Despite still experiencing one of the highest COVID-19 virus caseloads relative to population in Europe, France today announced its exit strategy which would see the country reopen (except nightclubs) until June 30. Secondary students are already starting to return to schools on Monday. Outdoor dining, non-essential shops and cultural venues could reopen as soon as mid-May with occupancy limits. As of early June, health passes are supposed to govern entry to larger events. The curfew – currently set at 7 p.m. – is being pushed back incrementally before ending June 30.
Article from Zero Hedge.
With the UK already reopening after a very successful vaccination campaign, the frenzy to reopen is not limited to France. Italy, which like France is experiencing falling case numbers, opened outdoor dining in three quarters of regions until the curfew at 10 p.m. on Monday. Previously, even in regions deemed low risk, restaurants had to shutter at 6 p.m. Cultural venues reopened simultaneously at 50 percent capacity, while sports venues and amusement parks will begin operations slowly from July 1.
Spain and Germany are currently seeing infection numbers stagnate. While Germany has not set another comprehensive opening strategy after a failed attempt in early March, Spain has also set its eyes on June 30 for a reopening, but will stick to its method of letting the regions decide the details for the tentative date. Similar to the Italian plan, but in contrast to France’s decisions, schools will remain mostly closed in Spain until the fall semester.
As Statista’s Katharina Buchholza details, according to numbers by Johns Hopkins University published on Our World in Data, the UK and Spain experienced their third waves early on in the year and in short succession with the fall’s second waves. While the UK’s battle with the B.1.1.7 variant and subsequent successful vaccination campaign made for a stark improvement of the situation, the situation in the rest of Europe’s major countries looks more muddled.
You will find more infographics at Statista
France was one of the first in Europe to implement a second lockdown in late October, but was more hesitant during the third wave. The country locked down for a third time starting in mid-March. The UK also locked down for a second and third time, once in the fall and once early in 2021. Germany went through the two waves without ever coming out of its second lockdown, which started November 1, but was tightened significantly on December 16. Italy, like Spain, continued to rely on a regional lockdown system.
YouTube, Spotify, and other Big Tech platforms are taking Freedom First Network down
It’s no secret we speak our minds and bring on guests who do the same. That’s one of the biggest reasons we put together the Freedom First Network in the first place. There are far too many news outlets, including so-called “conservative” media companies, who are so beholden to Big Tech that they temper their perspectives at best and outright coverup the truth at worst. Many, as you all know, will blatantly lie in order to maintain the narrative that supports the radical agenda taking over much of the United States.
We have had our YouTube channel taken down. Many of our shows have been suppressed or removed by Facebook and Twitter. Spotify banned one of our shows completely from their platform. Google hates us. We’ve even been censored by some of the smaller players like Medium, Transistor, and Captivate. But we stand behind our reporting and perspectives and we refuse to bow down to Big Tech tyranny for the sake of pageviews or video plays.
This isn’t the easiest road to travel, especially for a media company that is so new. We launched Freedom First Network in 2020 to fight against the very censorship that we’re seeing so widespread today. We have found great homes for our content on freer speech platforms like Rumble and we’re putting our best efforts forward into building our presence on Locals. Nevertheless, we cannot do it alone. We need help.
One of the things cofounders Jeff Dornik and JD Rucker agreed to from the start was to never be the pawns of companies that do not embrace our worldview. Finding advertisers and affiliates is easy; we receive requests by companies wanting to be pushed on our shows every day. But it’s important to us that we’re promoting companies, services, and products that are beneficial to maintaining a Freedom First stance in America. As a result, we do not take on sponsors easily. We would rather rely on our own products like Freedom First Coffee and the support of our wonderful viewers, listeners, and readers.
Those who want to support us and help keep the fight for America’s future moving forward can do so by donating through our Locals page. There, you can donate monthly or one-time. Some have told us to use Patreon or GoFundMe, but both of those platforms have demonstrated a hatred for free speech. Locals does not. They embrace it. We encourage everyone to join us on Locals, but donations are greatly appreciated as well. We do not have day jobs. Our fight for freedom is a full-time gig.
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