A Belgian prince who is 10th in line to the Belgian throne contracted coronavirus after partying in Spain. Prince Joachim, youngest son of Princess Astrid and a nephew of Belgium's King Philippe partied with 26 other people in Cordoba, Spain.
The Belgian Royal Palace explained that the 28-year-old prince traveled to Spain on May 24 for an internship.
The party attended by the prince broke lockdown measures because of the number of attendees. Cordoba only allows gatherings of no more than 15 people. All attendees are therefore subjected to quarantine in Cordoba, including Prince Joachim.
Prince Joachim has issued an apology, saying that deeply regretted his actions. The palace said they will face the consequences. All people who attended the party are facing fines of between 600 and 10,000 euros. This means that Prince Joachim continues to stay in Cordoba which was later on confirmed by the Belgian Royal Palace.
Belgium currently has 58,186 infected people and deaths of 9,453. Spain, on the other hand, is one of the nations with the highest number of infections (239,600) and deaths (29,043), not just with Europe but across the world.
Spain has actually become the epicenter of the virus in a short time in the past months. The country is among the European nations that imposed the highest level of lockdown amid the pandemic.
Spain is only in the process of gradual relaxation of such measures hence the controversy and backlash for the party in Cordoba. On Sunday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has in fact called for a final extension of his country's state of emergency. He proposed for the extension to be made until June 21. The decision on his proposal will be made on Wednesday.
The country has also banned travelers coming from Britain, disappointing tourists who have planned to enjoy summer there. Reyes Maroto, Spain's Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, said the United Kingdom must show first that its cases are declining before travelers from Britain could be allowed entry in the country. The UK has total infections of 272,830 and fatalities of 38,376. On the other hand, Spain is ready to welcome tourists from Germany and the Nordic States.
All across Europe, there are now a total of 2,142,547 cases and 180,085 deaths. The continent is second with the highest number of cases and fatalities. The Region of The Americas, as per the classification of the World Health Organization, has a total of 2,743,793 cases and 157,702 deaths.
