As virus cases spike, England and France unveil new rules
ROME — New rules on wearing masks in England went into effect Friday, with people entering shops, banks and supermarkets now required to wear face coverings, while France announced mandatory testing for arrivals from 16 countries, including the United States.
People in England can be fined as much as $127 by police if they refuse. Places like restaurants, pubs, gyms and hairdressers are exempt.
John Apter, the national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said officers would be available as a last resort but added that he hopes the public “will continue to do the right thing” to protect other citizens.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that as of Aug. 1, travelers entering France from 16 countries where the viral circulation is strong must undergo compulsory tests on arrival at French airports or ports unless they can present a negative test less than 72 hours old from their countries of departure. Those testing positive on arrival must isolate for 14 days.
Health authorities say cases on the French mainland have surged 66% in the past three weeks and 26% in the last week alone. Concerns had already prompted the government to make mask-wearing mandatory in all indoor public spaces this week.
In Belgium, health authorities said a 3-year-old girl has died after testing positive for COVID-19 as new infections surged 89% from the previous week.
Belgian authorities have bolstered restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus, including making masks mandatory in crowded outdoor public spaces.
Overall, Europe has seen over 201,000 deaths in the pandemic, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Experts say the true toll from the coronavirus worldwide is much higher, due to limited testing and other issues.
Romania set an all-time high for daily new infections Friday and authorities blamed the surge on a failure to wear masks, including in indoor public places or on mass transit.
In Italy, most new cases have occurred in northern Italy, where the outbreak in Europe began, but southern regions have been seeing clusters of infections lately.
Many recent cases have been traced to people returning from abroad, most of
the Spanish-American War.
In 1946, in the first underwater test of the device, the United States detonated an atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
In 1952, Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth of the United States.
In 1994, Israeli Prime them foreign workers. Other clusters were among migrants rescued at sea and vacationers.
In Italy, masks must be worn in shops, banks, on public transport and outdoors where it’s impossible to keep a safe distance apart.
Amid fears in Spain that poor living conditions for seasonal agricultural workers are creating coronavirus hotspots, the Spanish farm minister said Friday said authorities are pressing employers to provide decent accommodations and transport for the workers.
German authorities plan to set up testing stations at airports to encourage people arriving from high-risk countries to get tested for the coronavirus. They also will allow people arriving from other places to get tested for free within three days — though not at airports.
According to Johns Hopkins, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Britain are the only European countries to record at least 200,000 confirmed cases with Britain on the verge of passing 300,000.
Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan ’s King Hussein signed a declaration at the White House ending their countries’ 46-year-old formal state of war.
In 2002, French citizen Zacarias Moussaoui declared he was guilty of conspiracy in the Sept. 11 attacks. He then dramatically withdrew his plea at his arraignment in Alexandria, Virginia.