Hungary and Croatia will lift restrictions on cross-border travel from Friday as the novel coronavirus pandemic has subsided and remains under control in both countries, while France is considering ending emergency health measures on July 10. On the other hand Bulgaria said it is extending the epidemic measures till the end of June.
Hungarian foreign minister Szijjarto said in a Facebook video that previous border openings with Austria, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic had not caused a spike in new cases.
Hungary has had a relatively modest infection rate, largely thanks to an early and strict lockdown. As of Wednesday, out of a population of 10 million, it had registered 4,027 infections, including 551 deaths, 2,355 recoveries and 1,121 active cases.
The French government is considering whether to end emergency health measures imposed on July 10, the Prime Minister’s department said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe’s office said the possible date of July 10 was one of several options being examined at present.
France has eased many of its earlier, strict lockdown measures as data has shown signs that the virus may be fading away in the country, with shops, holiday resorts and tourist attractions slowly re-opening.
Nevertheless, the public is still being encouraged to wear face masks when outside, and to maintain distances of at least one metre apart from one another, while most employees are continuing to work from home rather than the office.
Official data published on Tuesday showed that France’s coronavirus death toll had risen by 87 to 29,296. This marked the highest daily toll since June 2, but remained under 100 for the seventh day in a row.
Meanwhile Bulgaria will extend the epidemic emergency until the end of June to fight the spread of the coronavirus after an increase in new registered cases, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Wednesday.
The Balkan country has eased most of the restrictive measures it imposed in the middle of March, allowing restaurants and shopping malls to reopen. Borissov said the government did not plan to introduce new restrictions for the time being but appealed to people to keep social distancing.
Bulgaria has so far recorded 2,889 coronavirus cases of whom 167 have died. Over the past 24 hours it recorded 79 new cases.
REUTERS