Europe is beginning to reopen and ease lockdowns.The beaches and streets are slowly getting crowds back.
ITALY ON MONDAY RELAXED some restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus after enduring the longest lockdown in Europe.
Following a roughly two-month shutdown as the pandemic intensified, the country reopened its manufacturing and construction industries. Access to parks and public gardens was increased, and funerals can have up to 15 attendees. Restaurants and bars are also allowed to offer takeout services.
“Like never before, the future of the country will be in our hands,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a social media post to Italians. “We will need even more collaboration, civic sense and respect for the rules from everyone. We will have to keep the bar of attention always high, keep keeping the interpersonal distance, wearing the mask when and where it will be necessary, and to wash often and carefully.”
Health officials in Italy have reported more than 28,800 deaths, but the United Kingdom looks to be on track to surpass it with more than 28,400 deaths as of Monday morning.
While Italy reports the highest number of virus-related fatalities in Europe, Spain has documented the most cases in the region at roughly 217,000.
Other countries across Europe are also taking steps to reopen. Germany allowed several school grades to return to classes on Monday, and France will allow schools to restart next week. Italy won’t allow children back to school until September.[
Italy’s worst may be behind it, but the head of the European Union agency for disease control said Monday that five other European countries are not yet trending downward in their coronavirus outbreaks.
Britain, Poland, Romania and Sweden haven’t seen a substantial change in cases over the past two weeks, and Bulgaria is still seeing an increase in cases, according to Andrea Ammon, director of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Ammon’s statement to EU lawmakers contradicts UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s comments last week that Britain was past its peak and on a downward trajectory.[
All other European countries, Ammon said, were reporting a drop in cases.
“As of Saturday, it appears that the initial wave of transmission [in Europe] has passed its peak,” she said.
Spain
Starting Monday, masks will be mandatory for all those riding on public transportation in Spain as the country eases on its lockdown first implemented on March 14.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his government would give out 6 million masks to various transportation locations, as well as an additional 7 million masks to local authorities, the BBC reported.
For the first time in seven weeks, most adults on Saturday were permitted outdoors to exercise, walk or play individual sports between 06:00 and 10:00, and between 20:00 and 23:00.
Under “la cuarentena” – or quarantine in Spanish – people were only allowed to step outdoors to visit the grocery store or the pharmacy, to briefly walk their dogs or to go to work if working from home was not possible.
People exercises in a seafront promenade in this photo taken with a telephoto lens in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, May 2, 2020. Spaniards have filled the streets of the country to do exercise for the first time after seven weeks of confinement in their homes to fight the coronavirus pandemic. People ran, walked, or rode bicycles under a brilliant sunny sky in Barcelona on Saturday, where many flocked to the maritime promenade to get as close as possible to the still off-limits beach. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
On April 26, Spanish children under the age of 14 were allowed to step outside for the first time in 44 days for one hour of supervised activity a day, so long as they remain within 1 kilometer, or about half a mile, of their homes.
As of Monday, Spain is the second most-infected country in the world, with at least 217,466 confirmed coronavirus cases, falling behind only the United States. It has the fourth-highest death toll in the world, with 25,264 fatalities.
France
France will begin easing lockdown measures on May 11 but has extended its state of emergency until at least July 24.
French government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye said Sunday that the government planned to implement a two-week quarantine for all travelers – both French citizens and foreign nationals – entering the country from anywhere other than the United Kingdom or Europe’s Schengen open-border area.
Ndiaye added that the government would release a list of at-risk countries but did not provide further details, according to Sky News.
If a downward trajectory in daily cases continues, French children will return to school, some businesses will reopen and people will be allowed to travel within about 60 miles of their homes starting May 11.