The accumulation of coronavirus cases in some of Europe’s top holiday destinations has led some governments to impose sudden measures, forcing many travellers to oppose their plans.
The British government imposed a mandatory two-week quarantine against coronaviruses from France in a last-minute decision, Imtiaz Tyab reports. The isolation measure also applies in the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Aruba, BBC News reported.
Thousands of British tourists rushed home before the isolation requirement arrived on Saturday.
“I would have stayed longer in France, but I don’t need to do the two weeks of quarantine,” a British resident said at a fuel pump in Calais.
In Germany, which has a record 3 months of more than 1,400 new infections in 24 hours, staff are testing drivers who reach their borders. A woman returning from a holiday in Italy said she wanted to take the test to protect her fellow citizens and return to work.
Spain, meanwhile, has reported nearly 4,000 new cases a day for seven consecutive days, and its government is responding through final nightclubs and banning smoking in public spaces.
Spanish student Gabriel Vizcaíno said it was appropriate for enclosed spaces to pose a health risk, but that street nightlife remains an option.
Croatia, on the other hand, is experiencing a daily accumulation of COVID-19 cases and some neighbouring countries have tightened the measures in the country. But its important tourism sector is booming.
The coronavirus outbreak and countries’ efforts to engage it have a negative effect on economically vulnerable people. Thousands of Albanians living and running in Greece rushed to the border after the Greek government announced stricter access needs to involve the outbreak of infections.
National fitness agencies say other young people are most affected by infections. Forty per cent of all cases in France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium involve others over the age of 20 to 39, raising fears among experts that the virus may spread to more vulnerable groups.
Worldwide, more than 21 million coronaviruses have been reported.