London (AFP)
The quarantine imposed by the United Kingdom on arrival from France entered into force on Saturday, affecting hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers and providing a new illustration of the restrictions that are resurfacing in the world to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic.
From New Zealand to South Korea, authorities are imposing local measures to limit what has raised fears in some countries of a new wave of contaminations from the Covid-19 disease, which has claimed more than 758,000 lives worldwide over more of 21 million recorded cases.
Wearing a mask is becoming compulsory in more and more places in Europe, including outside from Saturday morning in many areas of Paris such as the Champs-Elysées or the Louvre district.
Faced with the worsening health situation in France, the United Kingdom imposed 14 days of isolation on Saturday on travelers arriving from the country but also from the Netherlands and Malta, a little over a month after having them. exempt.
"I wanted to stay in France and now I can't. So I had to go back and quickly, and today it was very hard to find a train", reported Sonja Touret, met by AFP at the arrival in London of one of the last Eurostars before the entry into force of the fortnight.
The returns from France concern 160,000 people according to the British government, but the British press mentions up to 500,000 travelers.
The United Kingdom "now advises against all non-essential travel" to France, the British government said on Twitter on Saturday.
- Reduced pilgrimage to minimal portions -
France regretted the British decision and announced that it would entail "a measure of reciprocity". The Netherlands now advises against non-essential stays in the UK without announcing a quarantine.
The United Kingdom, the most bereaved in Europe by the virus (more than 41,000 dead), fears an outbreak of contamination as it seeks to revive its economy, which has suffered a collapse unparalleled on the continent.
On the French side, the authorities are seeking to counter the worsening. In addition to the obligation to wear a mask in larger areas, Paris, where the virus is actively circulating with a positivity rate of 4.14% against 2.4% for the national average, has prohibited gatherings of more than 10 people. not respecting the barrier measures.
In southwestern France, the Assumption celebrations which usually draw up to 25,000 pilgrims to Lourdes, one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in the world, will be reduced to the bare minimum.
"We will be able to accommodate 5,000 pilgrims in the Basilica of Saint Pius X and 5,000 in the rest of the sanctuaries", due to the coronavirus pandemic, said Vincent Cabanac, director of the National Pilgrimage.
- Sport behind closed doors -
Around the world, restrictions are being imposed for fear of a resurgence of cases.
The Spanish government has closed nightclubs and bars, but also limited visits to retirement homes, banned smoking in the streets and tightened police checks. The country, badly affected in the spring, recorded 3,000 new cases two days in a row and hundreds of outbreaks.
Even in some countries whose management of the first epidemic wave had been welcomed are concerned. After New Zealand, which extended the confinement of Auckland on Friday, South Korea on Saturday tightened social restriction measures in Seoul and its surroundings while the number of contaminations is at its highest for five months. Professional sports matches will again have to be played behind closed doors.
In the United States, however, the governor of New York announced the reopening on August 24 of museums and other cultural institutions, after five months of closure.
The United States remains the most bereaved country (168,318 dead), ahead of Brazil (106,523), Mexico (55,908) and India (49,036).
The country, faced with a resurgence of the epidemic since the end of June, still recorded more than 60,000 cases and 1,280 deaths in one day on Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University count.
The United States' borders with Mexico and Canada, their two neighbors, will remain closed to non-essential travel at least until September 21, announced the American Homeland Security.
The return of restrictions in many countries around the world is clouding hopes of a recovery in the global economy from the crisis caused by the lockdowns.
Poland has now entered recession, for the first time since the communist period.
In India, the population is turning away from gold, which they are usually very fond of. Two and a half months after the lifting of national confinement in India, the Zaveri Bazaar in Bombay, the country's largest gold market of 1.3 billion inhabitants, remains deserted.
"We've been running this shop for 40 years and I've never seen business go so badly," laments Madhubhai Shah, a 75-year-old jeweler who is among the few to have reopened his business.
© 2020 AFP