COPENHAGEN (AFP) – The World Health Organization expressed concern Friday over a coronavirus resurgence in Europe as Britain joined France, Germany and Austria in announcing tighter mask requirements and greater testing.
Europe accounts for a fifth of the world’s more than 15 million cases and remains the hardest hit in terms of deaths, with 207,118 out of more 630,000 globally since the pandemic emerged in China late last year.
The WHO’s European chapter pointed to rising cases on the continent over the past two weeks, stressing that tighter measures may be needed to curb infections.
Europe like other regions is struggling to balance restrictions to halt the spread of COVID-19 against the need to revive economies as they emerge from some of the world’s toughest lockdowns.
A three-year-old girl died in Belgium, becoming the country’s youngest known coronavirus victim, in a further wake-up call for a continent that has only recently lifted shutdowns.
“The recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases in some countries following the easing of physical distancing measures is certainly cause for concern,” a WHO-Europe spokeswoman told AFP.
“If the situation demands, reintroduction of stricter, targeted measures with the full engagement of communities may be needed.”
In Spain, health authorities are already facing worrying outbreaks in Aragon and Catalonia, where officials have reintroduced local restrictions and urged residents in Barcelona and its suburbs to leave home only for essential trips for two weeks.
“We have to monitor what’s going on, see where we need to take action and act early,” said health ministry official Maria Jose Sierra.
“If the important outbreaks are controlled quickly and if we manage to ensure that there are no (other) outbreaks of such magnitude, we will have a much more contained situation.”
ON-THE-SPOT-TESTS
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday met his top ministers to discuss contagion measures, and his Prime Minister Jean Castex later announced on-the-spot tests would be required for travelers visiting from 16 high-risk countries including the United States.
France has yet to resume general travel to and from these countries so the tests will be for French citizens and residents.
Masks are now mandatory on public transport and in shops and enclosed spaces in France but there are fears that the summer holidays could see a spike in cases with people flocking to beaches and tourist spots.
Britain on Friday made it compulsory to wear a face-covering in shopping centers, banks, takeaway outlets, sandwich shops and supermarkets, following the lead of Scotland.
Exceptions have been made, for example, for children under 11 or people with respiratory problems, but anyone refusing to cover their nose and mouth risks a fine of up to £100.
Germany will offer free coronavirus tests to all returning travelers in new measures agreed Friday.
Austria also made face masks mandatory again in supermarkets, food stores, post offices, bank branches and health care facilities in addition to public transport and pharmacies.
“It was a mistake to lift mandatory mask use so soon,” said one shopper, Andreas Poschenreither.
TRUMP CONVENTION SCRAPPED
The United States, the hardest-hit country by the virus, recorded more than 144,305 total fatalities. It has seen a coronavirus surge, particularly in southern and western states.
US President Donald Trump has scrapped next month’s Republican convention in Florida at which he was due to be confirmed as the Republican candidate for November’s election, saying “the timing for this event is not right.”
Bolivia meanwhile postponed its general elections for a second time because of the pandemic, putting it off until October 18, while South Africa said it was closing public schools for a month from July 27.
There was bad news in China and India — the two world’s most populous nations — as new clusters emerged.
Chinese authorities said Friday they would introduce a wave of testing in the port city of Dalian, home to about six million people.
The Dalian health commission said the city had to “quickly enter wartime mode”. It announced strict new measures, including on-the-spot nucleic acid tests to detect the virus.
Kindergartens and nurseries have been closed, and some communities have been placed under lockdown, according to state-run newspaper Global Times.
India’s death toll overtook France’s on Friday with 30,601 fatalities. Officials said there were nearly 50,000 new cases overnight.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns in late March, but it has been steadily eased to lessen the devastating economic impact.
State governments have now brought in fresh restrictions as cases soar, including in IT hub Bangalore.
UN projections have warned the virus could kill 1.67 million people in 30 low-income countries.
Virus restrictions have been bolstered in several countries this week, including Australia and Belgium as well as in Hong Kong and the Japanese capital Tokyo.
