The virus spreads across Europe, again

Coronavirus has spread again in some European countries. Spain is struggling with the growing number of new cases. There are new hotspots in other countries.

The virus spreads across Europe, again

Coronavirus has spread again in some European countries. Spain is struggling with the growing number of new cases. There are new hotspots in other countries.

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Tanjug/AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico

That is why more and more European countries are introducing stricter measures, for non-compliance with which severe penalties are envisaged.

In the German state of Bavaria, an entire farm with 500 people was quarantined yesterday, after 174 workers were tested positive for the coronavirus, Euronews reports.

Authorities are convinced that the outbreak of the hotspot in the city of Mamming (a municipality in the district of Dingolfing-Landau in Bavaria) did not spread beyond the farm. The infected and those who were not infected were separated on the farm, and a wire was placed around it.

Guards have also been deployed to ensure that no one leaves the farm.

Just a few kilometers away, people in the Austrian city of St. Wolfgang, not far from Salzburg, were invited to stay at home after 44 people tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday.

The infection is believed to have spread after parties in bars in the city, two of which are now temporarily closed.

All bars and clubs are now open until 11pm.

Austria is facing with the growing number of patients after it eased the restrictions, which is why Chancellor Sebastian Kurz reintroduced the obligation to wear masks in shops, post offices and banks.

Austria has so far reported more than 20.000 cases and more than 700 deaths.

France has so far avoided reintroducing quarantine, but the rate of factor R in that country rose to a worrying 1.3 on Saturday, which means that infected people can infect 1.3 people on average.

The daily number of new infections also increased, and there were more than 1.100 new cases on Friday.

Health authorities have warned that France risks taking a step back in the fight against coronavirus, which took more than 30.000 lives there, and current indicators of the infection are reminiscent of those seen in May at the end of a strict two-month closure.

"We have wasted much of the progress we have made in the first weeks of closure," health institutions said, warning that French nationals were lowering their guards during the summer holidays and that those who were positive were not isolating themselves enough.

French authorities recently introduced a fine of 135 euros for people who do not wear masks in closed public spaces.

The southern Italian region of Campania has introduced even stricter penalties - 1.000 euros for not wearing masks.

In addition to fines, businesses could be shut down for five to 30 days.

"If our fellow citizens think that the problem has been solved, it means that we will return to the state of emergency within a few weeks," the governor of the region, Vincenzo De Luca, warned on Facebook on Friday.

Penalties apply to anyone who does not wear a mask indoors, including public facilities, supermarkets, bars, restaurants, shops and public transport.

Carriers have an obligation not to allow those who do not wear a mask to enter the vehicles.

Those caught not wearing masks in transport will be forced to leave the vehicle, and if they refuse, the police will be called.

Italy is one of the most affected countries in the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 242.000 cases and more than 35.000 deaths, but it seems that the virus is currently under control, although 275 new cases and five deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours.

Nightclubs, bars and beaches in Spain, especially popular during the summer season, are again facing restrictive measures, as they have turned into hotbeds of a new coronavirus outbreak.

The two most critical hotspots in that country are in the region of Catalonia, and they are the cities of Barcelona and Lleida and their surroundings, where due to the increase in the number of infected, the restrictive measures were tightened only a month ago, since the COVID-19 epidemic in Spain was put under control.

Last night, the British government removed Spain from the list of countries safe for travel after a large increase in the number of newly infected with the coronavirus in recent days, and introduced a mandatory two-week quarantine for passengers returning from that country.

Following that decision, Spanish officials came forward, claiming that the coronavirus pandemic in that country is under control.

Spain reported 2.225 new cases on Friday, three times more than two weeks ago.

More than 272.000 people have been reported infected with COVID-19 in Spain, while more than 28.000 have died from coronavirus.