The Middle East is fighting a second wave of covid-19

ACROSS THE Middle East months of closures are giving way to an almost carefree normal. Bars and restaurants in Tel Aviv are packed, with barely a nod to social distancing. Shisha cafés in Jordan’s capital, Amman, among the first businesses shut in March because of their perceived health risks, are full of patrons puffing away. Mask-wearing in Beirut has noticeably dropped since the government imposed a $33 fine for going barefaced. From Tehran to Tunis, many people seem to have declared the covid-19 pandemic finished.But the pandemic is not finished with them. Several countries have seen, if not yet a second wave, at least a worrying resurgence of cases. Infections and deaths have jumped in Iran, where authorities thought they had tamed one of the world’s worst outbreaks. Schools have become a vector for infection in Israel. In Saudi Arabia, where the first wave never broke, doctors report an unexpected surge in hospitalisations and deaths. However, governments are reluctant to shut down again just as their economies are sputtering back to life. Stopping a second wave may be harder than it was dealing with the first.