Last week’s 750 billion-euro ($877 billion) Covid-19 rescue fund marked a high point in the EU’s economic plan.

But a new flare-up in infections on the continent is a grim reminder of the more immediate epidemiological threat: a potential second wave trib.al/wZ3Q5QM

Cases are rising at the fastest pace since lockdowns were lifted, although overall infections remain much lower than the outbreak’s April peak.

In Spain, new daily cases are over 2,000, driven by spikes in areas such as Aragon and Catalonia trib.al/wZ3Q5QM

In some places, nightclubs are now being closed and curfews are being applied on bars.

Belgium's increase in infections has forced the government to roll out tougher social-distancing measures, such as limiting face-to-face interactions trib.al/wZ3Q5QM

Even if offices and public transport are still quiet, European streets are filled with:

🛍️Shoppers
🍽️Diners
🍸Drinkers

Google mobility data indicate human traffic is almost back to pre-virus levels in Paris, Madrid and Italy’s Lombardy trib.al/wZ3Q5QM

Estimates of the virus’s reproduction rate suggest that it’s risen back to around or above 1 in the following countries:

🇬🇧The U.K.
🇫🇷France
🇮🇹Italy
🇪🇸Spain
🇧🇪Belgium

That means one infected person will on average spread it to more than one other person trib.al/wZ3Q5QM

So far, the alertness of public authorities has been encouraging.

While one might question whether nightclubs in Catalonia should have reopened, you could hardly accuse governments in general of sleepwalking into a new public-health crisis trib.al/wZ3Q5QM

Smaller “smart lockdowns” have been effective too in towns and regions in Germany, the U.K. and Italy.

That’s testament to the improvement in mask-wearing and virus monitoring tools since the peak of the outbreak trib.al/wZ3Q5QM