Countries begin opening as virus toll tops 201,000
Italy closely watched as it takes early steps to chart a path out of strict lockdown
Some 2.89 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally, and 201,833 have died as of Sunday, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. Countries across the globe took the first steps to ease coronavirus-related restrictions, with hot spots Spain and Italy announcing reliefs for citizens.
BACK IN BUSINESS
Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by the coronavirus, will allow some businesses to reopen as soon as this week while aiming to reopen manufacturing and construction from May 4, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.
Conte gave the most detailed outline yet of plans to reopen the economy in a newspaper interview published on Sunday ahead of the government’s road map out of lockdown, which he said would be released no later than early this week.
Italy, hit hard by the virus weeks before other major Western countries, has been forced to serve as a model for how to fight it. It is being closely watched around the world as it takes its early steps to chart a path out of a strict lockdown it imposed in early March.
Conte described a phased process that would see much of manufacturing restarted in early May, although businesses frequented by the general public, such as bars and restaurants, would have to wait a bit longer. Schools would remain shut until September.
“We are working in these hours to allow the reopening of a good part of businesses from manufacturing to construction for May 4,” Conte told Italian daily La Repubblica.
Some businesses deemed strategic, including activity that was mainly export-oriented, could reopen this week providing they get the go-ahead from local prefects.
Exporting companies need to resume activity sooner to reduce the risk of being cut out of the production chain and losing business, he said.
The government was monitoring banks to make sure state-guaranteed liquidity arrived to companies in need, Conte said.
It was working on a series of measures to help industry by cutting bureaucratic red tape, he said.
The plan was to reopen schools in September, Conte said.
FRESH AIR AT LAST!
On foot and with bicycles, skateboards and scooters, Spanish children went outside at last on Sunday, emerging from their homes for the first time after six long weeks of living under one of Europe’s strictest coronavirus lockdowns.
The relaxation came as Spain, one of the worst hit by the global COVID-19 epidemic, registered its lowest daily increase in the coronavirus death toll in more than a month.
Children under the age of 14 were allowed outside for the first time since the government declared a state of emergency on March 14 and shut down most public life and economic activity. Children wearing protective masks strolled the streets in Madrid.
Lucia Ibanez, nine, out for a walk with her mother, said she had missed the streets and the park and “feeling the air on your face” during lockdown.
“I never thought I would miss school, but I really miss it,” she said.
Children will be allowed one hour of supervised outdoor activity per day between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., staying within one kilometer of their home.
Adults can accompany up to three children, who will not be allowed to use play parks or share toys, and must adhere to social-distancing guidelines, remaining at least two meters from other people. Schools remain closed. The Health Ministry on Sunday said 288 more people had died after being diagnosed with the coronavirus, the lowest daily rise in the death toll in the past month and down from
Saturday’s 378 and Friday’s 367.
That brought the total number of deaths to 23,190, while the overall number of cases rose to 207,634. Spain has registered the third-highest number of COVID-19 deaths, after the United States and Italy.
The Health Ministry changed the methodology on Friday for logging cases. It will no longer count antibody tests and will only include positive results from PCR tests, which detect the presence of an active virus.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was meeting by teleconference with regional heads on Sunday to discuss the plans.
In a televised address on Saturday night, he said the lockdown would be further eased, allowing people out to exercise alone from May 2, provided the coronavirus toll continues to fall. People living together will be permitted to take short walks together.
Sanchez also laid out a wider government plan to loosen the lockdown at different speeds across different regions depending on whether they meet with criteria established by the World Health Organization.
CHURCH BELLS RING
South Korea’s large churches reopened on Sunday, requiring worshipers to keep their distance and wear masks, after the government relaxed restrictions on religious gatherings aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
Onnuri Church, one of the biggest churches in Seoul, required members to sign up online ahead of the service and sit on designated seats to maintain distance.
It has also limited attendance to 700 in a hall with a capacity of 3,000 people, a church official said.
Last Sunday, South Korea extended its social-distancing policy until May 5 but offered some relief for religious and sports facilities previously subject to strict restrictions.
A secretive church, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, was at the epicenter of South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak, with about half of the country’s total infections of 10,728 linked to its members.
The first confirmed patient in the church, South Korea’ 31st overall, was discharged from a hospital on Friday after being treated for more than two months, the hospital in the southeastern city of Daegu said on Sunday.
ARABIAN NIGHTS
Saudi Arabia eased curfews on Sunday across the country, while keeping 24-hour curfews in the city of Mecca and in neighborhoods previously put in isolation, state news agency SPA said.
Outside those exceptional areas, curfews will be eased between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. effective Sunday until May 13. The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began on Friday.
The royal order also allowed some economic and commercial activities to restart, including wholesale and retail shops and shopping malls, from Wednesday until May 13.
Activities that do not allow for physical distancing, including salons and cinemas, will remain closed. Social gatherings of more than five people are forbidden.
Authorities in the capital, Riyadh, issued additional advice, saying banknotes were not to be used.
Shops that do open should ensure no more than one customer per 10 square meters. Malls must be sterilized every 24 hours, and children under 15 are not allowed to enter.
Saudi Arabia has recorded 16,299 cases of infection with the novel coronavirus and 136 deaths. These are the highest numbers in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which together have recorded almost 43,000 cases and 250 deaths.
WUHAN CLEAN
The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus pandemic began, now has no remaining cases in its hospitals, a health official told reporters on Sunday.
The novel coronavirus is believed to have originated in a wet market in Wuhan and first emerged in December before quickly spreading worldwide. Some 2.83 million people have been reported to be infected globally, and 197,872 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
“The latest news is that by April 26, the number of new coronavirus patients in Wuhan was at zero, thanks to the joint efforts of Wuhan and medical staff from around the country,” National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng said at a briefing.
The city had reported 46,452 cases, 56% of the national total. It had 3,869 fatalities, or 84% of China’s total.
Wuhan and the province of Hubei were put on lockdown near the end of January, with roads sealed, trains and planes canceled and residents unable to move freely for more than two months. The city is still testing residents regularly despite relaxing the restrictions.
The focus has since shifted to the northeast border province of Heilongjiang, which has seen large numbers of imported coronavirus cases entering from Russia. (Reuters)