People wearing face masks sit on a bench at Berlin Central Train Station in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Aug. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
-- Germany introduces mandatory tests for travelers from high-risk areas;
-- COVID-19 infections among young people increase in Sweden;
-- COVID-19 cases in Albania exceed 6,000.
BRUSSELS, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.
BERLIN -- Starting this Saturday, travelers from high-risk areas had to undergo a mandatory COVID-19 test upon their arrival in Germany, Minister of Health Jens Spahn announced on Thursday.
"I am very aware that it is an encroachment on the freedom of the individual," said Spahn. However, he considered this interference to be "reasonable" with regard to the responsibility for others.
Spahn said that the intention behind the tests for travelers from areas with high COVID-19 case numbers was intended to "play it safe."
Local people gather and mourn near to the site where a 12-year-old girl was killed after being hit by a stray bullet in a gang shooting at a petrol station car park in Norsborg, south of Stockholm, Sweden, Aug. 4, 2020. (Xinhua)
STOCKHOLM -- The spread of COVID-19 infection among young adults has increased in Sweden recently, said the Public Health Agency of Sweden on Thursday, which is in charge of advising national pandemic policies.
"It is a bad sign," said Anders Tegnell, state epidemiologist of the agency, on Thursday at a press conference, adding that the development is "worrying" because more vulnerable groups are at risk.
As in large parts of the rest of Europe, Sweden now sees that the number of reported cases is increasing somewhat. The agency said it was "still unclear" as for why the curve turns up again, but said what's clear was that young adults aged 20-29 accounted for a large part of the increase.
People are seen on a bus amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Tirana, Albania, July 6, 2020. (Photo by Arben Celi/Xinhua)
TIRANA -- Albania's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 6,016 on Thursday after health authorities reported a total of 127 new infections in the last 24 hours, the Institute of Public Health said.
So far, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of 188 people, up by six in the past 24 hours.
According to health authorities, 3,155 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 disease have recovered, while 2,673 cases are still active.■
