France announces limited lockdown easing with Europe wary of festive surge

France has announced a limited easing of its strict nationwide lockdown and Germany and Spain have outlined restrictions on Christmas and new year gatherings as European governments act to prevent Covid cases multiplying over the holiday period.

The announcements came as the second wave of the pandemic continued to cause daily death tolls not seen in the worst hit countries since the spring: Spain recorded 537 new deaths on Tuesday and Italy a further 853, its highest daily toll since the end of March.

Germany’s 16 federal states are likely to approve gatherings of a maximum of 10 people during the festive season, according to a draft proposal due to be discussed on Wednesday by state premiers and the country’s chancellor, Angela Merkel.

The mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, said he was confident the measures would be adopted, while two state premiers said there was further broad agreement to extend a national “lockdown light” until 20 December to make family gatherings possible.

Germany closed bars, restaurants and entertainment venues for a month on 2 November, with schools and shops remaining open and private gatherings restricted to 10 people from two households.

Under the new plan, gatherings would be limited to five until the Christmas break. Big public New Year’s Eve firework displays look likely to be banned, but otherwise family celebrations should be possible “albeit on a smaller scale”, the draft said.

In France, the president, Emmanuel Macron, announced a three-stage easing of the country’s month-long lockdown, beginning this weekend with the reopening of “non-essential” businesses such as hairdressers and clothes shops, which will have to observe strict distancing rules and close at 9pm.

Churches and some cultural venues will also be able to reopen from 1 December, with a maximum of 30 visitors, Macron said in a televised address, and people would be allowed to exercise within a 20km (12-mile) radius of their homes and for up to three hours, rather than the current 1km, one-hour limits.

Providing infection numbers have fallen to about 5,000 a day, lockdown will be formally lifted on 15 December, allowing holiday travel, Macron said – although a nationwide 9pm-7am curfew would be in force except on 24 and 31 December, and all private festive gatherings would be expected to observe strict distancing rules.

“We have to do everything in our power to avoid a third wave and a third lockdown,” Macron said. “You must play a central role in this. I appeal to the responsibility and the discipline of each and every one of you.”

A third stage would begin from 20 January, Macron said, when restaurants should be able to reopen. He did not say when cafes and bars might follow suit.

The Spanish government is planning to limit festive gatherings to six people and to set a 1am to 6am curfew for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, according to a leaked document seen by Spanish newspapers.

“With respect to family gatherings, we recommend they be limited to members of the same household. Should there be an external guest who does not usually live with the family, gatherings should include a maximum of six people and preventive measures must be followed,” the draft says.

Spain, under a state of emergency since late October, is hoping to have what the government called a “very substantial part” of the population vaccinated against the coronavirus by the end of March 2021.

Its health minister, Salvador Illa, outlined the government’s plans for the first round of vaccinations on Tuesday, saying the first people to get the vaccine would be care home residents and staff, health workers, and those with serious disabilities. The government hopes to vaccinate 2.5 million people in those categories between January and the end of March next year.

The Finnish capital, Helsinki, meanwhile, is introducing tough new restrictions after a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases, with high schools, libraries and swimming pools to be closed and public events banned outright.

“We propose to use the full range of measures within the city’s powers,” said Helsinki’s mayor, Jan Vapaavuori, warning that healthcare and contact-tracing services were at risk of being overwhelmed and too many people were ignoring recommendations.

The Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, warned on Monday that a new state of emergency could be declared if regional measures proved ineffective. Nationwide, Finland’s infection rate remains the lowest in the EU, with 69 new cases per 100,000 people over the last fortnight, but in the Helsinki area it has risen to 159 per 100,000.

In Sweden, whose light-touch anti-lockdown approach has attracted international attention, the country’s health watchdog criticised “serious shortcomings” in nursing homes, which account for nearly half of Sweden’s 6,400 Covid-19 deaths.

The prime minister, Stefan Löfven, admitted in May that the country had failed to protect its elderly, and the watchdog said none of Sweden’s 21 regions had taken sufficient responsibility for the treatment of infected care home residents, with a fifth of patients having received no individual assessment by doctors.

Russia’s deputy prime minister, Tatiana Golikova, said on Tuesday the country’s coronavirus situation was becoming “more complicated” with the onset of autumn and winter. Russia recorded a record 25,173 new daily infections on Monday.