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Europe hit by protests against restrictions: COVID-19 Daily Bulletin
Updated 02:50, 23-Nov-2021
Giulia Carbonaro
02:02

 

TOP HEADLINES

· Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Belgium's Brussels, Hungary's Budapest, Switzerland's Zurich, the Netherlands' Amsterdam, Austria's Vienna and Croatia's Zagreb to protest against new COVID-19 measures across Europe, which in most countries aim to increase the proportion of people getting vaccinated.

Some 35,000 people attended the protests in Brussels, and 40,000 in Vienna.

· In Denmark, around 1,000 people protested against the possibility of reinstating a COVID-19 pass for civil servants.

· The protests also reached France's Guadeloupe, where riots forced schools to close and traffic to halt with barricades on the islands' streets. 

In Guadeloupe about 20 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, against almost 70 percent in France. Protests in the archipelago has been sparked by the order for mandatory vaccinations for health workers.

 

Wood pallets are burning on a street as clashes erupt during a demonstration against new measures, including the country's health pass, in Brussels on Sunday. /Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP

Wood pallets are burning on a street as clashes erupt during a demonstration against new measures, including the country's health pass, in Brussels on Sunday. /Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP

Some 35,000 people joined protests in Brussels on Sunday. /Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP

Some 35,000 people joined protests in Brussels on Sunday. /Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP

Riot police officers face protesters as they gather in the Hague, on Sunday, during a press conference of Dutch Prime Minister held to announce new restrictions. /Jeroen Jumelet/ANP/AFP

Riot police officers face protesters as they gather in the Hague, on Sunday, during a press conference of Dutch Prime Minister held to announce new restrictions. /Jeroen Jumelet/ANP/AFP

A man participates during an anti-vaccination protest in front of Constitutional Court building in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday. /Reuters/Bernadett Szabo

A man participates during an anti-vaccination protest in front of Constitutional Court building in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday. /Reuters/Bernadett Szabo

Demonstrators hold placards depicting the Virgin Mary as they gather to protest against new measures, in Zagreb, Croatia, on Saturday. /Reuters/Antonio Bronic

Demonstrators hold placards depicting the Virgin Mary as they gather to protest against new measures, in Zagreb, Croatia, on Saturday. /Reuters/Antonio Bronic

 

· Germans will be "vaccinated, cured or dead," by the end of winter, said Health Minister Jens Spahn on Monday. "That is why we so urgently recommend vaccination," he added. In response to rising cases in Germany, authorities have reintroduced restrictions, including barring the unvaccinated from public indoor spaces. 

The government is pushing to increase the country's vaccination rate, which despite a large availability of vaccines is stuck at 68 percent of its population fully vaccinated.

· "Idiots" have been behind the troubles in Netherlands over the past three days of "pure violence under the guise of protest," said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday. At least 130 people have been arrested and four injured during the protests. The Netherlands went back under a partial lockdown on November 13. 

"I understand that there is a lot of tension in society because we have been dealing with the scourge of corona for so long," Rutte said. But he added that he refuses to accept "that idiots use pure violence."

· Football club Bayern Munich will have to face the Champions League without five of its star players, Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Michael Cuisance, who are being forced to quarantine after refusing to get vaccinated.

"It's annoying," said head coach Julian Nagelsmann, saying that "we seem to only be talking about the pandemic," and not enough about football.

Here are reports from our correspondents across Europe:

Netherlands:

02:05

Greece:

03:30

Hungary:

01:51

Belgium:

02:04
Source(s): AFP ,Reuters

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