Europe has not learned its lesson, the growing fatigue from the Corona virus

The second wave of the corona virus epidemic flooded Western Europe even before the start of the flu season, intensive care units were filled, bars closed, and to make matters worse, the authorities warn of the increasingly widespread "fatigue from Covid 19" The record high numbers of those infected in several Eastern European countries and the sudden jumps in the hard-hit western part clearly show that Europe has never broken the Covid 19 curve as it had hoped, after the spring restrictive measures.

Spain has declared a state of emergency in the Madrid region, which has led to tensions between local and national authorities over measures to combat the virus.

Germany is hiring troops to help monitor contacts in the new hot spots. Italy is introducing mandatory masks in the open and warns that the health system is in critical condition while hospitals are filling up again.

The Czech "farewell" party from Covid 19 in June, when thousands of Prague residents dined at a table 500 meters long along Charles Bridge celebrating the victory over the virus, now seems sadly naive, because the country is experiencing the highest infection rate on the continent.

Epidemiologists and residents point the finger at governments for failing to take advantage of the summer lull in the epidemic, to adequately prepare for the expected fall in the fall because the number of tests and medical staff is again small. "When we came out of the state of emergency, we should have invested in prevention, but that was not done. "We entered the autumn wave without leaving the summer wave," says a virologist and immunologist at the Spanish Center for Molecular Biology.

Tensions are rising in cities where new restrictions are being reintroduced. Hundreds of Romanian catering workers are protesting the closure of restaurants, theaters and discos. "We were closed for six months, the restaurants did not work and the number of cases still increased. I’m not an expert but I’m not stupid either. We are not responsible for the pandemic, "said , the owner of a pub in Bucharest.

While the infection is spreading in many European countries, some such as the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain and France, diagnose more new cases per capita per day than the United States.

France, with a population of 70 million, had a record almost 27,000 new infections yesterday, and a total daily record of 100,000 new cases was recorded in the whole of Europe. Experts claim that the high rate of infection in Europe is partly the result of more mass testing than during the first wave, but this trend is still worrying given that the flu season has not even begun. "We did not learn the lessons of the first wave. We are running after the epidemic, instead of going ahead of it ", said the director of the hospital in Paris.

However, there is also good news, experts say, stating that doctors now know which therapies work, according to the AP. During the peak of the epidemic in March and April, doctors in Spain and Italy gave the patient every drug they thought would work - hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, ritonavir, but with limited success. "Now we almost don't use those drugs because they have no effect. In that sense, we won because we now know much more, "said assistant director of emergency services at the Spanish hospital .

But medical treatment for the virus is only half the battle. Public health officials are now facing protests from citizens against wearing masks, denying the risk of the virus and the fatigue of citizens who are simply fed up with being told to keep their distance and refrain from embracing loved ones.