A sharp rise in the number of coronavirus infections over the past two weeks has put European governments on high alert as holidaymakers return home to big cities and teachers and pupils prepare for the start of the school year after months of disruption. But leaders are eager to avoid reimposing drastic controls on freedom of movement because they want to allow economies to recover from the deepest recession since the second world war. France has opted to control the spread of the virus rather than attempt to eliminate it completely, and French President Emmanuel Macron has said there is no such thing as a “zero risk” society.
Before the latest upsurge, strict national lockdowns in the spring sharply reduced the spread of Covid-19 in Europe. But in Spain, in particular, the virus is now returning rapidly, with 8,000 new infections reported on Friday alone. According to the latest figures from the EU’s European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Spain recorded 153 cases per 100,000 in the previous 14 days – compared with 121for Malta, 96 for Luxembourg, 87 for Romania, 60 for France, 56 for Belgium, 22 for the UK and 20 for Germany.
Spain is not alone. On Saturday, Germany recorded its highest daily infection rate since April, with 2,034 new cases.
The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s main public health authority, said the cumulative incidence of Covid-19 over the past seven days had risen sharply across all of Germany’s 16 regions, a trajectory it described as “alarming”. It blamed the surge on family get-togethers and parties, and on young people returning from holiday.