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Lionel Laurent

France and Spain Fail the Coronavirus Test

Cases in Europe are spiraling upwards. The long lines outside testing labs might have something to do with it.

Now the eight-day wait... — Now the eight-day wait...
Photo by FRED TANNEAU/AFP via Getty Images

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September 15, 2020, 6:54 AM UTC

If Europe has a strategy to stop the spread of Covid-19, it’s keeping it well hidden.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has vowed not to go back to the dark days of national lockdown, preferring instead to “live” with the coronavirus disease, but his government is struggling to halt a jump in cases. France reported more than 10,000 new cases in 24 hours over the weekend, a grim postscript to its decision to cut the required quarantine for positive cases in half to seven days.