EU states start to return to normal

PLASTIC BARRIERS and face masks appeared on the streets of Europe’s newly reopened cities, as France and Belgium emerged from lockdowns, the Netherlands sent children back to school and Greece and Spain further eased restrictions.

All faced a delicate balance of trying to restart battered economies without fuelling a second wave of coronavirus infections.

Social distancing was the order of the day but just how to do that on public transport and in schools was the big question.

With Monday’s partial reopening, the French did not have to carry forms allowing them to leave their homes but crowds quickly developed at some metro stations in Paris, one of France’s viral hotspots.

A last-minute legal challenge emerged to the government’s practice of confining people to their own regions, further confusing the post-lockdown landscape.

Olivier Veran, France’s Health Minister. Antoinette van Zalinge, principal of the De Notenkraker elementary school in Amsterdam, wore a wide white skirt and a hula hoop slung from her shoulders and carried a long stick with a hand at one end so she could shake hands with students while still keeping 1.5 metres (5ft) apart.

In Paris, hairdressers practised their new workflow over the weekend ahead of Monday’s reopening, and planned to charge a “participation fee” for the new disposable protective gear they will need for each customer.

Walk-in customers will be a thing of the past, said Brigitte L’Hoste, manager of the Hair de Beaute salon, who expects the number of appointments to be cut in half.

“The face of beauty will change, meaning clients won’t come here to relax. Clients will come because they need to,” said Aurelie Bollini, a beautician at the salon.

“They will come and aim at getting the maximum done in the shortest time possible.”

Roughly half of Spain’s 47 million people stepped into a softer version of the country’s strict confinement, beginning to socialise, shop in small stores and enjoy outdoor seating in restaurants and bars. Its biggest cities of Madrid and Barcelona remained under lockdown, however.

There have been new waves of infection in Germany, where a new cluster was linked to a slaughterhouse; in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus started. There have also been new infections in South Korea.

In Germany, gyms reopened in the most populous state, but authorities there and in France have said any backsliding in the daily number of infections could lead to new restrictions.

“We’re going to have to learn to live with the virus,” France’s

Health said.

The hurdles ahead for tourism and the service industries were clear, even in places where infections are diminished.

Shanghai Disneyland reopened to visitors, but let in limited numbers and demanded that they wear face masks and have their temperatures checked.

“We hope that today’s reopening serves as a beacon of light across the globe, providing hope and inspiration to everyone,” Shanghai Disney Resort president Joe Schott told reporters.

Worldwide, four million people have been reported infected and more than 280,000 have died, over 150,000 of them in Europe.

Minister

Olivier Veran

We are going to have to learn to live with the virus.