Spain: Expert warns that virus surge could follow parties

Spain’s top coronavirus expert has delivered a stern warning to citizens who are acting as if the pandemic has ended now that the government has relaxed measures against the spread of contagion amid an accelerating rollout of vaccines

MADRID -- Spain’s top coronavirus expert on Monday delivered a stern warning to citizens who are acting as if the pandemic has ended now that the government has relaxed measures against the spread of the coronavirus amid an accelerating rollout of vaccines. Scenes of revelers partying in mass over the past weekend, in many cases without social distancing or masks, have infuriated many, including health workers, and created a new political quarrel. The street celebrations followed the end of a state of emergency, a blanket national rule that allowed authorities to take strict measures against the virus such as travel bans, nighttime curfews and curbs on social gatherings. Fernando Simón, who heads the Health Ministry's emergency coordination center, said that he was unable to predict how the contagion rate would evolve after the euphoric scenes. “Until two days ago I would had been able to say that the downward trend of the past few days would continue. But right now, neither I nor anybody else in Spain knows what will happen,” Simón said Monday.