Coronavirus surges in Europe

The 53 countries that make up the World Health Organization’s European region have confirmed more than 300,000 new COVID-19 cases in the past week. More than half of the countries reported a 10 percent or greater jump in new infections in the past two weeks. Of those, seven saw a more than two-fold increase. Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO’s European director, called it “a wake-up call for all of us.”

What’s going on in Europe? As of last week, people in France who might have been exposed to the coronavirus only have to quarantine for seven days instead of 14. Other countries were considering similar moves, said Katie Smallwood, the international health agency’s senior health emergency officer for Europe. Kluge and Smallwood said people should continue to self-isolate for the full two weeks since that’s the incubation period for the virus. Earlier this week, the United Kingdom reimposed a six-person limit on indoor or outdoor groups in effort to avoid another nationwide lockdown.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz and Onize Ohikere’s report about how aid groups are trying to protect refugees around the world from the coronavirus.