Biosecurity

 

Coronavirus surge tests U.S. and European resolve

On both sides of the Atlantic, the pandemic is surging. For the first time since late July, the United States reported more than 60,000 new daily confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday and Friday, with numbers hovering just under 60,000 on Saturday. Many of the infections are in rural areas far from the major cities that bore the initial brunt of the outbreak earlier this year.

In Europe, new restrictions and shutdowns are coming into place. Last week, the continent overtook the United States in cases per capita. Public health officials warned of an accelerating and possibly “exponential” rise in infections, with confirmed cases in the 53 European nations, as categorized by the World Health Organization, climbing from 6 million to 7 million in just ten days.

Without effective countermeasures, the WHO warned, daily coronavirus-related deaths in Europe could rise to five times their April peak. The dramatic resurgence of the virus across the continent punctured whatever illusions Europeans had that they had weathered the worst of the pandemic. Countries like Spain and Italy, which welcomed back holiday goers over the summer, are again among the front-runners in overall cases.