Coronavirus: lifting blockages in Europe

PARIS – Tentatively, parts of Europe are emerging from the blockade, with France and Belgium joining the list of countries facilitating the measures on Monday, amid fear of a second wave of coronavirus.

Here is an overview:

France

Hairdressers, clothing stores, florists and bookstores will reopen on Monday. Bars, restaurants, theaters and cinemas remain closed. Elementary schools will receive a small number of students, depending on space. Masks will be compulsory on public transport.

Everyone will be able to leave without having to submit a form upon request, but they can only go 100 kilometers (60 miles) from their place of residence.

Relaxation has brought mixed reactions.

“I was very scared” about the reopening, said a manager of the Lyon bookstore. “It is a great responsibility to have to protect my staff and my clients.”

Belgium

Most companies will open on Monday, with social distancing. Masks are recommended. Cafes, restaurants and bars remain closed.

In the center of Brussels there will be speed limits on cars and priority will be given to cyclists and pedestrians.

Schools remain closed until May 18.

The Netherlands

Mainly schools will partially reopen on Monday. Driving schools, hairdressers, physical therapists and libraries also return, with measures of social distancing.

Switzerland

Schools and universities will reopen on Monday, with classes often reduced in size. Restaurants, museums and bookstores will also be opened, with conditions. Meetings of more than five people are prohibited.

Spain

Half of the nearly 47 million Spaniards will be able to gather with family or friends in meetings of up to 10 starting Monday. Outdoor spaces in bars and restaurants can reopen with limited capacity.

Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the most affected, are excluded from the easing, although FC Barcelona football clubs resumed training on Friday, and Real Madrid will continue on Monday.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has asked the Spanish to show “the greatest caution and prudence” because “the virus is not gone, it is still there.”

Only movements within the provinces are authorized and the cinemas and theaters remain closed.

Schools will not start again until September.

Brittany

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will address the nation on Sunday night to establish a “road map” to relax the rules of social distancing.

“We have to be realistic that there will be no dramatic change overnight,” said Environment Secretary George Eustice.

Italy

While schools remain closed until September, factories, buildings, and offices reopened on May 4.

The rules of social distancing are in force in the parks. The use of masks is mandatory on public transport.

All retail businesses will reopen on May 18, as will museums, cultural sites, churches and libraries.

The bars and restaurants will reopen from June 1, along with beauty salons and hairdressing.

The first phase of the lift lock has also raised new concerns.

In Milan, photographs published in the newspapers of people sitting along the canals enjoying snacks in the sun, many of them without masks or respecting the rules of social distancing, led the city mayor, Giuseppe Sala, to criticize the behavior like “embarrassing”.

Virologist Massimo Galli also warned that the city was a time bomb of viruses at risk of exploding with residents now free to move.

Germany

Eating at the restaurant is now possible in the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the country’s first cafes and restaurants reopened on Saturday.

Under Germany’s federal system, each of the 16 states makes their own decisions about how to get out of the lockdown, and cafes and restaurants will reopen in other states in the coming days and weeks.

Most of the stores are already open and the children slowly return to the classrooms. Bundesliga soccer matches will also resume.

Paying attention to signs of a second wave, German authorities agreed to re-impose restrictions locally if an area has more than 50 new infections per 100,000 residents for a week.

Austria

Hairdressers, tennis courts and golf courses reopened on the first weekend of May. Travel restrictions have been lifted and meetings of up to 10 people are allowed, with social distancing. Masks are mandatory on public transport and in stores.

The seniors returned to class on May 4 before a gradual return for the others.

– Poland –

Hotels can reopen on Monday, but foreign tourists must quarantine for two weeks upon arrival.

– Nordic countries –

The shopping malls will reopen in Denmark on Monday. Elementary schools opened in mid-April and high schools will open on May 18.

In Norway, where schools opened for students ages 6-10 in late April, all classes will start again on Monday. The bars and leisure centers remain closed until June 1.

In Iceland, universities, museums and beauty salons reopened on May 4.

In Finland, schools will start again on May 14, with measures of social distancing.

– Balkans –

In Croatia, outdoor spaces in bars and restaurants will reopen on Monday and meetings of up to 10 people will be allowed. Kindergartens and schools will be resumed on a voluntary basis.

In Serbia, kindergartens receive children from Monday.

Greece

Many Greeks took advantage of their first weekend of recovered freedom to sunbathe on the beaches near Athens.

After the bookstores and hairdressers reopen on May 4, it is the turn of all stores on Monday.

The shopping centers will be closed until June 1.

The Acropolis and all archaeological sites will reopen on May 18. The museums will reopen on June 15.

/ MUF

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