While the first outbreak of the continent in the spring hit the elderly, spreading in nursing homes and hospitals, these new infection clusters seem to be tied to younger people, who venture into bars, restaurants and other public places.
Spain is at the forefront of this new battle. Earlier this week, Spain conquered the United Kingdom as the country with the second highest number of confirmed cases in Europe after Russia. The Spanish Air Force has deployed a field hospital to the city of Zaragoza, capital of the Aragon region, which has seen a spike in Covid-19 infections in recent weeks.
Data from the Ministry of Public Health show that the median age of people testing positive for the coronavirus in Spain has been steadily declining in recent weeks, suggesting that more young people are being infected.
Younger people are catching the virus now
Other European countries are seeing the same trend.
According to ECDC, 40% of people who contracted the disease in Europe between January and May were aged 60 or older. But in June and July, this age group was just 17.3% of all cases. The largest proportion of new cases over the summer, 19.5%, were reported among people aged 20 to 29, the ECDC said. The median age fell from 54 in January to May to 39 years in June to July.
However, Véran said the impact on the health care system was not as bad as it was in the spring when France experienced similar infection rates.
“The proportion of complicated cases is much lower,” Véran told France 2’s TV 2 channel, adding that the age of infection is one reason behind this. “Patients diagnosed with [Covid-19] are now younger, 20 to 40, and less vulnerable, ”he explained.
Greece also sees new spikes in cases. It has recorded the highest daily increase in Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began on Wednesday, with 262 new infections recorded by the National Organization for Public Health of Greece.
According to a tweet from Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s health minister, the average age of those infected in August has dropped to 36.
Earlier this week, visitors from Spain, Sweden, Belgium, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands needed a negative test to enter the country. There is also a new midnight nurse for bars and restaurants in 16 areas in Greece.
As German schools begin to reopen, the government is urging people to follow the rules of social distance and wear masks. It has also started a massive campaign of free trials for everyone who enters the country.
But as of Thursday, the restrictions themselves will apply to people coming from countries Italy has previously considered safe. Travelers who have been to Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain in the past 14 days – even if they have just been transferred – can only enter Italy if they have checked negatively up to 72 hours before arrival.
Further north, the UK last week introduced new quarantine requirements for people coming from Belgium to spikes in cases there. It also announced several local lockdowns in parts of northern England, where new outbreaks have been identified.
CNN’s Chris Liakos in Kefalonia, Livia Borghese in Rome, Fred Pleitgen in Berlin and Sharon Braithwaite, James Frater and Sarah Dean in London reported.
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