Today, thousands marched through central Brussels to protest tightened COVID-19 regulations imposed today by the government in response to the recent spike in coronavirus infections.
Water cannons were used by police to manage the protestors who marched in the streets toward the European Union Headquarters shouting Freedom! Freedom!’ Freedom!
Friday’s new Covid restrictions were introduced by the government. This is the third consecutive week of tightening rules in response to the recent surge in case numbers.
Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Canada, announced that primary and kindergarten schools would close one week earlier for the holidays season. Children must wear masks starting at age 6. Indoor events are limited to 200 persons.
The government had previously closed down nightclubs and ordered that bars and restaurants close at 11pm every day for three weeks.
Protests in Belgium follow a day in which many European cities saw large numbers of demonstrators march in solidarity against restrictions during the Christmas season. In Vienna, Austria, upwards of 40K people demonstrated, and in Frankfurt, Germany, thousands more marched in protest.
Austria became the first Western European country to reinstate a lockdown last month. It is expected to remain in place for 20 days. The Austrian government also announced that it will make mandatory vaccinations starting February.
This comes at a time when governments all over Europe are warning about the spreading of Omicron variant, which is highly transmissible. It has been registered in many countries including Belgium, France, Germany and Norway.
Today’s protest in Brussels against the coronavirus was witnessed by demonstrators lighting fireworks while riot officers shelter behind vehicles.
Police used water cannons to disperse demonstrators as clashes erupted during a demonstration against Belgium government’s measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 and mandatory vaccination in Brussels today
Un protestor holds a banner saying “The Mask Needs to Fall” as he marches against the restrictions the Belgian government has imposed in order to limit the spread the coronavirus virus disease.
Protestors protest the restrictions placed by the Belgian government to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Brussels, Belgium on December 5, 2021
Protestors march in Brussels against the coronavirus, Sunday Dec. 5, 2021. On Dec. 20, kindergartens will close early for holiday season. Primary schools and kindergartens must be closed by 6 p.m.
Belgium saw an average weekly number of 17.862 daily new cases, up 6 percent over the week before, and hospital admissions rose 4%.
There are more than 3700 infected people, with 821 being in critical care. More than 27,000 people have also died from the virus since it began.
Austrian police responded with pepper spray, making several arrests Saturday after more than 40,000.
The government of Austria, faced with an increase in infection rates, declared last month that it will impose a lockdown in order to prevent further outbreaks.
Signs were carried by people stating: “I will decide for me”, “Make Austria Great Again” and “New Elections”. This was a reference to the political chaos that saw three chancellors in two months. Crowds formed.
“I came here to oppose forced vaccinations,” said one protester. One protester said to Reuters that he was for human rights and that violations of these rights must be stopped.
Another said, “We are protecting our kids.”
In Austria, unvaccinated people who breach lockdown rules face fines of up to €500. Anyone refusing to comply with vaccination status checks could be fined up to €1,450.
Austria is home to 8.9 million people and has recorded nearly 1.2million coronavirus-related deaths, as well as more than 12,000 COVID-19-linked cases, since last year’s pandemic.
On the 5th of December, 2021, people took part in a protest against anti-coronavirus actions in Brussels. To combat yet another COVID-19 outbreak, the Belgian government took strict measures and pushed thousands of people to the streets in protest against compulsory vaccinations, anti-coronavirus, and health passes.
Yesterday, protestors marched through Vienna’s centre to oppose lockdown and Covid vaccines
On Saturday, several thousand protestors gathered in Utrecht, a central Dutch city to oppose the new coronavirus restrictions.
The first protest in Holland against measures last week that saw bars, restaurants, and stores close at night, to curb a record-breaking number of COVID-19 case filings, is this demonstration.
The Netherlands witnessed violent protests just two weeks after the government declared plans to ban all people not being vaccinated from public areas.
These plans have been met with opposition by many parties, even from the governing coalition.
In Frankfurt, Germany and Barcelona, Spain were held smaller demonstrations.
Yesterday, thousands marched through Utrecht in the Netherlands to protest a banner that read “Unvaccinated Lives matter”.
Many hundreds of demonstrators assembled in York yesterday for what was called a ‘freedom demonstration’. They also took part in music performances at York Minster.
As they participated in the protests held in York, Saturday, demonstrators waved flags
Britain’s Omicron outbreak grows by more than 50% in a day: 86 new cases take total to 246 as scientist warns its ‘too late’ to halt spread and variant could become dominant strain in weeks
In the UK, there have been an additional 86 Omicron cases. This brings the total to 246 cases. That’s more than 50% increase in less than a single day.
The UK Health Security Agency, who publish the figures, said 18 of the new cases are in Scotland taking their total to 48.
It comes as a leading scientist warned Britain has left it ‘too late’ to halt the spread of the Omicron super-variant.
Professor Mark Woolhouse claimed that adding new restrictions on travel is a matter of closing the stable doors after the horse has fled.
The Edinburgh University epidemiologist said it was ‘spreading pretty rapidly’ and could become the world’s dominant strain.
It was announced that all travelers arriving in England from Saturday must take the Covid-19 pre-departure testing starting Tuesday.
Ministers stated that the temporary test was meant to follow new data showing an increased number of foreign-traveller cases.
In Nigeria, however, the Government has added Nigeria to its travel red list. This is a big blow to those who want to spend Christmas with their families.
