European countries considering new lockdown restrictions amid coronavirus surge

Covid-19 infection rates increasing in parts of France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Romania

A surge in new coronavirus cases across Europe has prompted several nations to consider tougher restrictions to prevent a “second wave”.

Spain, France, Belgium, Germany and Romania have all experienced a significant rise in infections amid concerns citizens are starting to drop their guard against the disease in the summer weather.

“Our recent habits have favoured the spread of the virus for several weeks now,” the French health ministry said in a statement after more than 1,000 cases were recorded.

“During the summer and the holidays, it can seem artificial to keep one’s distance when greeting each other, to keep apart when chatting, to regularly wash hands and to wear masks in closed spaces. But this individual and collective effort is crucial to prevent the virus from trampling on our freedom and the epidemic from rebounding."

Spanish health authorities also urged the public to follow guidelines more strictly after the country reported its biggest daily increase in cases since the lockdown ended last month.

“In two weeks, we have tripled our rate of contagion,” said government expert Maria Jose Sierra. “We could be seeing a second wave, but we have to see what happens in the coming weeks.”

It came after the 30,000 residents of the town of Totana in the southeastern region of Murcia were locked down on Thursday following 55 new cases that were traced to a bar.

Authorities in Romania also blamed Friday’s record daily high of more than 1,000 new infections on a failure to wear masks, including in indoor public places or on public transport.

Meanwhile Belgium has reinforced restrictions by making masks mandatory in crowded outdoor public spaces after the number of new infections increased by 89 per cent over the previous week. On Friday a three-year-old girl died of complications from Covid-19.

Several clusters in the northeastern region of Catalonia, which has recorded almost half of Spain’s cases over the last two weeks, also prompted the French prime minister Jean Castex to advise people not to travel there on holiday.

And on Friday the French president, Emmanuel Macron, chaired a meeting of the defence council to consider whether to tighten border controls and possibly impose quarantine measures for international passengers at airports.

In Italy, officials have traced several recent cases to people returning from abroad, holidaymakers and migrants rescued at sea.

Last week, the mayor of the island of Capri ordered tourists to wear masks in the streets and on Friday Italian health minister Roberto Speranza ordered everyone arriving from Romania or Bulgaria to self-quarantine.

Germany has announced it will offer returning holidaymakers free coronavirus tests after recording its highest number of daily cases since mid-May, with 815.

People entering the country by road, train and bus from high-risk areas will be subject to random spot tests near the border, the government said.

“The current infection figures show once again that we are still in the middle of the corona pandemic,” health minister Jens Spahn said in a statement. ”And increasing travel increases the risk of more infections being brought back into Germany.”

Additional reporting by agencies