France prepares for potential second wave as coronavirus cases creep back up

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France’s daily coronavirus infection rate is on the rise again, as more than 1,130 new cases were reported Friday, making July's figures similar to those seen in May, when France first started to ease its strict lockdown measures.

France has reported over 217,000 coronavirus cases and more than 30,000 deaths since cases were first reported in the country during early March, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Health authorities have warned that France is heading in the wrong direction as the infection rate is yet again accelerating, meaning that the virus has not started to peter out.

SPAIN'S CORONAVIRUS INFECTION RATE HAS TRIPLED IN LAST THREE WEEKS, OFFICIALS SAY

“We have thus erased much of the progress that we’d achieved in the first weeks of lockdown-easing,” a health official told the Associated Press, adding that people have not taken the same necessary precautions during the summer months.

Officials are also warning that people who are now testing positive are not self-isolating with the same necessary rigor as in the early months of the pandemic.

Spain is taking strict measures on areas that are becoming “hot zones” once more by closing bars and nightclubs throughout the region of Catalonia -- an area in the northeast of the country where Barcelona is located.

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A midnight curfew has been put on all bars in the region, and nightclubs have been ordered to shut down for 15 days in an attempt to curb a rising infection rate.

Spain has recorded over 272,000 cases and more than 28,000 deaths, with the peak of the pandemic hitting the country at the end of March and into early April. But July has brought new spikes of the virus with roughly 4,600 cases reported Monday, the highest daily infection rate since April.

As parts of Europe are fearful of a second wave of coronavirus spikes, Germany and England are continuing to see downward trends and therefore have continued with reopening phases.

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Germany, which has been a shining example of how to stem the spread of the virus, allowed a cruise ship to leave port Friday for the first time since the industry was shut down at the start of the pandemic.  The ship will sail at 60 percent capacity for one week up to the shores of Norway. No land stops are permitted.

Several countries around the world are still reeling from the strain of the pandemic which continues to surge in places like the United States, Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.