Border checks for most Europeans were dropped overnight in Germany, France and elsewhere, nearly two weeks after Italy opened its frontiers; mass testing begins in Beijing in a bid to stem the spread of deadly novel Coronavirus
German police officers stand on a platform as French passengers step out of the tram at a station in Kehl on Monday as borders between France and Germany repoens
Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of novel Coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March, even as China started blocking more areas in Beijing as COVID-19 returns to the country.
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China has begun mass testing of hundreds of people who had visited a Beijing wholesale market that sparked a fresh bout of cases even as the country reported 67 new COVID-19 infections, including 42 in the capital. The Beijing authorities have conducted the nucleic acid test on 29,386 people who had visited the Xinfadi market since May 30, Gao Xiaojun, spokesman for the Beijing Health Commission, said on Monday.
A woman with a child walk by people lining up outside a health centre for COVID-19 test in Beijing on Monday. Pics/AFP/AP
Borders checks gone
Many restrictions persist, it-s unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. Border checks for most Europeans were dropped overnight in Germany, France and elsewhere, nearly two weeks after Italy opened its frontiers. Announcing Monday-s reopening of borders and Paris restaurants, French President Emmanuel Macron said it-s time "to turn the page of the first act of the crisis" and "rediscover our taste for freedom." But he warned: "This doesn-t mean the virus has disappeared and we can totally let down our guard...The summer of 2020 will be a summer unlike any other."
2 million cases in Europe
That caution is widespread after more than 1,82,000 virus-linked deaths in Europe. The region has had over 2 million of the world-s 7.9 million confirmed infections, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged that "a lot will depend on whether people feel comfortable to travel and whether we can project Greece as a safe destination." On Monday, Greece was welcoming the first international flights whose passengers didn-t face compulsory COVID-19 tests to Athens and Thessaloniki. Direct international flights to regional Greek airports, including those on its islands, will begin on July 1. Visitors will be subject to random virus testing. Britain, which left the EU in January but remains closely aligned with the bloc until the end of this year, reopened non-essential shops across England on Monday after nearly three months of being in lockdown.
37 new infections in S Korea, 5.2K in Pak
South Korea has reported 37 new cases, bringing its caseload to 12,121, including 277 deaths. Meanwhile, Pakistan-s COVID-19 cases reached 1,44,676 after 5,248 new infections were detected, while 97 more people have succumbed to the virus, pushing the death toll to 2,729, the health ministry said on Monday.
-Self-swabbing test accurate, safe-
Samples collected by people who swabbed their own nasal passages yielded result for COVID-19 and were as accurate as those collected by a health worker, said a small study. Researchers said allowing people who suspect they may have COVID-19 to collect their own sample has many advantages.
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