Coronavirus Spikes In Ireland, France, Spain And Italy Put Europe On High Alert

On Saturday, Ireland counted the highest number of new coronavirus cases (174) since May, a far cry from the average of 58 per day seen last week, and officials said they were mostly tied to Kildare, Laois and Offaly counties where coronavirus crackdowns were put back into place Friday to prevent further resurgence. 

A rise in local infections pushed Parisian officials to announce a new face mask order Saturday, directing people older than 11 years old to cover their face while in many of Paris’ crowded public spaces from Monday.

On Wednesday, France as a whole counted 1,695 new daily cases, a two-month high and the most diagnosed since the country reeled back their lockdown.

Spain on Friday became the country with the most total confirmed coronavirus cases in Western Europe after a recent spike was enough to push it past the United Kingdom’s total infection count, though Spain was largely believed to have pushed past the worst of their outbreak with a strict lockdown in spring.

Germany counted 1,045 new infections on Thursday, the first time the daily number of cases has hit a four-digit figure in three months.

Italy too is hitting daily totals not seen for months, having counted 552 confirmed cases Friday after reporting only about 200 each day just several weeks ago, Associated Press reported.