ROME (AP) — Tighter restrictions aimed at reining in surging coronavirus infections took hold in much of Italy and parts of Poland on Monday, while in France, Paris risks being slapped with a weekend lockdown as ICUs near saturation with COVID-19 patients.

In line with an Italian government decision late last week, 80% of schoolchildren, from nursery through high schools, were locked out of classroom starting on Monday. Ever-mounting numbers of ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, steadily rising daily caseloads and infection transmission predominantly driven by a virus variant first discovered in Britain have combined to make Italian Premier Mario Draghi’s new government apply “red zone” designation on more regions, including, for the first time since the color-tiered system was created last fall, on Lazio, the region including Rome.

In red-zone regions, restaurants and cafes can do only takeout or delivery, nonessential shops are shuttered and residents must stick close to home, except for work, health or shopping for necessities. Over the weekend, many hair salons extended hours to handle last-minute customers, and crowds thronged shopping streets, parks and seaside promenades before the crackdown took effect.

On Monday, reality sunk in.

In a country, where coffee is taken, properly, at a cafe counter or table, and not in some take-out paper cup, Alessandra Lorisa took off her mask and sipped hers in a Rome piazza. “By now, it’s become part of our routine,” she said. ”It’s a lot more American, if we can say so,” she added, expressing hope that after Easter “we can see some improvements, to get back to the routines that we were used to.”

Draghi on Friday promised an quick infusion of pandemic aid to shuttered businesses.

Beyond the commercial aspects, parents voiced concern for children shut out of classrooms. “They have little interaction now with their friends, they have to celebrate their birthdays alone,” said Marco Pacciani as he strolled through a Rome park with his young son.

In Poland, amid a sharp spike in the number of new infections and of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, restrictions were tightened in two more regions, including the capital, Warsaw, and a western province that borders Germany. Two other provinces were already under restrictions.

Under the heightened measures, hotels and shopping malls have to remain closed, as do theaters, cinemas, fitness clubs and sports facilities. Schoolchildren ages 6-9 will have a combination of in-class and remote instruction.

An inexorable climb in the numbers of patients being treated in French hospital ICUs, particularly in the Paris region, is increasing pressure on the government of President Emmanuel Macron. As is the case elsewhere in Europe, virus variants are suspected of fueling increases in serious cases in France. Macron’s government has been trying to stave off another punishing nationwide lockdown in 2021, instead opting for a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. nationwide curfew.

Expected to be decided in a few days is whether the Paris region and its 12 million inhabitants will be locked down on weekends.

Last week, countries in the Western Balkans announced a tightening of measures amid a surge in cases in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro.

As they received first vaccines on Wednesday, doctors in Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo, warned that the virus has exploded in the past several days. Bars, restaurants and nonessential shops in the Sarajevo canton will be shut for the upcoming weekend.

In Serbia, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic criticized the holding in past days of two concerts by a popular band at a Belgrade hall. The country of 7 million has vaccinated more than 1.5 million people, which is among the highest rates in Europe.

On the western edge of the continent, Portugal stood out as an outlier. It was emerging Monday from a two-month pandemic lockdown, with the country gradually reopening over the next seven weeks, barring setbacks.

Primary and nursery schools, hair salons and bookshops were among the places reopening Monday. Prime Minister António Costa said in a tweet Monday that the process must be “very prudent, gradual and piecemeal.”

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“The Small Business Jobs Index remains relatively flat once again this month and is 4.43 percent below its pre-pandemic level from a year ago,” said James Diffley, chief regional economist at IHS Markit.

“The increase in hours worked and earnings is a positive indicator for small businesses, a segment that has struggled throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to maintain staff at their previous pay and hours. However, there is still support needed for these entrepreneurs and their employees,” said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. “Last week, the Biden Administration established new guidance so businesses with 20 employees or less can apply exclusively for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for the next week. We look forward to helping many of these small businesses take advantage of this opportunity and quickly apply for this funding through our PPP loan estimator and forgiveness tools in Paychex Flex®.”

The monthly report, widely considered an industry benchmark, draws payroll data of approximately 350,000 Paychex clients to gauge small business wage and employment trends on a national, regional, state, metro, and industry basis.

In further detail, the February report showed:

• Fifteen of the 20 states analyzed have positive weekly hours worked growth in February.

