Europe Is Worried About a “Second Wave” of COVID-19

Piero Tenagli/IPA via ZUMA

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The United States isn’t the only country in trouble:

Public health officials across Europe are sounding the alarm over a resurgence of coronavirus cases as the continent’s countries ease lockdowns and international travel ramps up, with some experts warning that citizens have become too complacent.

The increase is marked in countries such as Spain, while Eastern Europe and the Balkans, which were largely spared the worst of the early pandemic, are seeing a steep increase in recorded cases….Some governments are already taking measures to slow the spread. Britain has imposed quarantine on people returning from Spain, while Germany and France have ordered mandatory testing for travelers from high-risk areas, including the U.S. Berlin is making the move as Germany, which thought it had successfully beaten back COVID-19, is experiencing a troubling rise in infections. There have been close to 4,000 new cases recorded in the past week.

These countries did the right thing and crushed the coronavirus down to minuscule levels. But it’s still out there circulating, and all it takes is one case to start a new outbreak.

Masks and shutdowns and social distancing can be relaxed a bit once the number of cases drops near zero, but only a bit. Until we have a vaccine, we have to continue doing most of this stuff. Nobody likes it, but that’s the way it is.

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