15 October 2020: The coronavirus figures continue to rise alarmingly across Europe.

15 October 2020: Update on The Corona Pandemic – I’m watching with great concern the renewed increase in infection numbers in Belgium and in almost every other part of Europe. If you think about it, this second wave shouldn’t come as a surprise. Lockdowns were lifted abruptly, resulting in complacency among people who felt they could return to their normal lives. In the face of intense political pressures, European leaders have beenreluctant to impose new, economically damaging lockdowns, often opting for the lightest possible measures.Now we have to face the consequences. In France, President Macron declared yesterday the state of emergency and imposed a curfew of 9:00 pm to 6:00 am in Paris and other metropolitan areas as of Saturday. In Catalonia the authorities closed bars and restaurants for 15 days. As I wrote yesterday, in the Netherlandsthe government announced a limited lockdown. Many other countries are most likely to follow with similar measures. In Belgium, last Friday, over 7,000 people tested positive for coronavirus for the first time. It was the fifth day in a row that new infections rose above the 5,000 mark. The number of patients admitted to Belgian hospitals and those in intensive care is also growing rapidly. Experts say that at this rate, the maximum capacity of 2,000 intensive care beds in our country could be reached by mid-November. Net-net, the situation is alarming across the continent! On display is a picture from the Eiffel Tower, the most famous Paris landmark. A picture I shot in November 2013 at a time that today’s pandemic would at best have been the subject of a bad bad sci-fi movie – Paris, France.