Europeans face more curfews, restrictions, as virus surges

ROME (AP) — Italy's three largest cities face new curfews as regional authorities try to slow the spread of COVID-19 where it first struck hard in Europe, most of whose countries are now imposing, or mulling, new restrictions to cope with rapidly rising caseloads.

A midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew in Lazio, which includes Rome, begins on Friday and lasts for 30 days, under an order signed by regional governor Nicola Zingaretti — who himself was seriously sickened with COVID-19 in the first weeks of the pandemic.

The governor of Campania, the southern region which includes densely populated Naples, on Thursday ordered residents to stay at home from 11 p.m. to shortly before dawn starting the next day. A similar curfew in Lombardy, where infections are particularly surging in its main city, Milan, will go into effect Thursday night.

Italy was Europe's first country to be put under a national lockdown in March. But so far Premier Giuseppe Conte, wary of crippling the country's long-lame economy, hasn't repeated the drastic move — even as daily new confirmed infections hit a record of more than 15,000 on Wednesday. Instead, Conte urged Italians to avoid “unnecessary” movements.

But the Czech Republic's government on Thursday re-imposed exactly the same heavy restrictions it slapped on citizens in the spring — and which Prime Minister Andrej Babis had repeatedly said would not be repeated — amid a record rise in infections.

Babis apologized for the huge impact the restrictions will have on everyday life but said if they were not taken “our health system would collapse between Nov 7-11.”

The measures include limits on free movement and the closure of many stores, shopping malls and hotels, until at least Nov 3.

Poland broke another record in confirmed new infections Thursday with more than 12,100, and...