Αssociated Press reports from Madrid that from the palm-fringed beaches of southern India to the bar-lined streets of a Spanish island and the rolling hills of Ireland, restaurants, pubs, and clubs are emerging as front lines in efforts to prevent the re-emergence of the coronavirus.
With Europe’s summer vacation season kicking into high gear for millions weary of months of lockdown, scenes of drunken British and German tourists on Spain’s Mallorca island ignoring social distancing rules and reports of American visitors flouting quarantine measures in Ireland are raising fears of a resurgence of infections in countries that have fought for months to flatten the COVID-19 curve.
Germany’s foreign minister condemned the rowdy tourists for imperiling hard-won gains in efforts to contain the coronavirus.
“We just recently managed to open the borders again in Europe. We cannot risk this by reckless behavior,” Heiko Maas told Funke Media Group on Thursday. “Otherwise, new measures will be inevitable.”
In a move designed to block the spread of the new coronavirus and shake off the region’s reputation as a party hub, regional authorities in the Balearic Islands ordered the closure from Thursday of all establishments along Mallorca’s “Beer St.” and “Ham St.”, as the popular party areas near the beach of Palma de Mallorca are known, and another boulevard in nearby Magaluf.
Images that have gone viral on social media of tourists packing Mallorca streets were in direct contrast to a solemn commemoration service Thursday morning in Madrid, where relatives of about 100 COVID-19 victims sat, socially distanced, with representatives of health workers and other vital professions and with Spain’s king and queen to pay tribute to the dead and those fighting the pandemic.
Read the full report at thenationalherald.com
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