• The South ranks first among regions in small business employment growth, but last in earnings and hours worked growth.

• The Northeast ranks last among regions in small business employment growth, but first in earnings and hours worked growth.

• Florida and Texas remain the top-ranked states for job growth, retaining a wide lead with index levels slightly below 97.

• Tampa’s jobs index surged 0.90 percent in February, making it the top-ranked metro for small business job growth.

• Manufacturing showed the most substantial job growth increase among industries in February, up 0.36 percent.

The complete results for February, including interactive charts detailing all data at a national, regional, state, metro, and industry level, are available at www.paychex.com/watch. Highlights are available below.

Note: Data presented for the month of January was collected between January 15, 2021 and February 18, 2021.

National Jobs Index

• The Small Business Jobs Index slowed 0.03 percent from last month to 93.97.

• Though the national index moderated just -0.03 percent, February’s results represent a new low.

• Small business employment growth is down 4.43 percent from a year ago.

National Wage Report

• Hourly earnings growth increased to 2.91 percent in February. One-month annualized growth spiked to 3.74 percent.

• Weekly hours worked growth continued to rise, starting the year with two consecutive months of positive growth.

• Weekly earnings growth rose to 3.26 percent in February. It’s the first time growth has surpassed three percent since September 2020.

Regional Jobs Index

• The South is again the top-ranked region and is more than one point higher (95.34) than the next highest-ranked region, the Midwest (94.20).

• The Northeast ranks last among regions at 93.11 and has seen the largest decline from a year ago, down 5.29 percent.

• The Midwest was the only region to increase in February, up 0.15 percent.

Regional Wage Report

• The South ranks first among regions in small business employment growth, but last in earnings and hours worked growth. The South is the only region with weekly earnings growth below two percent and negative weekly hours worked growth.

• The Northeast ranks last among regions in small business employment growth, but first in earnings and hours worked growth. The Northeast is the only region with hourly earnings growth above four percent and has the strongest weekly hours worked growth.

State Jobs Index

• Florida and Texas remain the top-ranked states, retaining a wide lead with index levels slightly below 97.

• Wisconsin fell 0.48 percent in February to 92.85, joining Virginia, New York, and Washington among the states with the lowest employment growth levels.

• Virginia has the weakest growth rates among states, down 0.52 percent from last month and 7.51 percent from last year. Note: Analysis is provided for the 20 largest states based on U.S. population.

State Wage Report

• Fifteen of the 20 states analyzed have positive weekly hours worked growth in February.

• Massachusetts overtook New Jersey as the top-ranked state for hourly earnings growth in February.

• Four states, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Illinois, have hourly earnings growth below two percent. Note: Analysis is provided for the 20 largest states based on U.S. population. Metropolitan Jobs Index

• Tampa’s index surged 0.90 percent in February, making it the top-ranked metro for small business job growth.

• Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington have the weakest index levels among metros, each below 92.

• Houston’s index spiked 1.15 percent in February. However, the increase will likely be offset due to the fallout of the recent winter storm.

Note: Analysis is provided for the 20 largest metro areas based on U.S. population.

Metropolitan Wage Report

• Riverside, CA leads metros in hourly and weekly earnings growth. One-month annualized growth is up double-digits for both measures, likely due to the state’s recent minimum wage increase.

• Texas metros Dallas and Houston rank last among metros in hourly earnings growth, both below 1.50 percent.

• Hourly earnings growth in Boston hit a new ten-year high in February at 4.86 percent.

Note: Analysis is provided for the 20 largest metro areas based on U.S. population.

Industry Jobs Index

• Construction remains a bright spot throughout the pandemic. February marks the industry’s tenth consecutive month as the top-ranked sector.

• Leisure and Hospitality avoided further declines in February but remained down more than eleven percent from last year.

• Manufacturing had its best one-month gain since last May and is up 0.36 percent.

Note: Analysis is provided for seven major industry sectors. Definitions of each industry sector can be found here. The Other Services (excluding Public Administration) industry category includes religious, civic, and social organizations, as well as personal services, including automotive and household repair, salons, drycleaners, and other businesses.

Industry Wage Report

• Construction is not only leading in job growth, it’s seeing stable hourly earnings growth as well, reaching 3.62 percent in February and averaging 3.62 percent during the past year.

