Reopenings followed by fresh fears in Italy, new cases in S. Korea
ROME — South Korea’s capital closed down more than 2,100 bars and other nightspots Saturday because of a new cluster of coronavirus infections, Germany scrambled to contain fresh outbreaks at slaughterhouses, and Italian authorities worried that people were getting too friendly at cocktail hour during the country’s first weekend of eased restrictions.
The new flare-ups — and fears of a second wave of contagion — underscored the dilemma authorities face as they try to reopen their economies.
Around the world, the U.S. and other hard-hit countries are wrestling with how to ease curbs on business and public activity without causing the virus to come surging back.
Worldwide, 4 million people have been confirmed infected by the virus and more than 275,000 have died, including over 78,000 in the U.S., according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Spain, France, Italy and Britain have reported around 26,000 to 32,000 deaths each.
Germany and South Korea have carried out extensive testing and contact tracing and have been hailed for avoiding the mass deaths that overwhelmed other countries. But even in those two nations, authorities have struggled to find the balance between saving lives and salvaging jobs.
Seoul shut down nightclubs, hostess bars and discos after dozens of infections were linked to people who went out last weekend as the country relaxed its social-distancing guidelines. Many of the infections were connected to a 29-year-old man who visited three nightclubs before testing positive.
Mayor Park Won-soon said health care workers were trying to contact some 1,940 people who had been at the three clubs and other places nearby. The mayor said gains made against the virus are now threatened “because of a few careless people.”
Health officials in Germany faced outbreaks at three slaughterhouses in what was seen as a test of the government’s strategy for dealing with any resurgence of the virus during the easing of the restrictions. At one slaughterhouse, in Coesfeld, 180 workers tested positive.
Italy saw people return to the streets for their traditional aperitivos and revel in fine weather as restrictions there were eased, alarming some public officials.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala warned that “a handful of crazy people” were putting the city’s recovery at risk, and he threatened to shut down the trendy Navigli district after crowds of young people were seen out at aperitivo hour ignoring social distancing rules.
In Rome, the Campo dei Fiori flower and vegetable market was bustling Saturday morning, the first weekend that Italians were allowed outside for more than just work and necessities.
But confusion about what is now allowed and what is not created frustration for business owners.
Carlo Alberto, owner of the TabaCafe, an Argentine empanada bar that was selling cocktails to a few customers, said that since reopening last week he had been threatened with a fine by police because of the crowds in front of his bar.
“Am I supposed to send them home? They need a guard here to do that,” he said. “The laws aren’t clear, the decree isn’t clear. You don’t know what you can do.”
In Spain, health authorities will allow certain regions to scale back their lockdowns starting Monday, with limited seating at bars, restaurants and other public places. But Madrid and Barcelona, the country’s largest cities, both badly hit by the scourge, will remain shut down.
“The pandemic is evolving favorably, but there is a risk of another outbreak that could generate a serious catastrophe,” Spanish health official Fernando Simon said. “Personal responsibility is vital.”
In the U.S., the head of the Food and Drug Administration, Stephen Hahn, put himself in quarantine after coming into contact with an infected person. And the government said it is delivering supplies of remdesivr, the first drug shown to speed the recovery of COVID-19 patients, to six more states. Seven states were sent cases of the medicine earlier in the week.