(CN) — France, the United Kingdom and Russia became the latest European countries to ease restrictions on Monday and allow citizens more freedoms, but concerns are growing that the stage is being set for a spike in new infections as people go back to work, see friends again and return to everyday activities.
Germany, one of the first countries to ease restrictions in March and April as it succeeded to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, is being closely watched because it is reporting a worrying increase in new infections.
On Monday, Germany's center for disease control, the Robert Koch Institute, reported another rise in new infections, bringing the infection rate slightly above a level considered safe to ease restrictions. Between Sunday and Monday, it reported more than 1,000 new infections spread out across Germany, suggesting the disease was spreading at a rate where exponential growth is possible. New outbreaks have been reported in meat processing plants in three German states and in six nursing homes.
The worries in Europe over a resurgence of the Covid-19 disease mirror concerns in other parts of the world where lockdowns have been eased.
China reported six new cases on Sunday and Monday in Wuhan, the industrial city where the virus first emerged in December. The discovery of new cases in Wuhan comes little more than a month after the city ended a strict lockdown and began reporting no new cases. In South Korea, 85 cases were linked to a single nightclub customer, prompting authorities there to postpone school reopenings meant to start this week and shut down nightclubs and bars.
The hope is that Europe is much better prepared now than it was at the beginning of the outbreak to handle the virus because people are taking precautions to avoid physical contact and fastidiously cleaning their hands and public places; health workers are better equipped to treat victims and protect themselves; and governments are doing more testing and tracking to find potential carriers. Also, borders remain closed, mass gatherings are banned across Europe, travel is limited and there is no tourism to speak of almost anywhere.
“Those countries who are exiting more stringent public social measures, so-called lockdowns, may do better and may avoid second waves if they can shut down clusters early,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, the head of emergencies at the World Health Organization, during a news briefing Monday.
Despite measures to stop the virus, it is also possible Covid-19 will continue to spread, causing outbreaks and deaths for weeks and months to come, leaving governments and people on edge and causing further economic damage.
“If a disease persists in countries at a low level then there is always a risk of a disease taking off again,” Ryan said.
But he lauded South Korea and Germany for finding new cases. He said they “shouldn't be criticized for looking, for finding, for being alert.”
“The virus is still here even when we lift lockdowns,” he said, adding that WHO was confident Germany and South Korea will “suppress clusters.”
“Shutting your eyes and trying to drive through this blind is about as silly an analogy I can find and it seems that some countries are driving through this blind,” Ryan said.
The next few weeks may provide answers to questions about whether societies can return from lockdowns without risking new outbreaks. The onus, officials say, is on people being careful.
“The virus hasn't changed. It has the same characteristics and the same pattern of transmission” as before, said Silvio Brusaferro, the head of Italy's health institute. “So, violating the rules that prevent infection allows it to spread.”