Europe faced with dilemma between reopening and COVID-19 resurgence

It is still early to celebrate the waning of COVID-19 and restore the long-awaited normality to Europe, as recent statistics show that the pandemic is far from over on the continent.

However, failing economic conditions and collateral damage can be as deadly as the coronavirus. Returning to comprehensive lockdown measures is the last thing to do for many, even though the virus has made a comeback in some countries.

GRADUAL REOPENING

In the past three months, the COVID-19 pandemic has halted global economic growth and taken its toll on Europe, a most sought-after tourist destination and the powerhouse of manufacturing industries.

According to a report published Wednesday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the world’s tourism sector could lose at least 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars, or 1.5 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP), due to a standstill of nearly four months caused by COVID-19.

Such European countries as Croatia, Greece, Ireland, and Spain are among the Top 15 most affected countries, whose GDP might suffer the most from tourism losses.

Coronavirus-related losses in tourism have a knock-on effect on other economic sectors that offer goods and services to holidaymakers, such as food, beverages and entertainment, the report warned.

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Greece has managed to keep its infection and fatality rates relatively low since the outbreak. The country, highly reliant on tourism as the industry contributes about 20 percent of its GDP, is one of the first European Union (EU) countries that opened borders to foreigners.

In mid-June, Greece reopened its border and some of its airports to tourists. Travelers mainly from European countries are allowed to enter with samples or necessary testing upon arrival. As of Wednesday, Greece fully opens all its airports to flights from abroad.

Croatia first opened its borders to neighboring Slovenia as early as May, and later to around 10 more European countries with relatively good epidemiological situations. On Wednesday, a train with 550 tourists from the Czech Republic arrived in Croatia’s coastal city Rijeka, the first of its kind since the COVID-19 outbreak. The train will run regularly during the peak of the tourist season of July and August. So far, 30,000 tickets have been sold.

Romania implemented the relaxation measures in stages starting from May 15. The southeastern European country has lifted border control measures against 22 European countries since June 15. At present, Romania’s international highway and rail traffic have been fully opened, while the national airline Tarom continues to resume more routes.

The Belgian authorities have also authorized citizens of EU and Schengen area countries (“EU+”), as well as third-country nationals legally resident in the EU and their family members, to travel at their convenience in the “EU+.”

TRICKY VIRUS

Repeated warning of a possible resurgence of COVID-19 in the European region has now become a reality, Hans Kluge, regional director for Europe of the World Health Organization (WHO), said on June 25.

Kluge noted that 30 countries in the region had seen increases in cumulative cases over the past two weeks, and in 11 of these countries, the accelerated transmission has led to “a very significant resurgence.”

In Serbia, the number of newly confirmed cases per day has been gradually increasing since the state of emergency was lifted on May 6. On June 23, the crisis response team ordered mandatory use of facial masks in public transportation and recommended people to wear them also in indoor spaces.

However, a week after these measures, the number of newly confirmed cases in Serbia has more than doubled. A similar situation was also seen in neighboring Montenegro.

Although Montenegro declared “corona-free” on May 24 after recording zero active cases, new patients started appearing from June 15. The Montenegrin government claimed that the new cases had been imported from regional countries, namely Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

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The number of newly confirmed cases in BiH on Thursday was 180, the highest since the outbreak in early March. In the first wave of the outbreak, the biggest daily increase was 104, while since the second outbreak on June 24, the daily count has been higher than the peak of the first round.

The epidemic has also rebounded in Romania since mid-June. According to the statistics, the average number of new cases per day from June 16 to June 30 was over 320, while the daily cases in the first half of June were 194. New cases skyrocketed to 460 and 411 on June 25 and 26 respectively.

What is noticeable is the increase in the number of young people infected. Some hospitals are beginning to experience bed shortage. Local health experts believe that people’s relaxation of the epidemic prevention awareness, such as not wearing masks according to regulations or gathering in large numbers, are among the main reasons for the rebound of the outbreak.

Croatia has recorded a notable surge of COVID-19 infections since two weeks ago, after nearly a month with no or less than five daily new cases.

On June 22, the final match of the Croatian leg of the humanitarian tennis tournament Adria Tour, which was initiated by World No. 1 player Novak Djokovic, was abruptly canceled after Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov announced he had tested positive for coronavirus.

The world’s best tennis players, including Borna Coric, Goran Ivanisevic and Djokovic, as well as some coaches who participated in the tournament all tested positive in the following days.

On Friday, there were 96 newly confirmed cases in Croatia in 24 hours, the same number recorded on April 1, which makes the biggest daily rise in new cases since the start of the epidemic in late February.

Poland, Germany and Spain recently saw a resurgence of COVID-19 clusters at schools, coal mines, and food production facilities, according to Kluge. He warned that health systems are being brought to the brink once again in Europe.

Source: Xinhua