Europe
Coronavirus' relentless march through Europe clouds reopening plans
Not relaxing curbs yet
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A sign at a bus stop in Victoria Street, in central London, reminding people of the importance of staying home to prevent transmission of the coronavirus. Britain has extended its lockdown by three weeks, and Foreign Minister Dominic Raab has warned of the danger of relaxing the measures in place.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LONDON • The coronavirus death toll climbed in Spain yesterday, as Britain extended its lockdown by a further three weeks and Germany charted its first steps towards loosening its month-long restrictions.
Across Europe, world leaders were seeking to balance the severe economic damage caused by the stringent shutdowns imposed to fight the pandemic, with the continued rise in infections and deaths in parts of the region. Prematurely easing the lockdowns could spark a second wave of infections.
"Relaxing any of the measures in place would damage both public health and the economy," said British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers from a Covid-19 infection.
"The worst thing we could do right now is ease up too soon and allow a second peak of the virus."
Britain's coronavirus death toll rose by 847 to 14,576 yesterday, a slightly slower increase than the previous day's 861 new deaths.
In Spain, the death toll was 585 yesterday, the highest daily figure since Sunday. Its fatalities total 19,478, the third-highest in the world after the United States and Italy.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was looking at ways to relax some curbs after last week extending the national lockdown until May 3. Italy on Thursday reported the most new cases in four days, though the number of deaths, hospitalised and intensive-care patients all declined from the day before.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron has extended the lockdown until May 11, after the country reported the most new cases in a single day on Thursday.
Germany embarked on the slow process of easing restrictions after Health Minister Jens Spahn yesterday said the national shutdown had brought its outbreak "under control". Smaller shops will be allowed to reopen from Monday and some children could soon return to school, he said. Some curbs are set to remain for months, however.
Each disease carrier in Germany was now infecting fewer than one other person, said the Robert Koch Institute, which is responsible for disease control, on Thursday.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the data justified a first easing of the lockdown with a review after two or three weeks, but warned that there was "little margin for error".
Europe remains in the "eye of the storm", the World Health Organisation warned on Thursday; it accounts for more than 90,000 of over 140,000 deaths worldwide.
To deal with the pandemic's battering of their economies, the heads of the European Union's main institutions said the bloc must increase its budget resources.
EU leaders will have a strategic discussion next week, European Council president Charles Michel said. An expanded budget should be "the mothership" of efforts to revive growth, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers on Thursday.
Mr Macron, in an interview with the Financial Times, said that failure to support the hardest-hit EU member states will help populists to victory in Italy, Spain and perhaps France and elsewhere.
BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
