Covid-19’s Second Wave Is Battering Hospitals

During Covid-19’s first wave, locked down families gathered on their balconies every evening in Paris, Madrid and Rome to applaud exhausted nurses and doctors risking their lives to save others. The U.K. had a similar “clap for our carers” in honor of the country’s National Health Service.

So far, the second wave of the pandemic has been less rapid, less severe and less fatal than the first — but intensive care wards are filling up regardless. With Europe’s hospitals facing a shortage of beds and staff, and the winter flu season looming, health workers will need more than a few public cheers this time around. There are steps the authorities can take to ease the burden, on top of more restrictions on citizens’ activities, but they’ll need to move quickly.