Europe tightened restrictions on Friday as it battled a surge in coronavirus cases, with masks becoming obligatory all over Paris and Hungary shutting its borders once again.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned the crisis will be “more difficult” in the autumn and winter.

President Donald Trump took a characteristically more optimistic view, despite the death toll in the United States topping 180,000, as he vowed to “crush” the virus with a vaccine by the end of the year.

The total number of declared cases has now topped 24.5 million globally since the virus first emerged in China almost nine months ago, with more than 832,000 deaths.

The economic toll has been catastrophic, with Canada the latest to announce a record collapse: a 38.7 percent drop in GDP in the last quarter on an annualised basis.

Canada also extended the closure of its border to non-essential travel by a month until the end of September. The border has been closed to all non-essential travellers since mid-March.

Governments hope tighter mask rules will offset the need for a return to economically-devastating lockdowns, though the French government said it could not rule out new stay-at-home orders.

Masks were already obligatory in Paris on public transport and in congested areas, but will now be needed throughout the city.

“The epidemic is gaining ground, and now is the time to intervene,” said Prime Minister Jean Castex.

Late Friday, health authorities said almost 7,400 new infections were registered in mainland France in 24 hours, calling growth in new cases “exponential”.

 

 

Disinfections outside the Kutvolgyi hospital in Budapest

 

ATTILA KISBENEDEK, AFP

 

 

Hungary said foreigners would be barred from entry from September 1, while returning citizens would need two negative tests to avoid a 14-day quarantine.

Greece said it was extending a lockdown on migrant camps to at least September 15, amid ongoing concerns over the spread of the virus in hugely overcrowded camps on five Aegean islands.

• Sceptics –

Many governments must also confront a backlash.

Spanish police arrested a man who believes the pandemic is a hoax, and used social media to incite violence against politicians, including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

A Berlin court on Friday allowed a demo of coronavirus sceptics to go ahead this weekend, with police vowing a show of force to ensure safety regulations are met. A similar protest is planned in Zurich.

Merkel warned the battle against the virus is “likely to be more difficult over the next few months” as people start spending more time indoors.

She and state leaders agreed Thursday to toughen face mask rules and ban large events until the end of the year to combat rising case numbers blamed mainly on summer travel and private parties.

 

 

Women from the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation stitch Personal Protective Equipment for frontline coronavirus workers in Hyderabad

 

NOAH SEELAM, AFP

 

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also warned of “challenging” months ahead but predicted a return to “normal” next year.

The Spanish government said this week children as young as six will be required to cover their nose and mouth at school, while Britain reversed earlier guidance that pupils aged 11-18 did not need to wear masks.

South Korea also decided Friday to tighten measures, including shutting indoor sports venues, in the greater Seoul area, home to half the country’s 52 million people after a spate of new clusters, many linked to church gatherings.

The US is by far the hardest-hit country in the world in terms of both number of cases and deaths.

“We are marshalling America’s scientific genius to produce a vaccine in record time,” Trump said as he accepted the Republican nomination for a second term.

“We will have a safe and effective vaccine this year and together we will crush the virus.”

But vast economic damage has already been done. On Friday, hotel and casino giant MGM Resorts announced 18,000 lay-offs.

 

 

Spread of the coronavirus

 

Simon MALFATTO, AFP

 

Japan said it will lift a re-entry ban on foreigners from next month amid efforts to rebuild the virus-hit economy but would maintain rules to keep the disease at bay.

It has been hit less hard than most advanced economies by the coronavirus, with just over 65,000 cases, and around 1,200 deaths.

The British government urged people to return to work amid concern about the impact of the lockdown on the economy and struggling high street businesses.

An industrial body forecast this week that the UK economy will lose about £22 billion ($29 billion, 24 billion euros) this year.

Bolivia said it will ease virus curbs from next week while maintaining border closures.

People and vehicles will be allowed to circulate for longer periods, between 5:00 am and 8:00 pm — an extension of two hours from current rules — and a weekend prohibition on movement will be lifted on Saturdays.

burs-ach/har

Refugees in Germany – When you meet Raisan Hameed now, you can hardly believe it: the quiet young man, who had his first day as a student at the University of Graphics and Book Art (HGB) in Leipzig in October 2016, stands in the lively Eisenbahnstraße in Leipzig, speaking to a small crowd about his work, which is hanging in a local art gallery.

Visitors listen with interest as the photography student presents to of his pieces in fluent German. DW visited Raisan in Leipzig four years ago. The Iraqi refugee had just been admitted to university. On that day the “Academy for Transcultural Exchange” was opened at the HGB — a special two-year preparatory program for refugee students ahead of fulltime higher education.

The course got underway with a grand opening ceremony. Representatives from politics, the media, and the entire university were present. “I was a bit nervous that day,” says Raisan in retrospect. “I’d only been in Germany for a year, could hardly speak German, and we, the newcomers, were the focus. Everyone was looking at us.”

