Madrid | After France and the United Kingdom, the resumption of the coronavirus epidemic in Spain worried Tuesday Germany, which advised its nationals not to go on vacation in the most affected regions of this country.
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The German government has therefore called for avoiding “non-essential” and tourist trips to Aragon, Navarre and Catalonia, a coastal region popular with international tourists.
This warning comes after that of France on Friday, which recommended avoiding Catalonia, and especially that of the United Kingdom, which reimposed a two-week quarantine on Sunday for travelers returning from Spain.
A measure with serious consequences for the second world tourist destination where the British represent the first contingent of tourists.
Spain’s head of government Pedro Sanchez criticized it on Monday evening, calling it “unsuitable” and stressing that some very touristic Spanish regions such as the Balearic Islands and the Canaries are “safer than the United Kingdom”.
“We want to send a clear message of confidence,” government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero said on Tuesday, Spain is “a safe destination which has prepared and strengthened itself to face the virus. and new homes ”.
But British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his government’s decision on Tuesday in the face of “signs of a second wave” of the new coronavirus in Europe.
“It is our duty to take swift and decisive action to prevent returning travelers from spreading disease here,” he insisted.
Madrid would like very touristy regions but little affected by the virus such as the archipelagos of the Balearic Islands and the Canaries to be exempted from quarantine but suffered an exclusion from London on this issue.
New restrictions in Madrid
Spain, which officially counts more than 28,400 deaths caused by the pandemic, has seen the number of cases jump in recent weeks.
According to the latest report released on Monday, over the last seven days, more than 1,800 new cases have been detected on average daily, for two thirds in Aragon and Catalonia. A figure that has almost quadrupled in two weeks.
In this context, the Spanish regions, competent in health matters, continued to take measures to try to contain the epidemic.
That of Madrid thus decided Tuesday, like almost all the other regions, to reinforce the obligatory character of the wearing of the protective mask in the street and “on the terraces”. Meetings must also be limited to ten people on the terraces of cafes or in private homes.
This region also has two pavilions at the trade fair, which served as a field hospital in March-April, ready to send new COVID patients there if needed.
Catalonia, for its part, invited Barcelona residents to stay at home ten days ago.
While Spain is one of the European countries with the highest number of cases detected in relation to the population, a rebound in contagions is taking place in many other European states.
The German Institute for Public Health Surveillance Robert Koch (RKI) thus expressed its “great concern” at the new contaminations in Germany, a country which had managed the crisis relatively well compared to many of its neighbors.
Faced with a “worrying” upsurge in COVID-19, Belgium for its part announced on Monday a new tightening of devices, in particular in the province of Antwerp (north) where a curfew will be implemented.
From Wednesday, the number of people Belgians are allowed to see closely and regularly as part of their “contact bubble” will be lowered from 15 to five, per household, for the next four weeks.
And Greece announced Tuesday for its part that it was again making the mask compulsory in almost all closed places, in response to a resurgence of the disease while in France, the circulation of the virus remains “sustained”, according to the authorities.