India’s virus infections overtake France amid criticism of restrictions

South Africa loosens COVID-19 lockdown to revive battered economy • Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, cafes open, flights resume as Turkey eases up

NEW DELHI/JOHANNESBURG/ ISTANBUL (Reuters) – India’s cases of coronavirus crossed 190,000, the Health Ministry said on Monday, overtaking France to become seventh highest in the world, as the government eased back on most curbs after a two-month-long lockdown that left millions without work.

With a record 8,392 new cases over the previous day, India is now behind the United States, Brazil, Russia, Britain, Spain and Italy, according to a Reuters tally.

Criticism has grown in recent days that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sudden lockdown of 1.3 billion Indians in March has failed to halt the spread of the disease while destroying the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on daily wages.

Community transmission is well underway among the population, a team of independent experts said, adding this would only get worse as public transportation opens.

On Monday, thousands of people were packing into 200 new trains that resumed service across the country, most of them migrant workers and their families leaving metropolises such as Delhi and Mumbai for their homes in the interior.

“Had the migrant persons been allowed to go home at the beginning of the epidemic when the disease spread was very low, the current situation could have been avoided,” the Indian Public Health Association, Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine and the Indian Association of Epidemiologists said in a joint statement.

“The returning migrants are now taking infection to each and every corner of the country; mostly to rural and semi-urban areas, in districts with relatively weak public health systems,” the experts said.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 stood at 5,394, still small compared with other countries that have had similar case loads. The government said the lockdown had helped avoid an exponential rise in cases, giving hospitals space to treat patients.

Still, there are concerns that if the infections keep rising, especially in Delhi and Mumbai, the health system would be stretched.

Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the sealing of the city’s borders to stop people from around the country flocking to its hospitals for a week. The city has 9,500 beds for COVID19 patients but will run out of them quickly if people come from around the country for treatment, he said.

S. AFRICA RESTART

South Africa sought to revive its

stuttering economy on Monday with a partial lifting of its coronavirus lockdown, letting people out for work, worship or shopping and allowing mines and factories to run at full capacity.

President Cyril Ramaphosa was praised when he ordered a strict

lockdown at the end of March. But the measures have battered Africa’s most industrialized economy, which was already in recession before the outbreak.

South Africa’s central bank expects the economy, which has also been hard hit by the impact of

power cuts at crisis-hit state energy firm Eskom, to contract 7% this year.

But moving to “level 3” lockdown so soon has been questioned by some who say it will increase the number of coronavirus cases, which jumped above 30,000 over the weekend.

“We are taking a gradual approach, guided by the advice of our scientists and led by the realities on the ground,” Ramaphosa said in a statement.

The rand rose against the dollar, but after midday it had fallen back slightly and was trading just 0.14% up.

South Africa has so far had fewer than 700 coronavirus deaths. Many more South Africans, half of whom live below the official poverty line, are at risk from hunger because of the shutdown. Industry officials said the outlook remained bleak.

Although schools were ordered to open on Monday for some pupils, unions urged staff to stay away, saying schools were not properly equipped.

The Education Ministry backed down on Sunday, and pupils will now return in two weeks. Teachers will come in this week for training and protective gear.

Education Minister Angie Motshekga apologized for the last- minute U-turn at a press conference on Monday.

“The reopening was a real uphill... We have lost a whole term, and we are likely to lose more time because of the virus,” she said.

However, Western Cape Province, run by the opposition Democratic Alliance, said its schools would reopen on Monday because they were appropriately equipped. The province is the main coronavirus hot spot, with two-thirds of confirmed cases.

Masked teachers held up placards outside schools in Cape Town’s Bishop Lavis township to protest that decision.

The Marxist opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has accused authorities of sacrificing poor workers to the interests of the elite. They and others have also criticized the reopening of churches and other places of worship if they limit to 50 people.

In a hopeful sign, the Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a closely watched indicator of manufacturing activity, showed a slight recovery in May, rising to 50.2 points, from 46.1 points in April.

But Philippa Rodseth, executive director of the Manufacturing Circle, said she expected high demand “first and foremost in medical textiles... and PPE [personal protective equipment],” not for other goods.

Restaurants were relieved at being allowed to offer collections and takeaways, instead of just delivery. Eating in remains banned.

“Adding drive-through and collections/takeaway will have a massively positive affect on our business... and the industry as a whole,” a McDonald’s South Africa spokesman said, adding that 80% of its restaurants will open and about two-thirds of staff will return.

For alcoholic-drinks shops, which are now allowed to open in limited hours after a total ban, Kurt Moore, head of the South Africa Liquor Brand Owners’ Association, predicted: “There will be an initial spike, but it will go back... to normal.” He said 117,000 jobs had been lost.

Standard Bank, Africa’s largest by assets, said it expects half-year earnings to fall 20% compared with the same period a year ago.

TURKEY REOPENS

Flights and car travel resumed between Turkey’s big cities on Monday, while cafes, restaurants and Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar reopened, in the country’s biggest step to ease restrictions taken to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Traffic levels jumped in the commercial hub of Istanbul, with many Turks returning to work as the government sought to revive an economy hit hard by the pandemic. Employees of government offices and public facilities joined the many factory workers who restarted last month.

Masked shopkeepers opened and cleaned their stores at the Grand Bazaar, which media reports said was the scene of one of the first virus outbreaks in March. A key tourist destination, the sprawling covered market was closed for more than two months.

President Tayyip Erdogan’s government has slowly removed some restrictions in recent weeks, and authorities say the outbreak is under control. The COVID-19 infection has killed more than 4,500 and infected more than 160,000 in Turkey, though new daily cases and deaths are sharply down.

Transportation Minister Adil Karaismailoglu sought to reassure passengers at a ceremony to mark the first regular flight from Istanbul to the capital, Ankara, in two months.

“We are entering a period of travel focused on isolation, from the entry into airports until the exit from them,” he said on TV, adding that six domestic airports had so far been certified to meet hygiene and safety standards.

International flights are expected to start next week. Shares of Turkish airports and carriers, including Turkish Airlines, rose.

Parks, gyms, beaches, libraries and museums also reopened, including in Istanbul, the center of Turkey’s outbreak.

Economic activity took a nosedive beginning in March, and it is unclear how badly Turkey’s key tourism sector will suffer this summer. Some provinces, including Istanbul, were still subject to lockdowns this past weekend.

A survey showed on Monday that manufacturing activity continued to contract sharply in May, though at a slower pace than in April, with output and new orders shrinking again and companies decreasing employment and purchasing.