Newsweek - USA (2020-08-14)

Periscope

18 NEWSWEEK.COM

“ We have erased much

Europe’s Second Wave

Cases of COVID-19 are spiking in Spain, France and Germany,

as ofɿcials take new measures to contain the spread

the u.s. is by no means the

only country experiencing a

resurgence of COVID-19. Novel coro-

navirus cases in Europe hit over 1.

million by late July, with 1,704,

cases reported as of July 30 in the

European Union/European Eco-

nomic Area (EU/EEA) and the U.K.,

according to the European Centre

for Disease Prevention and Control.

Fears over a second wave of the

outbreak have been raised across

Europe following recent spikes in

cases in Spain, France and Germany.

These nations reported increases in

new infections ranging from 36 to

50 percent in the second

half of July.

Spain

In the week from July

23 to 29, the country

reported a total of

15,090 new infections, a more than

50 percent increase from the 10,

total new cases reported a week

earlier, according to data compiled

by Worldometer.

New cases in Spain began to rise

on a sharper incline starting in early

July, about a couple of weeks after it

reopened its borders in late June and

ended its state of emergency.

Most of the recent new cases were

reported to be in the northeast Catal-

onia, which is home to Barcelona, the

capital of the region.

All nightclubs in the Catalonia

region were ordered to close for 15

days, while a midnight curfew was

imposed on bars in the greater Bar-

celona area and other towns around

the city of Lleida that have become

virus hotspots, the Associated Press

(AP) reported.

Clubs in the southeast region

of Murcia were also ordered to be

shut unless venues have an outdoor

terrace space for customers, The

Local reported.

Mask rules were imposed in sev-

eral regions requiring face coverings

to be worn in public, while residents

in several areas of the Catalan region,

including Barcelona, were urged to

remain at home, Reuters

reported.

Spain was also re-

moved from a “safe

travel” list in the U.K.,

which issued a 14-day

quarantine mandate

for all those traveling from Spain,

a popular vacation destination

among Britons.

However, Spain’s Foreign Minister

Arancha Gonzalez Laya told report-

ers Sunday: “Spain is safe, it is safe for

Spaniards, it is safe for tourists.”

She noted the Spanish govern-

ment will try to convince U.K. offi-

cials to exclude the Balearic and

Canary islands of Spain from the

quarantine mandate, claiming the

prevalence of cases in those popular

island destinations was much lower

than the cases seen in the U.K., Reu-

ters reported.

France

France reported 6,860 new cases in

the week ending July 29, a spike of

36 percent compared to the previ-

ous week, according to data com-

piled by Worldometer.

The country’s R (reproductive)

number, which represents the aver-

age number of people to whom an

infected individual will pass the virus,

has climbed to 1.3, French health

authorities confirmed, AP reported.

“We have erased much of the prog-

ress that we’d achieved in the first

weeks of lockdown-easing,” with

BY

SOO KIM

@MissSooKim

HEALTH

AUGUST 14, 2020