Barcelona (AFP) – Spain once again confined 200,000 people and England reopened its beloved pubs on Saturday as Europe stuttered out of the running of the bulls as the United States prepared for large crowds taking to the streets to celebrate Independence Day.
The death toll in Russia exceeded 10,000 and Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who once called the coronavirus a “little flu,” watered down the rules of the face mask despite the fact that his country’s death rate is the second highest in the world and is constantly increasing.
The announcement of the Catalonia region in northeast Spain came as Europeans began converging on their favorite vacation spots thanks to the easing of border restrictions in place to stop the spread.
“We have decided to limit the Segria area after data confirming a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections,” said Catalonia regional president Quim Torra.
Gatherings of more than 10 people would be banned, a relatively light blockade similar to the one Britain imposed this week in the city of Leicester.
A virus that has plagued almost every country since its appearance in China late last year is making an uneven withdrawal after forcing billions to spend months confined to their homes.
– ‘I’m not a party pooper’ –
Nations are now rethinking how their cities can function, and economies are surviving in the face of a disease that has infected at least 11 million and killed 526,000 worldwide.
But some hints of the old way of life are coming back, no less than in England, where drinkers returned to their local bars for the first time since late March.
“Superb,” Andrew Slawinski sighed as he took his first sip in a London pub. “This is like winning the (Premier) League.”
Prince William of Great Britain got into the spirit of things by taking a photo of himself by drinking a glass of cider and dutifully using a hand sanitizer from a wall-mounted dispenser.
And Finance Minister Rishi Sunak urged the British to “eat out to help,” a message that did not seem right with Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
“I am not a party pooper,” said Hancock, “but the virus can still kill.”
– Australia closed skyscrapers –
Governments around the world are trying to gauge their reopens, stimulating their economies without triggering outbreaks and further blockades.
The new closure of Catalonia occurred when the modernist basilica of the Sagrada Familia reopened in Barcelona, a short distance away.
The dangers of reopening are being felt around the world.
Thousands of residents of high-rise apartments in Melbourne were locked up for at least five days, as Australia recorded its largest daily increase in infections in months.
“There are many, many vulnerable people living in these towers,” said Victorian Prime Minister Daniel Andrews.
The United States also broke a record for new cases for the third day in a row on Friday, when the world’s largest economy prepared to celebrate its July 4 holiday in the shade.
The disease has already claimed nearly 130,000 lives in the US and new waves of cases that followed the relief of some measures “put the entire country at risk,” according to infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci.
But United States President Donald Trump at Mount Rushmore for a fireworks celebration with thousands of attendees indoors and no masks required, has so far ruled out the deluge of data showing higher infection rates.
He retweeted a clip Saturday of shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and no facial clothing staring at him and his wife Melania onstage at the South Dakota event.
The tweet described it as “INCREDIBLE VIEW”.
His predecessor, Barack Obama, called for Americans to be “safe and smart.”
– Beaches of the United States nearby –
At least 14 US states are reportedly seeing their weekly averages reach record levels before the holiday weekend.
States like Florida register more cases daily, around 10,000, than European countries like Italy at the height of the crisis.
South Pointe Beach, usually crowded with Miami, closed Friday, except for patrolling police and a stray cat.
Los Angeles’ beaches will also be closed over the weekend and Major League Baseball canceled its 2020 All-Star Game for the first time since World War II.
The United States also failed to make the list of nations whose visitors Britain will not need to isolate for two weeks upon arrival, days after the EU took a similar step.
– Latin American cases skyrocket –
Cases have also skyrocketed across Latin America.
Brazil now has 1.5 million confirmed infections and 63,000 deaths, while the number of cases in Peru and Chile has also surpassed those in any part of Europe except Russia.
However, the Brazilian Rio de Janeiro authorized the reopening of bars and restaurants at 50 percent of their capacity in an attempt to attract tourists to Copacabana beach.
Cases also topped 200,000 in Saudi Arabia as the virus continued to spread throughout the Middle East.
Meanwhile, African countries followed through with plans to reopen despite constantly increasing cases.
burs-zak / jxb
