Update: Austria opens borders (a bit) UK stays ‘shut’ and in Czech Republic you can get your bike repaired…

Spain chose a public holiday in many of its regions to allow millions of people out of lockdown and return to work in a move which gave hope to many afraid of catching coronavirus or facing financial ruin.

But are these two suffering countries just tilting at their metaphorical health windmillls?

Many say simply that they are making a mistake as Russia, for instance, reports thousands of new infections, a record daily rise that brings the total number of infections to almost 20,000.

It also comes as a professor at the University of Hong Kong has warned that if countries try to go back to work too early, they risk a second major wave of infections.

“I think having timelines is going to be very challenging. No country is going to want to open up too early, and then be the first major country to have a big second wave,” Ben Cowling told CNBC.

Two journalists in lockdown share their thoughts https://leighgbankspreservationsociety.blog/strains-boats-and-planes-rodney-and-leigh-talk-about-the-on-going-virus-crisis/

This is because, even if they overcome their first wave, they will be susceptible to infections imported from other countries which are still into their first round of infections, or even going through a second wave, which could be starting now in China, Cowling said.

The U.K. looks set to extend its lockdown measures into early or perhaps even late May, just as other European coronavirus hotspots start to lift some restrictions on businesses.

But Italy is coming out of its worst days, with experts saying that they have followed a “trustworthy” trends in the past few weeks.

Businesses are beginning to reopen there too although the country’s lockdown will remain, at least in principle, until May 3 and beyond.

The ‘public holiday’ return to work in Spain is for non-essential workers such as factory and construction personnel and police were handing out millions of masks at Spanish metro stations, although the wider coronavirus lockdown remains in force. 

Those returning include metalworkers, builders, cleaners, factory and shipyard workers and people involved in sanitation and security. 

But Spain and Italy aren’t the only European countries taking tentative steps towards normality – Austria is allowing some small shops and you can soon drive through the country if you promise not to stop. Hardware and garden stores to open while Denmark is opening schools.

Some measures have already been relaxed in the Czech Republic, where essential travel out of the country is allowed now and hardware stores and bicycle shops are re-opening.

Despite the tentative good news the UK government is still being criticized for a shortage of personal protective equipment on the front lines and an inadequate level of nationwide testing.

However,  Prime Minister Boris Johnson, just released from hospital, praised the National Health Service for “saving” his life.  

As the country’s death toll passed 10,000, one of the government’s scientific advisers, Jeremy Farrar, told the BBC that the UK was likely to be “one of the worst, if not the worst-affected country in Europe.”

President Donald Trump, however, is jumping on the positive bandwagon and has pledged to resuscitate the US economy next month. But big-city mayors, state governors and even some of the administration’s own experts are urging caution, wary that a premature loosening of restrictions could spark a second wave of the virus.

Tags: Coronavirus, Spain, Italy, Czech, Slovakia, UK, work, lockdown, lifted, fears