The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Tourists facing restrictions amid fears of new virus spikes
MADRID » From the palmfringed beaches of southern India to the bar-lined streets of a Spanish island and the rolling hills of Ireland, restaurants, pubs and clubs are emerging as front lines in efforts to prevent the re-emergence of the coronavirus.
With Europe’s summer vacation season kicking into high gear for millions weary of months of lockdown, scenes of drunken British and German tourists on Spain’s Mallorca island ignoring social distancing rules and reports of American visitors flouting quarantine measures in Ireland raised fears of a resurgence of infections in countries that have battled for months to flatten the COVID-19 curve.
Germany’s foreign minister condemned the rowdy tourists for imperiling hard-won gains in efforts to contain the virus.
“We just recently managed to open the borders again in Europe. We cannot risk this by reckless behavior,” Heiko Maas told Funke Media Group. “Otherwise, new measures will be inevitable.”
Meanwhile, in the United States, Florida reached another ominous record with 156 virus deaths reported Thursday as the state continued to experience a swift rise in cases. The state Department of Health reported 13,965 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to nearly 316,000.
And Brazil, which hit at least 75,000 confirmed deaths Wednesday was poised to report 2 million confirmed cases Thursday evening. The country has recorded more than 1,000 daily deaths on average in a gruesome plateau that has yet to tilt downward.
Also Thursday, the Boy Scouts of America announced it was postponing next year’s National Jamboree in West Virginia, citing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. The increasing number of cases and the pandemic’s persistence and unpredictability made it impossible for the Boy Scouts to comply with its “Be Prepared” motto, according to an announcement on the organization’s website.
In a move designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus and shake off Mallorca’s reputation as a party hub, regional authorities ordered the closure Thursday of all establishments along “Beer Street” and “Ham Street,” as the popular party areas near the beach of Palma de Mallorca are known, and on another boulevard in nearby Magaluf.
Bar owners reacted angrily to the restrictions on the islands that have seen, like most regions in Spain, recent spikes in infections. Bars and nightclubs employ some 20,000 people in the region.
“They are undertaking drastic measures that are typical of other countries, closing entire streets and curtailing the free exercise of private initiative,” Jesús Sánchez, who leads a local business association told The Associated Press. He blamed “clandestine parties” for some of the images of tourists ignoring virus containment measures.
At a solemn service in Madrid, relatives of about 100 COVID-19 victims sat socially distanced with representatives of health workers and other vital professions and with Spain’s king and queen to pay tribute to the dead and those fighting the pandemic.
In an emotional speech, Hernando Calleja said he was sharing the pain of the loss of his brother José María, a well-known journalist and writer in Madrid.
“Let’s not forget that the coronavirus was and continues to be a cold, cruel and wrecking executioner,” Calleja said at the ceremony at Madrid’s Royal Palace.
Another European tourism hot spot, Greece, lifted a ban on flights from Britain on July 15 and on Thursday welcomed the first arrivals with random testing at Athens airport.
Alexandros Maziotis, a Greek who lives in the UK, said he wasn’t tested.
“I’m planning to be a bit careful, especially the first week, so I make sure I don’t pass something to my parents,” he said.
In France, which has seen new outbreaks, Prime Minister Jean Castex said masks would be mandatory in closed public places as of next week — sooner than Aug. 1 as previously announced. One of the Catholic Church’s holiest sites, Lourdes, held its first-ever online pilgrimage, to mark the anniversary of claims by 19th-century girl Bernadette Soubirous that the Virgin Mary appeared to her there.
While stringent lockdown measures have slowed the spread of the virus across much of Europe, there are growing signs of second waves of infections, and the pandemic is still gathering pace elsewhere.
In Finland, which has eased lockdown measures, dozens of people queued shoulder-to-shoulder waiting to get into a Helsinki night club.
More than than 13.5 million people have been infected worldwide and over 580,000 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The true numbers are thought to be far higher for a number of reasons, including limited testing.
India’s record daily increase of nearly 32,700 cases pushed its total close to 1 million and led authorities to reimpose a threeday lockdown and night curfew in the popular western beach state of Goa, two weeks after it was reopened to tourists.