Restart or stop again? Countries reopen amid fears of second wave

WELLINGTON – Plastic space barriers and millions of masks appeared on the streets of recently reopened European cities on Monday, when France and Belgium came out of the closings, the Netherlands sent children to the closet school and Spain let people eat in the open air.

They all had to deal with the delicate balance of trying to restart their struggling economy without causing a second wave of coronavirus infections.

Fears of peaks of infection have been confirmed in recent days in Germany, where new groups were linked to three slaughterhouses; in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus started; and in South Korea, where only one club client was linked to 85 new cases.

With the partial reopening on Monday, the French did not have to carry forms allowing them to leave their home. Crowds formed in some Paris metro stations, one of France's viral hotspots, but the city's notorious traffic jams were absent and only half of the stores on the Champs-Élysées were open.

City hairdressers planned to charge a fee for disposable protective equipment they will have to give customers. The meetings will be a thing of the past, said Brigitte L’Hoste, director of the Hair de Beauté salon.

"The face of beauty will change, which means customers will not come here to relax. Customers will come because they need it," said Aurélie Bollini, an esthetician in the salon. "They will come and try to reach the maximum in the shortest possible time."

In Greece, Smaragda Petridou bought beauty products.

"Look, I'm not afraid to come in when the protective measures are in place," he said. "We are going to buy. What can we do? So that the stores can survive too."

In Germany, gymnasiums have reopened in the most populous state, but local and French authorities have warned that an increase in the daily number of infections could lead to further restrictions.

In South Korea, the government has firmly rejected the new infections, halting the planned reopening of schools this week and placing restrictions on nightclubs and bars. He is trying to locate 5,500 people who have visited a popular entertainment district in Seoul by examining credit card transactions, cell phone recordings and security camera images.

In China, Shanghai Disneyland has reopened its doors to visitors

But he only let in a limited number and demanded that they wear face masks and have their temperature checked.

About half of the 47 million Spaniards have switched to a milder version of strict confinement, starting to socialize, shop in small stores and take advantage of the outdoor seating in restaurants and bars. Its largest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, ​​remained stranded as the country reported the lowest number of coronavirus-related deaths and infections since March 17.

Spanish hotels were allowed to open until guests were allowed to mingle in public areas. But with people unable to travel outside their provinces and few flights from abroad, the outlook was bleak.

"Unfortunately, this year's business is already lost. It will be catastrophic," said Manuel Domínguez, director of the Doña María hotel in Seville.

Alfonso Polo, owner of four restaurants in a central square in the coastal city of Tarragona, Spain, has opened 40 of its 90 outdoor seats. He said he expects to lose money over the next two to three weeks.

"At first it will be very difficult, but we hope we can recover slowly. People are impatient to get out. It is very clear," he said.

In Belgium, the City2 shopping center in Brussels has reopened and "everyone was eager to open their stores, to see their customers, which makes them a relief despite the huge work they have done to adapt their stores, create routes with entrances and exits for customers, "said director Jurgen De Gelas.

Nearby, Omar Marrakchi bought a television.

"When I come into a store, I thank every store owner," he said. "Thank you and wish you luck because we all have to be together and just a little" thank you ", a little bit of" good luck ". It's not much, but if everyone does and follow the rules, everything will be fine. "

In Great Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a moderate reduction in the country's blockade. but he urged citizens not to waste progress. Some people, however, were confused when the government changed its slogan from "Stay Home" to "Stay Vigilant". Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have retained the old currency.

Johnson said people in jobs that can't be done at home "should be actively encouraged to go to work" this week. He also set the June 1 target to start reopening schools and shops if Britain can control new infections. Johnson himself is the only world leader to suffer a serious COVID-19 attack.

"We will not be driven by mere hope or financial need," he promised. "We will be guided by science."

At Waterloo Station in London, not everyone was convinced.

"I am nervous to come back because I have a family and they isolate themselves from the start. I feel like I am putting them in danger now, "said Peter Osu, 45, who was returning to work on a construction site.

In the United States In the United States, Trump administration officials have spoken optimistically of a relatively rapid rebound in the pandemic: But he then announced that Vice President Mike Pence "cut himself off" after an assistant tested positive. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin predicted that the US economy will recover in the second half of this year from unemployment rates that had not been observed since the Great Depression.

The United States has recorded 1.3 million confirmed infections and about 80,000 deaths, most of them by far worldwide, according to a count from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, 4 million people have been declared infected and more than 280,000 have died, including more than 150,000 in Europe. Health experts believe that all of these figures underestimate the real cost of the epidemic.

Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the University of Washington Institute who created a widely cited model that projects the course of the epidemic, said that states' measures to reopen businesses " will result in more cases and deaths in 10 days from now. "Infections and deaths are increasing more than expected in Illinois, Arizona, Florida and California," he said. -he declares.

India reported its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases on Monday as it prepared to resume train service to ease a blockade that has particularly affected migrant workers and their hungry families.

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Perry reported in Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to it.

Track coverage of the PA pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak y https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak