BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) – Global alarm was sounded on Monday over a potential second wave of coronavirus infections, after Germany reported that the disease was again spreading faster just days after the first tentative steps there to ease a lockdown.
Visitors hold face masks at the Shanghai Disneyland theme park as it reopens following a shutdown due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Shanghai Disney Resort in Shanghai, China May 11, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song
News that the “reproduction rate” – the number of people each person with the disease goes on to infect – had surged back to 1.1 in Germany cast a shadow over the reopening of businesses on Monday from Paris hair salons to Shanghai Disneyland. A rate that stays above 1 means the virus is spreading exponentially.
Germany is being closely watched worldwide as the most successful large European country in halting the spread of the virus, thanks to a massive testing programme. Chancellor Angela Merkel has frequently said the reproduction rate must be held below 1 to prevent the health system from being overwhelmed.
Fears that a second wave of infections could stop the reopening of the global economy helped sent share prices lower on worldwide markets, reversing earlier gains. [MKTS/GLOB]
The past month has seen investors bet strongly on a rapid economic recovery in spite of data far worse than any in living memory. That has opened a rift between soaring stock markets and the freefalling economies they are meant to reflect.
In Europe, the worst-hit continent, Spain and France took