• Weekly hours worked growth in Leisure and Hospitality bottomed out in December at -4.14 percent. It’s now recovered two percent during January and February to -2.14 percent. Note: Analysis is provided for seven major industry sectors. Definitions of each industry sector can be found here. The Other Services (excluding Public Administration) industry category includes religious, civic, and social organizations, as well as personal services, including automotive and household repair, salons, drycleaners, and other businesses.

*Information regarding the professions included in the industry data can be found at the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.

Paychex, Inc • Contributed

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Facebook, following in Google’s footsteps, says it plans to invest $1 billion to “support the news industry” over the next three years.

The social networking giant, which has been tussling with Australia over a law that would make social platforms pay news organizations, said it has invested $600 million since 2018 in news.

Google said in October that it would pay publishers $1 billion over the next three years.

News companies want Google and Facebook to pay for the news that appears on their platforms. Governments in Europe and Australia are increasingly sympathetic to this point of view. The two tech companies suck up the majority of U.S. digital advertising dollars, which — among other problems — has hurt publishers.

Facebook said on Tuesday it would lift a ban on news links in Australian after the government agreed to tweak proposed legislation that would help publishers negotiate payments with Facebook and Google. Facebook was criticized for its ban, which also temporarily cut access to government pandemic, public health and emergency services on the social networking site.

Facebook said Tuesday that the changes allow it to choose which publishers it will support and indicated that it will now start striking such deals in Australia.

Google had already been signing content licensing deals with Australian media companies, and says that it has arrangements with more than 50 publishers in the country and more than 500 globally.

There may be more such regulation in other countries. Microsoft is working with European publishers to push big tech platforms to pay for news. European Union countries are working on adopting copyright rules that allow news companies and publishers to negotiate payments.

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SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Tesla has invested around $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and said it plans to begin accepting the digital currency as payment for its high-end vehicles soon. The price of Bitcoin soared 15% to above $43,000 Monday.

The California-based electric car maker headed by Elon Musk revealed the new strategy in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, saying its investment in digital currency and other “alternative reserve assets” may grow.

Bitcoin rose to $43,863 and briefly hit a new all-time high. Shares of Tesla moved higher as well.

In its fourth-quarter earnings report last month Tesla said it had cash and cash equivalents of $19.4 billion.

Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said the move gives Tesla “more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on its cash.”

Similar to Tesla, Virginia-based MicroStrategy Inc. announced in August that it would use some of the excess cash on its balance sheet to invest in alternative assets such as bitcoin. The move has paid off so far. As of Feb. 2, the business analytics company said it held 71,079 bitcoins that it purchased for an aggregate price of $1.15 billion since last summer. Using the current value of $43,000, those bitcoins are worth $3.06 billion.

MicroStrategy shares have risen 660% since the August announcement, but the shares are susceptible to swings in the price of bitcoin. They were up 16% in midday trading Monday after the Tesla announcement.

Palo Alto-based Tesla reported its first annual net profit in 2020, and its stock soared to make it the world’s most valuable automaker. Tesla joined the S&P 500 late last year and is currently valued at more than $820 billion.

It’s been a wild ride for Bitcoin since it made its Wall Street debut in December 2017. Major futures exchanges rolled out bitcoin futures, pushing it to roughly $19,300, a then-unheard of price for the currency. It evaporated quickly in 2018, and by December of that year Bitcoin was worth less than $4,000 a coin.

More recently bitcoin rallied from below $11,000 in October and crossed $40,000 for the first time in its history.

While in the last two years companies have embraced the technology that underlies digital currencies like Bitcoin, a concept known as the blockchain, the actual uses for Bitcoin have not really changed since its rally three years ago. It’s still largely used by those distrustful of the banking system, criminals seeking to launder money, and for the most part, as a store of value.

But the dominoes could be falling if major companies follow Tesla’s lead and begin accepting the digital currency as payment.

Ives said “this move could put more momentum into shares of Tesla as more investors start to value the company’s bitcoin/crypto exposure as part of the overall valuation.

Telsa shares rose nearly 2% to $867.87 in midday trading.

Critics say Tesla’s sales and profits are puny compared with established automakers such as Toyota and General Motors, and its huge valuation is not justified by financial fundamentals.

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