Bogota neighbourhood shuts as Pope gives special prayer

The mayor of Colombia’s capital is planning to shut down one of the city’s largest neighbourhoods as cases there continue to rise.

Mayor Claudia Lopez said yesterday that the working-class Kennedy area – home to nearly 1.5 million people – will be under a strict quarantine. Testing for the virus will be doubled.

The Kennedy area was inaugurated by late US President John F. Kennedy, who visited Bogota in 1961 as part of the Alliance for Progress. The area today has more than 2500 cases.

Greek officials said yesterday said that the country will not limit incoming tourists to those from a list of 29 nations, but travellers from countries not on the list will be subject to mandatory testing on arrival and quarantine depending on test results. The list includes Australia and New zealand.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill yesterday granting death benefits to the families of police officers, public health workers and other frontline workers who have died of the coronavirus since New York became the epicentre of the pandemic in the United States.

Disinfection teams swept Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar and the resumption of domestic flights was announced Saturday as Turkey prepared to lift many restrictions. Teams scrubbed the floors of the 15th century bazaar, which has been closed since March 23, ahead of today’s reopening.

Pope Francis recited a special prayer for the end of the coronavirus pandemic surrounded by a representative sampling of people on the front lines. Francis held his biggest postlockdown gathering by far yesterday. He was joined in the Vatican Gardens by a doctor, a nurse, a hospital chaplain, a pharmacist, a journalist and a civil protection official. A recovered Covid-19 patient and the parents of a baby born during the emergency also were among the pope’s more than 100 guests for the prayer at the grotto dedicated to the Virgin Mary.