Europe sees dramatic fall in virus cases

Customers at a terrace bar in Barcelona, Spain (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

Coronavirus infections, hospital admissions and deaths are plummeting across Europe, after the continent led the world in new cases last autumn and winter in waves that cost hundreds of thousands of lives, forced more rolling lockdowns and overwhelmed intensive care units.

Now, vaccination rates are accelerating across Europe, and, with them, hopes for a rebirth of the tourism industry that in Spain and Italy alone accounts for 13% of gross domestic product but was wiped out by the pandemic.