Virus flareups in Europe lead to club closings, mask orders

PARIS (AP) — New flareups of COVID-19 are disrupting the peak summer vacation season across much of Europe, where authorities in some countries are reimposing restrictions on travellers, closing nightclubs again, banning fireworks displays and expanding mask orders even in chic resort areas.

“Unfortunately, this virus doesn’t play ball,” British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News.

The surges have spread alarm across Europe, which suffered mightily during the spring but appeared in recent months to have largely tamed the coronavirus in ways that the US, with its vaunted scientific prowess and the extra time to prepare, cannot seem to manage.

The continent’s hardest-hit countries, Britain, Italy, France and Spain, have recorded about 140,000 deaths in all.

In addition to clubs and alcohol-fuelled street parties, large family gatherings – usually abounding with hugs and kisses -- have been cited as a source of new outbreaks in several European countries.

A new public awareness campaign by Spain’s Canary Islands depicts a family gathering for a grandfather’s birthday, with people taking off masks and embracing. The grandfather ends up in a hospital bed with COVID-19.

In France, thousands of vacationing Britons scrambled to return home Friday to avoid having to self-quarantine for 14 days following Britain’s decision to reimpose restrictions on France because of a resurgence of infections there. Ferries added extra trips back to England, and trains were running out of space.

Some of the toughest new measures were announced in Spain, which has recorded almost 50,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 14 days.

In Italy, also faced with a surge of cases, seaside towns announced new restrictions, including bans on fireworks at beaches. The moves came just ahead of Italy’s biggest summer holiday, Ferragosto, which millions of Italians celebrate at the seashore, in the mountains or on trips abroad.

In Greece, authorities strongly recommended people wear masks for a week indoors and out in public areas after returning from domestic vacation destinations with a high COVID-19 incidence.

Gatherings of more than nine people were prohibited on two popular Greek resort islands, Paros and Antiparos, and a ban on restaurants, bars and nightclubs operating after midnight was expanded to more parts of the country, including Athens.

In France, amid growing fears of a second spike of contagion, the head of the country’s national health service said Paris and Marseille have been declared at-risk zones. “The situation is deteriorating from week to week,” the official, Jérôme Salomon, said on France Inter radio.

The British government said it was compelled to impose the quarantine requirement on people returning from France in light of a 66% increase in infections in France in the past week.

The requirement applied to anyone returning after 4 a.m. on Saturday.

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