Maraaz 
As infections rise, Portugal tightens restrictions in Lisbon, while police clash with revellers from Paris to Berlin
Months of lockdown and isolation across Europe have given way to impromptu parties and illicit raves, sparking fears of a surge in Covid-19 cases and prompting warnings that the progress made across the continent in fighting the pandemic could be wiped away.
In Portugal, the government said on Thursday it would tighten restrictions on several areas of Greater Lisbon from 1 July to allow residents to leave their homes only for food, medicine or to work, and to limit gatherings to five people. The measure came after reports of parties that attracted as many as 1,000 revellers.
The country of 10 million was initially hailed as one of Europe’s success stories, with the government’s swift response credited with limiting the death toll to 1,549. But in recent weeks the number of cases has soared, resulting in a rate that ranks among the continent’s highest when it comes to cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Along with localised outbreaks in a handful of neighbourhoods and industrial hubs, social gatherings have proven fertile ground for the virus, with 76 cases tied to a birthday party in the Algarve attended by 100 people earlier this month and another 20 cases linked to a party held days later at a campsite in the country’s south-west.
After some 1,000 revellers descended on a beach party near Lisbon last weekend, officials began clamping down on residents in and around the capital, banning drinking in public spaces and barring restaurants from serving alcohol after 8pm. “After doing everything right, we’re not going to ruin it now,” the prime minister of Portugal, António Costa, told reporters on Monday.
On Thursday the World Health Organization warned that some 30 European countries had reported a surge in new cases in the past two weeks.
“Last week, Europe saw an increase in weekly cases for the first time in months,” Hans Kluge, the regional director for Europe, told reporters on Thursday. He did not identify any of the countries, but added that the situation was particularly acute in 11 countries.
As countries crack down on illicit parties, the task has been largely left to police. This week saw police sporadically clash with the thousands who thronged to Paris’s Canal Saint-Martin and Marais district for the annual Fête de la Musique, while in Berlin more than 100 officers broke up a demonstration that turned into a spontaneous, 3,000-person party earlier this month. In Berlin, police have also warned of a rise in illicit raves in the city’s parks.
Analysis carried out this week by the Guardian suggested the total number of cases had climbed by 37% in the past week in Germany, where authorities are struggling to control an outbreak at an abattoir, while France saw a 12% rise in cases over last week.
Warmer weather and the relaxing of restrictions also fuelled gatherings in England, where police are grappling with a proliferation of parties, hastily organised on social media and held in motorway underpasses, parks and industrial estates. Earlier this month, two illegal raves in Greater Manchester attracted some 6,000 people.
In hard-hit Spain, which on Wednesday reported its highest number of cases in three weeks, health officials have long warned about the risks of social gatherings.
“An outbreak brought on by a small, innocent party … just one outbreak could be the start of a new, nationwide epidemic,” Fernando Simón, the health official heading the country’s response to the virus, said in late May after a cluster of cases in the country’s north-east was linked to an illicit birthday party in which four of the 20 or so attendees tested positive.
Days later another illegal party made headlines around the world and saw Spain slap a €10,400 (£9,400) fine on Belgium’s Prince Joachim after the royal breached the country’s quarantine rules to attend a party in southern Spain. He later tested positive for the virus.
Spanish officials are now bracing themselves for the months ahead, as the country’s deeply ingrained culture of traditional fiestas faces off with the country’s new rules on physical distancing. The scope of the challenge was laid bare this week after hundreds of people – few of them wearing masks – spontaneously gathered in the Menorcan city of Ciutadella to mark the day of Sant Joan despite the official celebrations being called off.
Source: The Guardian
