Visitors stroll along the quayside at Le Vieux Port in Marseille, France, on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. The French economy experienced its sharpest contraction on record in the second quarter when strict coronavirus lockdowns choked off manufacturing, tourism and consumer spending across Europe. © Bloomberg
Bloomberg: Europe’s Summer Unravels With Covid Spikes and Travel Chaos
(Bloomberg) -- If this summer was supposed to offer hope that coronavirus was under control in Europe, spikes in cases across the continent and ensuing travel chaos have given governments a worrying reality check.
From France to Ukraine, the number of positive tests for Covid-19 is rising sharply as more people seek vacations and after lockdown measures were eased to allow citizens to congregate. Germany reported the most new cases since May, while France said the situation is worsening, particularly in the cities of Paris and Marseille. Greece is also seeing the highest daily increase in infections since the start of the pandemic.
The British government added France and the Netherlands to a list of countries from where people must quarantine for 14 days on arrival in the U.K. Travel stocks slumped. In Eastern Europe, which had been hit less hard, some countries approached near record number of daily cases.
French Health Agency chief Jerome Salomon said large family reunions, such as weddings, and work places are prevalent places of infection. “One can only be worried as hundreds of new people are hospitalized,” Salomon told France Inter. He urged people to socially distance to avoid the crisis of March and April that “no one wants to go through again.”
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WNU Editor: I hope I am wrong, but my gut is telling me that this is going to be a terrible winter not only in Europe, but North America and Asia.
