Europe fears second wave of COVID-19 infections as cases continue to increase
As the number of COVID-19 cases continue to multiply rapidly worldwide, the British authorities have raised concerns over a second wave of infections.
As the number of COVID-19 cases continue to multiply rapidly worldwide, the British authorities have raised concerns over a second wave of infections. The authorities also added that they will impose stricter measures to contain the spread of the virus.
As per several reports, Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock voiced concerns about a second wave of the virus infections and said that strict quarantine measures will be imposed to curb the outbreak. The health secretary also added it’s not just Spain but other countries too where the number of coronavirus cases are increasing.
Last week, the UK re-imposed a 14-day quarantine measure on people coming from Luxembourg and Spain, which is one of the hardest-hit countries from the deadly disease. Several other European countries and cities have reimposed stricter measures, including a wake-up week in Greece and new face mask and quarantine restrictions elsewhere. Mask-wearing measures were also announced in Rotterdam and in some parts of Amsterdam, including its famous red-light district.
Announcing the re-imposition of measures in Greece, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said that they are trying to wake up people with messages on additional measures, citing travelling, social gatherings and public transport as major reasons behind the spread of the virus.
Current situation in other Europen nations
Other European nations such as France are exempted from quarantine guidelines. However, they have been recently witnessing a spike in infections, prompting fears that they too would soon impose tighter restrictions. On August 5, France recorded nearly 1,400 new cases, the highest single- day spike in more than a month. Toulouse in France has made face masks mandatory, with more cities expected to follow suit.
Germany recently included Belgium's Antwerp province on its list of places from where people arriving would have to stay in quarantine for 14 days unless they can show a negative virus test. In Belgium, Westvlees, a meat processing plant, sent 225 staff members home to isolate after a number of coronavirus cases were detected.
Switzerland added mainland Spain to the list of places from where travellers arriving would have to quarantine. As per reports, Europe is currently the hardest-hit region with 211,764 fatalities, but the number of deaths is rising fast in Latin America, with 208,329 causalities in total.
(Image credit: AP)
Published By : Nitika Sharma
Published On: 6 August 2020 at 17:46 IST