Some countries start to plan next steps in COVID-19 battle

Even as coronavirus deaths mount across Europe and New York, the U.S. and other countries are starting to contemplate an exit strategy and thinking about a staggered and carefully calibrated easing of the restrictions designed to curb the scourge.

“To end the confinement, we’re not going to go from black to white; we’re going to go from black to gray,” top French epidemiologist Jean-Francois Delfraissy said in a radio interview.

At the same time, politicians and health officials warn that while deaths, hospitalizations and new infections may be levelling off in places like Italy and Spain, and even New York has seen encouraging signs amid the gloom, the crisis is far from over, and a catastrophic second wave could hit if countries let their guard down too soon.

“We are flattening the curve because we are rigorous about social distancing,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “But it’s not a time to be complacent. It’s not a time to do anything different than we’ve been doing.”

In a sharp reminder of the danger, New York state on Wednesday recorded its highest one-day increase in deaths, 779, for an overall death toll of almost 6,300.

“The bad news is actually terrible,” Cuomo lamented. In other developments: — Stocks shot 3.4% higher on Wall Street amid the encouraging signs about the outbreak’s trajectory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 780 points.

— British Prime Minister

Boris Johnson spent a second night in intensive care but was improving and sitting up in bed, authorities said.

— Saudi Arabian officials announced that the Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen will begin a ceasefire starting Thursday. They said the two-week truce was in response to U.N. calls to halt hostilities around the world amid the epidemic.

In China, the lockdown against Wuhan, the industrial city of 11 million where the global pandemic began, was lifted after 76 days, allowing people to come and go.