Europe’s Deadly Second Wave

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/us/europe-second-wave-coronavirus-briefing.html

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U.S. employers added 245,000 jobs in November, the fifth consecutive month that the pace of hiring has declined.

The San Francisco Bay Area will proceed with California’s stay-at-home order this weekend, and will not wait for the state to order the region to close.

It was a terrible week for coronavirus news. Here’s an inside look from our team tracking the pandemic.

Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and vaccines in development.

By early June, Europe was emerging from the depths of its fight against the coronavirus, just as the U.S. and others were fighting record caseloads. Europeans, desperate for a break, headed off for their sacred summer vacations — and paid dearly for it.

The second wave now hitting Europe is deadlier than the first, pushing reluctant governments back into lockdowns and inflicting new scars on the European economy. Swift reopenings with few restrictions, coupled with cross-border travel, turned out to be a deadly combination.

In most European countries, daily deaths are jumping higher this fall than ever before. Nearly 105,000 people died of Covid-19 in November in 31 countries monitored by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

With Christmas approaching, the region is on high alert. Movement between Italian regions will be all but barred between Dec. 21 and Jan. 6, with people allowed to travel only for work, health reasons or emergencies. New Year’s Eve dinners in hotels are also banned and limited to room service. And ski slopes will be closed from the Alps to the Apennines, a coordinated decision by Italy, France and Germany.

The first coronavirus vaccines for adults are nearly ready, but children’s vaccines will take a lot longer. Vaccines that are safe for adults may not be safe for children, and Pfizer’s and Moderna’s pediatric trials are just getting started.

Nevertheless, teachers groups and medical experts say children do not need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus for schools to safely reopen.

“There’s very little concern or sense that school shouldn’t be open because the kids aren’t vaccinated,” said Colin Sharkey, the executive director of the Association of American Educators.

For the most part, that’s a straightforward scientific analysis. Young children do not pose a high risk of infecting others, and very rarely experience severe symptoms of the coronavirus.

Teachers will also be among the first people to receive vaccines. And even before teachers are vaccinated, unions and experts say elementary schools can be reopened as long as districts follow protocols for testing, personal protective equipment, physical distancing and ventilation.

“You can reopen elementary schools before you have the vaccine for teachers, but the vaccine will create an insurance that things are safe,” said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.

The United States has had no national day of mourning. We’ve barely had moments of silence, even as the virus reaches new peaks. Hospitals are filling up and people are dying without any place to formally represent our collective grief.

For New Jersey residents, that may soon change. On the site of a former toxic dump, one of the first American memorials to victims of Covid-19 is set to break ground. As part of a $10 million makeover, more than 500 trees will be planted in a grove of the newly named Skyway Park — one for every Jersey City resident who has died of the coronavirus, the mayor, Steven M. Fulop, announced on Thursday.

Each person’s name will also be included on a memorial wall, giving relatives of the dead a place to mourn. Many families were unable to observe traditional funeral rituals as the pandemic ravaged the Northeast. “We wanted to do something significant for those families that didn’t get to grieve properly,” Fulop said.

Hospital administrators in Miami-Dade and in neighboring Broward County are warning that the virus is so widespread that medical reinforcements aren’t available.

Cases are surging across the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic states. In New Hampshire, which is now averaging almost 600 cases a day, roughly six times its highest previous average, reached in May, the virus has killed 21 residents at a veterans’ home.

Japan is facing a new coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said. Severely ill patients have begun to strain hospitals.

Most establishments in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, will be required to close by 9 p.m. starting on Saturday after a spike in new cases.

Here’s a roundup of restrictions in all 50 states.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its first comprehensive list of strategies to combat the virus, including universal use of face masks outside the home.

In a new informal survey of 700 epidemiologists, half said they would keep up with personal behaviors like social distancing until at least 70 percent of the population was vaccinated.

The Rose Bowl, the most famous postseason game in college football, will be played in an empty stadium on Jan. 1.

Revenue losses will force state and local governments to make devastating budget cuts. Without federal funding, public services may slow in both red and blue states.

The New York Young Republican Club held its 108th annual gala in-person on Thursday evening. “Catch us if you can,” one attendee tweeted with a photo of over 20 unmasked guests, directing her comments to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Dr. Aaron E. Carroll, a pediatrician and contributing Opinion writer, wrote a column: “Yes, People Are Traveling for the Holidays. Stop Shaming Them.” Although denouncing others might make you feel good about yourself, he says, it rarely corrects bad behavior.

On the Modern Love podcast, a widow lost her husband of 56 years on the eve of the pandemic. She braced for despair, but found resilience.

Let us know how you’re dealing with the pandemic. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.