countries were unable to contain the second wave of coronavirus and in most countries of the "Old World" the pandemic is still not on the decline.

In Germany, December is characterized by the highest number of infected people in a pandemic. On 19 December, about 34,000 infected and 813 deaths were recorded.

A similar situation is developing in the UK, where an anti-record of 35,000 cases per day was recorded last week. According to experts, local hospitals are running out of steam.

In England, only 10% of beds are now free.

In France, where the lockdown was lifted and a curfew was imposed on December 15, the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise a few days before Christmas.

In Sweden, many more people died last month than usual, prompting public criticism of the government’s actions from King Charles XVI of Sweden, who considered the measures taken as unsuccessful.

Against this background, the Air Force announces the identification of a new strain of coronavirus (VUI-202012/01), which, according to Prime Minister B. Johnson, may be "70% more infectious than the old version." At the same time, according to British scientists, the new strain of the virus is spreading unusually quickly - if in November it was the cause of 28% of all cases of coronavirus infection in London, then in December this figure has already reached 60%.

Also last week, there was a wave of self-isolation among political leaders across Europe, caused by the detection of coronavirus in French President E. Macron. According to Politico, among the leaders who had to reconsider their plans, get tested and go into self-isolation as a precaution, were the prime ministers of Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Ireland and Portugal.

II. Governments are taking active steps to reduce infections, but the steps vary.

National lockdowns have been announced in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, Italy, Denmark and the UK.

Thus, Austria Today indicates that the Austrian authorities announced the third hard lockdown between December 26 and January 24 to prevent an exponential increase in the number of infections in the country. The curfew will operate around the clock.

Lockdown is being introduced throughout Switzerland, where from December 22 until January 22, shops and service enterprises, restaurants, museums, libraries, gyms will be closed, and leaving the house will only be possible for a good reason, German Tagesschau reports.

Euronews points to the announcement of a nationwide quarantine in Italy from 24 December to 6 January. During this period, shops will be closed, except for grocery and pharmacies. It is forbidden to move from region to region. Bars and restaurants will not work, but take-out service is allowed. And in Slovakia, shops that do not sell essential goods, as well as enterprises that provide consumer services to the population, have closed since 19 December. Citizens of the republic are allowed to leave their homes only to travel to work, visit a doctor, buy medicines and food.

In France and the Czech Republic, there is a curfew (from 20:00 to 6:00 and from 23:00 to 5:00, respectively). At the same time, the authorities do not exclude that they may soon be forced to reinforce restrictions again, since the situation with the spread of the virus corresponds to the maximum levels of the epidemiological threat.

The Daily Mail cites the government’s decision to introduce quarantine in London and the southeast of England from December 20. Local residents must stay at home. All shops selling non-essential goods will be closed. The restrictions will be in effect until at least 30 December.

The restrictions introduced in the countries of Western Europe have already led to many kilometers of traffic jams on the border of the Balkan states, caused by the desire of Eastern Europeans working in the West of the continent to have time to return home for the holidays.

At the same time, some countries are seeking to ease the restrictions imposed by establishing special procedures during the Christmas holidays. So, in Italy and France, the quarantine measures will be relaxed at Christmas. Austria and Switzerland have allowed local administrative authorities to make their own quarantine decisions for ski resorts.

III. According to Dutch experts, during the current crisis, Europe has shown its weakness as a geopolitical player, as a result of which the Europeans have felt the crisis more acutely, Euroactiv notes.

In this regard, according to Tagesschau, a group of 300 renowned scientists called for a common European strategy in the fight against coronavirus, without which it is impossible to successfully confront the pandemic.

According to the opinion presented in the medical journal The Lancet, they criticized the governments of the countries for the lack of a common vision of the fight against the pandemic, which could lead to "new waves of infections."

Scientists propose "large-scale intervention" in the form of isolation or severe restrictions on public life. At the same time, in order to avoid re-import of the virus between European countries, in their opinion, "efforts to reduce the number of cases of infection in all European countries should be synchronized and started as soon as possible."

The authors of the report warn that special attention should be paid to the "monitoring strategy" and consider it necessary to conduct at least 300 tests per million inhabitants per day.

According to experts, through joint action, it is possible to "achieve a low incidence in Europe", which is a maximum of ten new cases of COVID-19 per million people per day, no later than spring.

Overall, while the European Medicines Agency announced its intention to authorize the use of the coronavirus vaccine as early as 21 December, Europe, which remains the most infected region in the world, is looking at the coming holidays with dismay.