US Bans Brazil Travel Over Virus Surge As Europe Keeps Easing

As nightclubs, museums and swimming pools reopened in parts of the continent, Europe inched up its coronavirus shutters a little further Monday.

While a post-pandemic life gradually took shape in what was once one of the worst-hit regions, the virus continued its rampage across Latin America, sparking a US travel ban on Brazilian people.

Rocketing infection rates in South America have pushed the worldwide caseload to nearly 5.4 million, with deaths coming close to 350,000, but with the global economy battered, governments are scrambling to provide relief, however they can to businesses and citizens weary of mass confinement.

Hard-hit Spain relaxed restrictions in Madrid and Barcelona, with the famous Retiro Park in the capital opening its gates for the first time in 10 weeks Monday.

“Retiro’s reopening brings me a sense of serenity, it gives me comfort,” said Rosa San Jose, a 50-year-old schoolteacher who had come to walk around the park wearing a white mask.

Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic, which has registered almost 9,000 incidents, restaurants , bars, and swimming pools were among many types of businesses expected to reopen.

Even events with up to 300 people will be allowed by the nation and Czechs are no longer obliged to wear face masks in public except in shops and on public transport.

Nightclubs and bars in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik were set to resume business, while zoos and museums in Copenhagen will once again welcome visitors, and the swimming pools and sports centers in Rome will also reopen.

Japan lifted its state of emergency in Asia on Monday as new cases slowed to a crawl in the third-biggest economy in the world.