Raisan had just been catapulted from the relatively straightforward life at a refugee home into the big world of the renowned art school. Back then he was in his mid-twenties, and, by his own admission, full of awe.

Read more: Five years on: How Germany’s refugee policy has fared 

Raisan Hameed giving a talk on his work to people in Leipzig

From Mosul via Schleswig-Holstein to Leipzig

The Iraqi refugee came to Germany in the remarkable late summer of 2015. A year earlier, he and his family had been forced to leave their hometown of Mosul when the ‘Islamic State’ conquered the city. At that time, Raisan had studied photography and worked as a photojournalist and cameraman for various media.

He couldn’t complete his studies in Mosul. And staying in Iraq was impossible. The armed militias hunted down artists and journalists. “I had to get out of there,” he says. “A friend of mine was beaten, another was hanged. It was terrible for me to see my own city burn.”

Raisan left Iraq without his family. On an overcrowded boat, he made the dangerous crossing from Turkey to Greece and a few weeks later reached Germany via the so-called Balkan route. He spent his first year at a refugee home in Owschlag, northern Germany. In the beginning, he suffered a lot because he couldn’t speak German.

But in little Owschlag, he quickly made friends and met a woman who volunteered to help him settle in and learn the language. “She was like a mother to me. She, her husband, and her children gave me a warm welcome. They even furnished an extra room for me in their house and said, ‘If you don’t want to sleep in the refugee home, you are welcome to stay with us’.”

His host mother accompanied him to the offices, helped him learn German, showed him the country, and also shared his passion for photography. “She understood me as a person and my story, and accepted me as I am.”

It was the frequent contact with locals that made it easier for Raisan to settle in and integrate. When he moved southeast to Leipzig, he quickly made friends in his shared apartment. “It was a nice time. We did a lot together.” His roommates helped him with homework in German and with writing letters.

He was also able to learn a lot from them about German culture, but in return also told them about Iraq and its culture. He now lives alone because he needs more space and quiet for his studies, but he has a lot of friends, most of whom are German.

Read more: Refugees in Germany: Samer Serawan and the taste of integration

Hostility in everyday German life

Still, not everyone was so welcoming, says the now 29-year-old. He also endured racist attacks — mostly on public transport — and verbal abuse like “S*** Arabs” or “S*** foreigners.”

“Once someone even said ‘You black beard!’” he recalls, smiling a little. But he doesn’t find it funny. The racist insults “made me very angry and hurt,” he says.

But the terrible experiences weren’t about to deter him from reaching his goals. He used the two years at the Academy in Leipzig to learn the German language and prepare for further photography studies at the HGB. It wasn’t easy to begin with. “I sat in photography classes with other students and had to discuss photos in German. That was difficult. But eventually, it worked out.”

In 2018, Raisan completed the preparatory courses and has since been a full-time photography student — and a successful one at that. He regularly takes part in exhibitions. His work has been shown in Leipzig, Berlin, Rotterdam, and even on the Arabian Gulf, in Muscat, Dubai, and Sharjah.

But Raisan is particularly happy about his participation in an exhibition in the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany — the Bundeskunsthalle — in Bonn. His eyes shine when he says that his work is now on display in a “really big museum.”

A central motif in his pictures is his traumatic experience of escape: “I try to process my experiences in order to get rid of them so that they no longer burden me.” He also wants to fight racism and “open people’s eyes to something they have never seen themselves.”

Read more: Refugee crisis worsening in southern Europe amid coronavirus pandemic

Arrival after a difficult journey

Five years have passed since Raisan arrived in Germany.

Has he made it?

He ponders his answer for a long time. No, as an artist he hasn’t quite made it yet, he says. He still hasn’t had his breakthrough, the big hit that attracts a lot of attention.

And on a personal level?

Five years is a long time, Raisan says. He has experienced many beautiful, but also unsightly things. “I’ve come across a difficult path, but I’ve arrived. I live in a city that has accepted me. The university gave me the opportunity to achieve my dream of continuing to study. Yes, I can say that I made it.”

Read more: Coronavirus hero: Coping with COVID-19 threat in a Berlin refugee home

But the photography student isn’t about to rest on his laurels. In a year he wants to finish his studies so he can finally get started internationally. As a photographer, he wants to be able to travel a lot. Quite often, however, he’s denied opportunities because his Iraqi citizenship and refugee status often mean he is refused a visa.

What pains him most is the long separation from his parents, who stayed in Iraq. He hasn’t seen them in half a decade. He especially misses his hometown Mosul, where as a young man he taught himself to take photos in the alleys of the old town.

But he’s optimistic, says Raisan, and is determined to be successful. Failure, it seems, is not an option for him. Many people have helped him on his path so far, he says. “Germany gave me something. I want to give something back at some point.”