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Covid restrictions ease across Europe as infection rates fall


Boris Johnson is being urged to postpone lifting all further legal restrictions on social contact on 21 June as cases of the Delta variant first detected in India continue to surge. Where are other European countries on their roadmap out of lockdown?

France

After the seven-day average of new daily infections fell from 16,600 to 5,100 over the past month, France entered the third phase of its relaxation on Wednesday. The nationwide curfew was pushed back from 9pm to 11pm, allowing cafes and restaurants to serve indoors at 50% capacity and non-essential shops to welcome one customer per four sq metres (up from eight sq metres). Gyms have reopened, and cinemas and theatres have moved to 65% capacity from 35%.

Gatherings of more than 10 people are still banned, home working is strongly recommended for at least part of the week, and face masks remain obligatory, even outdoors, until at least 30 June.

Germany

With infection rates plunging, the country’s 16 states have begun opening up – although each sets its own rules. Restrictions for those fully vaccinated, recovered or with a negative test were lifted from 9 May, meaning people no longer needed to test before going shopping or having their hair cut. Berlin lifted its curfew and eased restrictions on shopping from 19 May, allowed outdoor dining from 21 May, and indoor dining (with a negative test) from 4 June. Six people from three households can now mingle indoors, and 10 from five households outdoors; hotels reopened to tourists on Friday. Germany said on Friday it would lift a general travel warning for risk regions that have a seven-day incidence rate of below 200 from 1 July.

Spain

The rolling daily case average has fallen from 5,900 to 3,900 in four weeks. The national government has introduced a new traffic-light system of restrictions, placing regions in one of five risk categories according to their seven- and 14-day incidence rate and the percentage of hospital and ICU beds occupied by Covid-19 patients.

Even at the lowest risk level, the regime forces bars and restaurants to open at a maximum indoor capacity of 50%, requires them to close by 3am, and limits tables outdoors to 10 people. Otherwise, rules vary according to risk category, and may in any case be “adapted” by regional governments – Madrid, for example, has gone to court in a bid to avoid having to cut numbers on outdoor tables and at large events.

Italy

Its rolling seven-day average of new daily cases has fallen from 9,100 to 2,100 in the past month, recently hitting a level last seen in October 2020. All the country’s regions are expected to be classified as low-risk by the end of June and cafes, bars, restaurants, hotels, cinemas and theatres have partially reopened in most of them since 26 April.

Indoor restaurant service resumed from 1 June and the country’s curfew, which was pushed back by an hour to midnight on 7 June, will be lifted from 21 June. Nightclubs look likely to be the last businesses to reopen and could require a digital health pass for access. The government has not yet said when rules on outdoor mask-wearing may be lifted.



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