Coronavirus: Officials fear ‘second wave’ hitting Europe as cases rise

England reopens indoor gyms and swimming pools on Saturday in latest easing of lockdown

An Indian woman wears a mask due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in Bangalore, India. EPA

Models present creations during a fashion show, wearing masks as a measure to avoid the spread of the Covid-19, in Seoul, South Korea. Reuters

A patient looks on as their nasal and throat swabs are put into a test tube, during walk-up Covid-19 testing in a mobile diagnostic tent in San Gregorio Atlapulco in the Xochimilco district of Mexico City. AP Photo

Salvadoran Rebeca Valle de Barrera, right, and her five children show a picture of her deceased husband Joaquin Barrera who, along with her parents and two other brothers, recently died of Covid-19, at their home in Santiago Nonualco, La Paz department, El Salvador. AFP

A Covid-19 patient reacts after being tested inside a field hospital built on a football stadium in Machakos, as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases continues to rise in Kenya. Reuters

A man walks past by a mural by artist Cosimo Cheone dedicated to nurses of Sacco hospital, in Milan, Italy. AP Photo

A woman carries a baby as she lines up to receive a hot meal from municipal workers at Ciudad Peronia neighborhood in Villa Nueva municipality in Guatemala. AFP

Teacher Maura Silva, who works for public school Escola Municipal Frei Vicente de Salvador and who created a "hug kit" using plastic covers, embraces her student Yuri Araujo Silva at Yuri's home in the 77 Padre Miguel slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters

Employees from several maid-themed cafes of Akihabara pray during a prayer-meeting for protection from Covid-19 and for a thriving business at the Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo. AP Photo

A sign informs customers at the Edison Hotel restaurant about wearing a protective face mask during the coronavirus pandemic, along Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. AP Photo

Worshippers socially distanced and wearing face masks kneel on their personal prayer mats during Friday prayers at Madina Masjid, Sheffield's central mosque, in Sheffield, northern England. AFP

Visitors listen to the sound installation “eleven songs – halle am berghain” at Berghain club in Berlin, Germany. AFP

Shopping mall workers wearing masks for protection against the Covid-19 wait for a shuttle outside a mall, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Reuters

A man wearing a protective face mask walks at Mid-Levels Central, following the Covid-19 outbreak in Hong Kong, China. Reuters

A masked man rides a UFO-shaped toy car at a park in Cali, Colombia before a night curfew starts against the spread of the new coronavirus. AFP

European officials have warned that their countries could be experiencing a “second wave” of coronavirus, as Belgium, France and Germany reported surges in infection numbers last week.

"The second wave of coronavirus is already here. It is happening every day," Michael Kretschmer, the centre-right leader of the eastern German state of Saxony, told the Rheinische Post.

"We have new outbreaks of infection every day, which could turn into very high numbers."

But Mr Kretschmer said it was possible German health authorities could help to effectively battle the wave because of the country’s federal system.

Centrally governed countries, such as France or Poland, do not have the state resources to deal with local outbreaks as effectively as countries such as Germany, he said.

Covid-19 has claimed more than 9,000 lives in Germany, but Mr Kretschmer said the pandemic had unified its people.

Germany was divided into four occupation zones after the Second World War and the Berlin Wall came down in 1990.

"The coronavirus pandemic is the first shared crisis experience in Germany," Mr Kretschmer said.

"The best part is that people in the east and west are acting the same way in this crisis.

"The coronavirus is the best proof that this country has grown together."

Germany’s reproduction rate for the coronavirus has risen from below 1 back up to 1.16, meaning that on average on infected person is likely to infect one or two people.

A rate of one or higher means the virus is spreading exponentially.

Last week, Spanish officials warned the country could be experiencing another surge in infections after about 8,000 cases were confirmed in Catalonia over the past fortnight.

And on Sunday, the popular Austrian resort town of Saint Wolfgang, east of Salzburg, ordered restaurants to close early after at least 44 people tested positive.

France reported on Friday that it had found a significant surge in Covid-19 infections, with 1,062 new cases – nearly double the 584 on Tuesday.

The French Health Ministry said there had been a 66 per cent increase in cases over three weeks.

Researcher found sewage water in parts of Paris had begun to test positive for coronavirus since the end of June, despite having tested negative earlier.

Some scientists believe that sampling sewage for signs of the virus could help to estimate infection numbers without having to test each person.

In Belgium, where the number of cases has risen by 89 per cent from the previous week, a three-year-old girl died from Covid-19, health authorities said on Friday.

In England, indoor gyms, swimming pools and sports centres started to reopen on Saturday in the latest easing of the coronavirus lockdown.

But a third of these centres are expected to remain shut and the sector is reeling from the financial fallout of the pandemic.

Gyms must follow strict hygiene and social distancing measures by limiting customer numbers and cleaning and spacing equipment.

Indoor gyms remain closed in Scotland and Wales but they opened in Northern Ireland earlier in July.

Britain is yet to see a significant second wave of infections, but it is struggling to keep daily case numbers below 500 a day.