UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warns that a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic may be underway in some parts of Europe.
“I’m afraid you are starting to see the signs of the second wave of the pandemic. And we all remember what happened last time,” Johnson told the BBC Tuesday. “It’s absolutely vital, therefore, that we make the necessary preparations here in the UK.”
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, though, insists places like Ibiza are safer than places in the UK, and called the UK government’s decision to impose a 14-day quarantine on everyone arriving from Spain as “unjust.”
“Take the Canary Islands, the Belisarius, the regions of the Valencia, Andalusia, where there is, I emphasize, a lower prevalence of the virus than in the UK,” he said Tuesday in an interview with Telecinco TV network, adding that "64.5% of the new cases registered are in two territories.”
The rate of infection in Spain is 47.2 cases per 100,000 people, while the UK is at 15, according to the latest figures from the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Spain’s national health ministry on Monday reported 6,361 new cases, a 4,000-plus case surge since Friday. The UK currently has more than 300,000 coronavirus cases – the most in Europe. Spain is close behind, with nearly 280,000 cases. Germany has around 207,000 cases.
Sweden's rate of new cases is 34.9 per 100,000 people; Belgium's is 29.1. Both Bulgaria and Portugal are reporting high rates – and Romania's is among the worst in the EU, at 66.7.
Many European countries lifted internal border restrictions in June. International tourists were also allowed to visit from certain countries starting on July 1.
"We don't know yet if this is the beginning of a second wave, but of course it could be," Lothar Wieler, head of Germany's infectious disease agency, the Robert Koch Institute, told Deutsche Welle.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.