UK: The third wave

ITALY:


(Bloomberg) -- The government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi is weighing stringent new restrictions on as many as two-thirds of Italians, with the regions encompassing the country’s largest cities possibly heading into lockdown amid a resurgence in the pandemic.

The tightening would bring Italy full-circle just over a year after it became the first Western country to enter lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Infections rose to a three-month high this week after the more contagious U.K. strain took hold amid a slow vaccine roll-out.


Draghi’s cabinet was due to meet at 11:30 a.m. on Friday to decide whether to automatically designate regions as high-risk “red zones” if they have more than 250 weekly cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to a draft of a new decree seen by Bloomberg. The draft is subject to change.




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GERMANY:


he head of Germany’s public health agency on Friday warned that a third wave of coronavirus infections has already begun.

It comes at a time when the country has started to gradually relax lockdown restrictions, amid a government-led effort to speed up its vaccination rollout to as many adults as possible.


German Chancellor Angela Merkel had previously warned the country could be caught in a third wave of infections if restrictive public health measures were lifted too quickly.

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Meanwhile.. Drudge tonight: