COVID-19: Europe Starts Easing Restrictions
Many countries are anxious to slowly ease restrictions brought in to tackle the deadly pandemic, with huge parts of the economies shut down and experts warning of a second Great Depression.
Europe has seen encouraging signs in recent days, with coronavirus-related death rates dropping in Italy, Spain, France and Britain.
After weeks of imposing restrictions to life as we knew it, some European countries began easing lockdown measures meant to curb the spread of the infection; but experts warn the battle against the coronavirus is far from over.
Germany is taking its first cautious steps towards normality starting today, by permitting small retail spaces, car dealerships, cycling stores and bookshops to reopen. The government is urgently recommending that people continue wearing face masks.
Poland today reopened its parks and forests; Norway has allowed kids to return to kindergartens; and the Czech Republic has permitted its open-air markets to trade.
In Spain, however, authorities consider lifting lockdown measures a hasty decision, saying they intend to hold it off.
The Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised address on Saturday evening: “We have done the most difficult things and we have left the most extreme moments of the crisis behind with sacrifice and resilience, but these results are still not enough and still fragile”.
“Despite the enormous progress that we have made, it is not possible for us to lift the confinement and move to a phase of scaling down [the restrictions]”, he added.
Spain’s coronavirus death toll rose by 410 on Sunday, the lowest daily increase since March 22.
France, which has also recorded its lowest number of coronavirus deaths yesterday, plans to reopen schools on May 11, but officials say the strict lockdown measures shall continue for at least another three weeks.
The Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said: “We are not out of the health crisis. The situation is gradually improving, slowly but surely… but we are not out of the health crisis. To think the epidemic is behind us would be an error”.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the coronavirus pandemic is far from being contained at the global level.
Over 2.4 million persons worldwide have fallen ill with the deadly COVID-19, resulting in more than 165,000 deaths.
By Elene Dzebisashvili