Spain to let in tourists as L. America named hotspot

New York’s daily death toll falls below 100

MADRID (AFP) — Spain said on Saturday it would let in foreign tourists and restart top league football in the coming weeks, accelerating Europe’s exit from strict coronavirus lockdowns, even as the disease continued its deadly surge in parts of South America.

Brazil saw its death toll passing 21,000 on Friday from 330,000 infections, the third biggest caseload of any country in a pandemic that has infected 5.26 million globally and killed some 340,000.

And as much of the United States tiptoed out of lockdown at the start of the Memorial Day weekend, President Donald Trump sent a clear signal he was personally embracing normalization — he went golfing in suburban Virginia, his first such outing since March 8.

Across Europe, many governments seized on spring-like weather and stabilizing infection levels to move away from economically ruinous lockdowns toward lighter social distancing measures that they hope will revive moribund business and tourism sectors.

In Spain, which has enforced one of the world’s strictest lockdowns since mid-March, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the resumption of tourism — a vital sector for much of Europe — and football.

Sanchez sought to reassure visitors, saying that from July 1, “entry for foreign tourists into Spain will resume in secure conditions” and La Liga football could return on June 8.

The United States, meanwhile, still faces the world’s worst outbreak — the toll is now some 3,500 deaths away from the grim milestone of 100,000 — but Trump has aggressively pushed to reopen the economy, defying the advice of health experts.

The U.S. economy has shed almost 40 million jobs this year and many companies, most recently car rental giant Hertz, have gone to the wall. But most states have begun easing their lockdowns and many on Saturday reopened public beaches.

A beach in the southeastern state of Georgia was crowded, with vacationers mostly practicing social distancing but few wearing masks. One unmasked beachgoer told CNN his life was in Jesus’s hands.

New York, once a virus epicenter, on Saturday announced its lowest daily statewide death toll since early March — 84.

“We are making real progress,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Latin America

As Europe and the United States took clear steps to reopening, Latin America emerged as a new virus hotspot.

“In a sense, South America has become a new epicenter for the disease,” WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said, singling out Brazil.

Many deaths in Brazil have been among younger people, who are often driven by poverty to work despite the threat of infection.

President Jair Bolsonaro, who like Trump has played down the severity of the pandemic, has faced increasing pressure amid a rising death toll, with two of his health ministers resigning within weeks.

Neighboring Peru was also struggling. The country of 32 million has registered more than 3,100 deaths.