France: Virus cases spike to 4,700 in a day

France has reported a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases – 4,771 – thousands above the figure on Wednesday.

It is the first time more than 4,000 daily cases have been seen since May.

Meanwhile, Spain, Germany and Italy have also recorded their highest number of cases since late April or May.

Many of the new Spanish cases are reported among the young, while German cases are said to be driven by a lack of social distance and travelers returning from abroad.

The United Kingdom – which has the highest death toll from coronavirus in Europe – registered a further 1,182 cases on Thursday.

Why are things going on in France?

The number of confirmed cases has increased rapidly since mid-August.

France has increased its testing capacity and conducted 664,000 tests in the past week, the health ministry said, but the rate of positive cases has also increased. It stood at 3.3% for the week between 11-17 August, up from 2.1% earlier and more than double the 1.5% rate seen at the end of July.

Officials say the virus is now mostly circulating in large cities among the young, who typically do not have serious symptoms, and that is why the number of people treated in the hospital has not changed much.

Three more cities – St Etienne, Nice and Toulouse – have made wearing a mask mandatory in their city centers. Mask-wearing is already mandatory in busy areas of the capital Paris.

Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer has ruled out any postponement of the new school year, which begins on September 1, although he added “there could be local exceptions”.

Pupils aged 11 and over will be required to wear masks when moving around schools in confined spaces and in classrooms if they are face to face and separated by less than a meter.

What is the picture in Spain?

Spain reported 3,349 new cases on Thursday, with the health ministry’s emergency coordinator Fernando Simón saying no one in the country should be in doubt that “things are not going well”.

“While the epidemic at the national level is not out of control, it is [out of control] in certain concrete ways, “he added, quoted by the newspaper El País.

If cases continue to increase, there would be “a lot of hospitalizations, a lot of people in intensive care and a lot of deaths,” he said. The country has seen 131 deaths in the past week, more than ten times the level seen a month ago.

The average age of those confirmed to have the virus was now 39 for men and 37 for women – much lower than at the height of the epidemic in the country, when the average age of infected was above 60.

Mr. Simón called on social media influencers to help contain the epidemic, and asked them to emphasize to their followers that young people can infect older members of their families.

“I understand people want to party, but there are ways and means to do that,” he said. “Those affecting the population need to raise awareness about what needs to be done.”

What about Germany?

The country reported 1,707 new cases, with much of the rise blamed on returning holidaymakers, as well as parties and family gatherings.

The Robert-Koch Institute said the highest rates of infection were among those returning from Kosovo, Turkey and Croatia.

In the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, more than a third of returnees who tested positive came from Kosovo and almost 20% came from Turkey. However, those returning from Spain and Greece made just 2.5% and 0.5% positive cases in the state.

Germany has now designated two Croatian regions – Sibenik-Knin and Split-Dalmatia – as regions at risk of viruses and warned against traveling there. Arrivals in Germany from these areas will meet mandatory tests for coronavirus.

Tourist Cheyenne Maschkewitz in Split told Reuters she had seen less social distance than at home.

“We arrived here 10 days ago, it’s very different here than in Germany, like the masks – when you shop, they do not take it seriously, I think,” she said.

The UK and neighboring Slovenia have also added Croatia – which recorded 255 new infections on Thursday – to their quarantine lists. Slovenia says it has recorded dozens of cases among people returning from Croatian holiday destinations.

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However, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic insisted that “less than 1% of tourists in Croatia are infected” and said a ban on nightclubs opening after midnight would probably be extended

And in Italy?

Italy has also reported a sharp rise in infections, with 845 new cases in its last daily count. The number is not as high as some other European countries, but it is a rate of infection that has not been there since May.

“We are not in such a bad position as France and Spain, but the current situation is not satisfactory,” said Professor Massimo Galli, head of infectious diseases at Sacco Hospital in Milan.

The highest number of cases was reported in Veneto with 159 cases and Lombardy with 154 in northern Italy, and in the Lazio region of Rome with 115.

“The end of detention has resulted in a disproportionate sense of false security,” added Prof Galli, quoted by La Repubblica newspaper.

He also pointed to young people returning from summer vacation, citing the example of nine people with the virus returning from Croatia.

“I do not want to look like the one who owes young people,” Prof Galli said, “but” every day we get reports of this kind. “