Europe’s wary reopening begins
Italy’s prime minister apologized for delays in aid payments to jobless workers, underscoring the pitfalls for political leaders who are warily reopening Europe for business.
As governments enter the next phase of dealing with the coronavirus, European policy- makers are increasingly focusing on the risk of a second wave of a pandemic blamed for some 235,000 deaths worldwide.
Giuseppe Conte’s financially strapped country is more challenged than most. On Friday, he apologized on Facebook for holdups in aid to workers and small businesses while facing criticism from industry and political rivals after two months of lockdown.
In the United Kingdom, there were 739 new viruslinked deaths reported on Friday, bringing the total to 27,510 a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “we are past the peak of this disease.” Plans being considered by U.K. ministers would keep white-collar employees working from home for several months to avoid overwhelming mass transit, the Financial Times reported.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the U. K. had met its target of providing more than 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of April as it sought to build capacity to tackle the next stage of the outbreak. With the U. K. turning to easing a nationwide lockdown in force since March 23, testing and a system of tracking and tracing COVID-19 cases are key tools for preventing a second wave of infections.
France reported 218 new deaths on Friday, the lowest since March 23. The euro area’s second-biggest economy plans to ease restrictions starting May 11, reopening shops as one of the first steps.
Italy, which has Europe’s highest death toll from the virus, reported 269 new virus-linked fatalities on Friday, the lowest since Sunday and down from a single- day peak of 969 in late March.
Italy will start to ease its lockdown on Monday, with construction and manufacturing the first to resume.
Germany’s new cases declined slightly, holding at less than 2,000 for the seventh day as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition and state governments relax lockdown measures. Germany plans to reopen playgrounds, zoos, museums and churches first.