US looks to reopen as UK locks down

Trump outlines phased restart as dole queues stretch to Depression level

The ranks of America’s unemployed swelled toward Great Depression-era levels yesterday, and President Donald Trump reacted to the pressure on the economy by outlining a phased approach to reopening parts of the country where the coronavirus is being brought under control.

In the United Kingdom, the Government announced a nationwide lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the new coronavirus will remain in place for at least three more weeks.

The UK’s outbreak — one of Europe’s worst — was nearing its peak.

The lockdown has been in place since March 23. Schools, pubs, restaurants and most shops are closed, and most people are allowed to leave home only for essential errands or exercise.

“We know it’s rough going at this time,” said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the

British leader recovers from Covid-19.

But, Raab said, “we’ve sacrificed far too much to ease up now.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel, but now we are at both a delicate and dangerous stage in this pandemic,” he said at a news conference.

Medical officials say the number of new cases and hospitalisations for the coronavirus in the UK has leveled off, but it’s too early to loosen restrictions on daily life.

Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said though transmission of the virus had been dramatically reduced, “we run the risk of a second peak” if the lockdown is loosened now”.

As of yesterday, 13,729 people had died in UK hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus, an increase of 861 from a day earlier. That number understates the true toll of the pandemic, since it does not include hundreds, maybe thousands, of virusrelated deaths in nursing homes and other settings.

In the US Trump told the state governors that restrictions could be eased to allow businesses to reopen over the next several weeks in places that have extensive testing and a marked decrease in Covid-19 cases.

“We are not opening all at once, but one careful step at a time,” Trump said, adding that his new guidelines gave governors the freedom to act as they saw fit.

Under the Trump administration road map, places that are turning the corner on the virus would begin a three-phase gradual reopening of businesses and schools, with each phase lasting at least 14 days, to ensure that the outbreak doesn’t make a resurgence.

His comments marked an abrupt change after a week in which he clashed with governors over his claim that he had “total” authority over how and when the country reopens.

Both Democratic and Republican governors welcomed the moderate White House approach.

In phase one, for example, theatres, sporting venues and churches would open “under strict physical distancing protocols”, but bars would remain closed.

Trump said reopening could be imminent in some places, and he has remarked that data suggests coronavirus cases have peaked in the US. Scientists have said it’s not clear

that is the case, and they warned states to proceed with caution to prevent the virus from storming back.

The president unveiled his reopening plan the same day the Government reported 5.2 million more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the four-week total to 22 million — easily the worst stretch of US job losses on record. The losses translate to about one in seven American workers.

While many Americans have chafed at the damage to their livelihoods, business leaders and governors have warned that more testing and protective gear are needed before they can start lifting the lockdowns and other restrictions.

“My number one focus is to keep my family safe, so I’m really not in a hurry to put an end to this,” said Denise Stockwell, who is about to lose her job in marketing at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

But conservative economist Steven Moore, a Trump ally, said there would be 30 million people out of work in the country if the economy doesn’t open back up soon. “And that is a catastrophic outcome for our country. Period,” he said.

In China, official data released Friday showed GDP shrank 6.8 per cent from a year ago in the quarter ending in March, its worst contraction since market-style economic reforms began in 1979. Consumer spending and manufacturing activity remain weak despite factories and offices reopening starting last month, suggesting recovery may be longer and harder than initially expected.

Some forecasters earlier said China might rebound as early as this month, but they have been cutting growth forecasts and pushing back recovery timelines as negative trade, retail sales and other data pile up.

Worldwide, the outbreak has infected more than 2.1 million people and killed more than 140,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, though the true numbers are believed to be much higher.

The death toll in the US reached about 31,000, with around 650,000 confirmed infections.

The spread of the virus is declining in such places as Italy, Spain and France, but rising or continuing at a high level in Britain, Russia and Turkey, authorities said.

Like the US, many European countries have seen heavy job losses, but places like Germany and France are using government subsidies to keep millions of people on payrolls.

Italy’s hard-hit Lombardy region is pushing to restart manufacturing in early May, while Britain extended restrictions at least three more weeks. Switzerland announced staggered reopenings.

“The transition is beginning,” Swiss Home and Health Minister Alain Berset said. “We want to go as fast as possible, and as slow as necessary.”