Photos show what Europe's third COVID-19 wave looks like as hospitalizations mount and Italy enters another lockdown
Much of Europe has lagged behind the US and the UK in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine due to supply shortages.
Many nations in Europe are entering into new nationwide lockdowns as COVID-19 cases rise.
A man wearing a face mask walks
across the Galleria Umberto I on March 17, 2021 in Turin during a new
lockdown following new government restrictions over the Covid-19
pandemic.
Italy, the first country to enter into a nationwide lockdown in Europe back in March 2020, imposed new restrictions on March 15, 2021, to slow the third wave.
A general view of the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain) empty and without tourists during the first day of lockdown on March 15.
Italy's seven-day average of new cases has increased steadily in March. The country is reporting more than 22,000 average cases per seven days, and 360 average deaths per seven days.
France resisted pressure to impose another lockdown as of March 17. Emergency resuscitation units in France are at the highest capacity since November.
General view of the facade of Les Folies Bergeres Theatre is seen on March 17, 2021 in Paris, France.
France's leading doctors urged President Emmanuel Macron to impose a lockdown, and said failing to do so would cost lives.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives with Chief of Intensive Care Unit Doctor Jan Hayon on March 17.
Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, told reporters the third COVID-19 wave in Germany had "already begun" in early March.
A food courier from Wolt rides past
closed restaurants and stacked chairs for outdoor seating at twilight
during the coronavirus pandemic on March 5.
Dirk Brockmann, an epidemiologist at the Robert Koch Institute, said COVID-19 cases had risen "exponentially" due to easing restrictions too soon and the spread of transmissible variants.
A group of tourists walks along David Street through the otherwise deserted entertainment district of St.Paul.
Germany extended its coronavirus shutdown until March 28.
A
pedestrian walks past a closed retail shop on the Cologne shopping mile
during the coronavirus pandemic on March 3, 2021 in Cologne, Germany.
Doctors criticized the country's slow vaccine rollout: Germany vaccinated fewer than 10% of its population as of mid-March.
Few people are on the move in Schmeerstraße in the old town of Halle/Saale
Hungary, which has had a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and online-only high school classes since November, imposed new restrictions in early March. The country now requires businesses to close doors for two weeks, allowing only grocery stores and pharmacies to stay open.
A
men carries flowers at a market in downtown Budapest on March 8, 2021,
the International Women's Day, amid the ongoing coronavirusCovid-19
pandemic.
One thousand supporters of Hungary's far-right party, Mi Hazank Mozgalom, held a demonstration demanding an end to the restrictions. The country's daily new COVID-19 case count is at an all-time high.
People attend a demonstration
against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) measures and their economic
consequences, at Heroes' Square in Budapest, Hungary.
Poland announced a three-week partial lockdown, closing shops, hotels, and theaters starting March 20. The country reported 25,052 new COVID-19 cases this week, the highest toll in 2021.
The Polish health ministry imposed a lockdown in two counties following a surge in new cases of coronavirus infections.
The Czech Republic deployed police officers and soldiers to enforce lockdown measures in early March that aim to get citizens to stay home.
An
empty street of the Old Town during the lockdown imposed by the
government to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease on March 1,
2021 in Prague, Czech Republic.
Much of Europe has lagged behind the US and the UK in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine due to supply shortages.
A
man is having body temperature checked on the entrance to Krakow
University Hospital on the first day of teachers' Covid-19 vaccination
programme.
Many European countries — including Germany and Italy — paused the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as investigators look into reports of blood clots in a handful of recipients. The World Health Organizations urged countries to continue using AstraZeneca's vaccine, and said blood clots are one of the most common cardiovascular conditions globally.
People queue at the entrance to a vaccination center in Marseille, southern France, on March 16.
AstraZeneca said their vaccine offers less protection against mild disease caused by the COVID-19 variant first discovered in South Africa, but offers the same efficacy against two other major variants.
A nurse inserts the needle into the patient's forearm to vaccinate him March 9, 2021 in Bari, Italy.