COVID-19 eases in worst-hit countries
FATALITIES FALLING
The coronavirus pandemic showed the first signs of easing in Europe as Italy, Spain and France, the region’s hardest-hit countries, reported the smallest increases in fatalities in weeks and Germany prepared to jump-start commercial life again.
Coronavirus deaths in Spain rose by 410 to 20,453 on Sunday, the smallest oneday increase since March 22, according to the health ministry. Italy reported the fewest deaths in a week, with 433 deaths linked to the virus, while fatalities in France rose at the slowest pace in three weeks. Data in Germany and the U.K. also showed social-distancing measures taking hold.
Still, emerging from lockdowns isn’t following a uniform pattern. Germany is allowing smaller stores, car dealerships, bike shops and bookstores to reopen on Monday, and schools will begin readmitting some students in early May in the first few steps to normalcy. In Spain, by contrast, a lockdown that’s been in place since mid-March could be extended well into May, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, and Italy won’t do any significant easing before May 4. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the government is still working on its plan to reopen the country from its virus-induced hibernation around May 11.
While the numbers reported in some of the worst affected countries, including Spain, Italy and the U.K., are encouraging, governments are wary of loosening restrictions too soon and too widely to avoid a second wave of mass infections. Spain is the second European country after Italy to report more than 20,000 deaths linked to the virus, out of a total of 195,944 people who have been infected.
“Spain has contained the brutal attack of the pandemic,” Sanchez said in a nationally televised speech on Saturday. “The gains aren’t enough yet, and they are fragile.”
Across the border in Portugal, the daily increase in new confirmed coronavirus cases was also the lowest in a month. Compared with Spain, the government has shut down the economy to a lesser degree, with industrial and transport activities allowed to continue. The Netherlands reported 83 new deaths, marking the lowest daily increase since March 26.
France has also shown signs of a lockdown bearing fruit. The country reported total deaths of 19,718. While the rate is slowing, France is close to becoming the fourth country to report more than 20,000 deaths from the virus, behind Italy, the U.S. and Spain.
“Our life, starting from May 11, won’t be the life before the lockdown,” Philippe said at a press conference. “Not immediately and probably not for a long time. But as we achieved the lockdown together, we will achieve the end of the lockdown together.”