Infection rate rising worldwide
BERLIN — Renewed lockdown measures in a German region where hundreds of coronavirus cases sprung up at a slaughterhouse and news that the world’s top-ranked tennis player, Novak Djokovic, has also been infected provided a stark reminder to Europeans on Tuesday that the pandemic is far from gone.
Meanwhile, Britain, which has recorded the most coronavirus-related deaths in Europe, pressed on with its easing of the lockdown by confirming that restaurants, bars, hair salons and cinemas can reopen on July 4.
By contrast, Germany was reimposing some lockdown restrictions in North Rhine-westphalia state after more than 1,550 people have tested positive for coronavirus at the Toennies slaughterhouse in Rheda-wiedenbrueck and thousands more workers and family members were put into quarantine to try to halt the outbreak.
On Tuesday, North Rhine-westphalia Gov. Armin Laschet said people in Guetersloh and parts of a neighboring county will now face the same restrictions that Germany saw in March and April, including curbs on social gatherings and bar closures.
Union officials have blamed poor working and living conditions that migrant workers faced under a loosely regulated subcontractor.
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a major rollback of lockdown measures that will let millions in England back into pubs, cinemas, churches and salons starting July 4. The move came amid strong pressure from businesses to ease social distancing rules.
Although gyms, pools, spas and tattoo parlors will remain shut, Johnson told lawmakers that “our long national hibernation” was coming to an end.
Pubs and restaurants wanted the government to cut its social distancing requirements in half to 3 feet between people indoors, and said many businesses wouldn’t be able to survive without the change.
But some scientists worried the move is too hasty, especially since measures like a track-and-trace system to stamp out any outbreaks isn’t yet in place.
In other developments:
Brazil is testing an experimental COVID-19 vaccine, but interim
Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello acknowledged on Tuesday that his government has yet to strike a deal to get it if it works. Meanwhile, a Brazilian federal judge on Tuesday ordered President Jair Bolsonaro to comply with local rules to wear a face mask whenever he is outdoors in the capital of Brasilia.
At least six Guatemalans deported from the United States on June 9 tested positive for COVID-19, according to an official in Guatemala’s Health Ministry. The flight was the first after a monthlong suspension imposed by Guatemala after 186 migrants deported from the United States on various flights had tested positive for the disease.
A Saudi official said Tuesday that the hajj pilgrimage, which usually draws up to 2.5 million Muslims from all over the world, will only see at the most a few thousand pilgrims next month due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus.
U.N. Secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Tuesday criticized the lack of international coordination in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and warned that the go-it-alone policy of many countries will not defeat the coronavirus.