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COVID-19: Europe Keeps Easing As US Bans Travellers From Brazil

  Europe inched up its coronavirus shutters a little further Monday as nightclubs, museums and swimming pools re-opened in parts of the continent. Advertisement While … Continue reading COVID-19: Europe Keeps Easing As US Bans Travellers From Brazil


File: A passenger wearing a face mask and gloves as a preventive measure pushes a trolley at the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airport in Barajas on March 20, 2020. JAVIER SORIANO / AFP.
JAVIER SORIANO / AFP.

 

Europe inched up its coronavirus shutters a little further Monday as nightclubs, museums and swimming pools re-opened in parts of the continent.

While a post-pandemic life was gradually taking shape in what was formerly one of the worst-hit regions, the virus continued its rampage across Latin America, sparking a US travel ban for people coming from Brazil.

Rocketing infection rates in South America have pushed the worldwide caseload to nearly 5.4 million, with deaths approaching 350,000, but with the global economy battered, governments are scrambling to provide relief however they can to businesses and citizens wearying of mass confinement.

Hard-hit Spain eased restrictions in Madrid and Barcelona, with the capital’s popular Retiro Park opening its gates Monday for the first time in 10 weeks.

“The reopening of Retiro brings me a feeling of serenity, gives me comfort,” said Rosa San Jose, a 50-year-old schoolteacher who had come to the park to walk, wearing a white mask.

Meanwhile, restaurants, bars and swimming pools were among several types of businesses set to reopen in the Czech Republic, which has reported nearly 9,000 cases.

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The nation will even allow events with up to 300 people, and Czechs are no longer obliged to wear face masks in public except in shops and on public transport.

Elsewhere in Europe, cafes and restaurants in Greece were gearing up to reopen on Monday — but only those with outdoor service.

Nightclubs and bars were set to resume business in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, while zoos and museums will welcome visitors again in Copenhagen, and Rome’s swimming pools and sports centres will also reopen.

In Asia, Japan lifted its state of emergency on Monday as new cases slowed to a crawl in the world’s third-biggest economy.

AFP