Public remain wary as restrictions ease
SMALL shops reopened yesterday in Berlin as a few nations began easing coronavirus restrictions to restart their economies, but trepidation expressed by some workers and customers indicated a return to normality is still a long way off.
Restrictions were also being eased in Denmark and Austria.
In France, long lines built up outside the few Mcdonald’s drivethroughs that started serving customers again.
In the US, some states were relaxing restrictions amid vocal protests by those demanding to return to work.
Although some former virus hot spots like Italy, Spain, China and New York have seen a reduction in their daily death tolls and new hospital admissions, other areas are facing a resurgence of the new coronavirus.
Singapore, once a model of coronavirus tracking and prevention, saw an explosion of new cases and announced yesterday it would extend its lockdown into June.
There has been growing impatience over virus-related shutdowns that have seen tens of millions of people lose their jobs. But even in areas where businesses were allowed to open, some were hesitant.
Ronique Holloway, who runs a hair salon in Smyrna, Georgia, said she would wait until May 1 to reopen and was still nervous about contracting the virus.
“We’re still in a small, closed place,” the 48-year-old said. “You’re staring at somebody right in their face when you shampoo it. Heaven forbid if you talk.”
She was only seeing one client at a time even before she was forced to shut down.
The pandemic has infected over 2.5 million people and killed more than 177,000 around the world, according to a tally Johns Hopkins University.
Health authorities have warned the crisis is far from over and that relaxing stay-at-home orders too quickly could enable the virus to come surging back.
Economic damage mounted as oil prices suffered an epic collapse and stocks registered their worst loss in weeks on Tuesday on Wall Street. Asia markets continued their slide yesterday.
In the United States, the Senate approved nearly $500 billion (£403bn) in coronavirus aid for businesses, hospitals and testing after a deal was reached between Congress and the White House. President Donald Trump urged House members to quickly pass the measure.
Spain, one of the world’s worsthit countries, was grappling with how to allow children out of their homes for the first time in nearly six weeks. The country’s death toll reached 21,717, behind only the United States and Italy, after 435 more deaths were reported yesterday. Spain has over 208,000 confirmed infections. Both numbers reflect the plateauing of the nation’s outbreak over recent days as a result of Spain’s strict home confinement rules.
Yielding to pressure from parents, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is allowing children to go outside again beginning on Monday.
In another sign that Spain’s health crisis is becoming more manageable, a large makeshift morgue in a Madrid ice rink is closing as the daily toll drops under 500 deaths from a high of 950 three weeks ago.
Singapore, which has been praised for its swift response and meticulous tracing of contacts in the early stage of the outbreak, was grappling with an explosion of cases in foreign worker dorms that were largely overlooked earlier.
The tiny city-state’s infections surged to 10,141 after it reported 1,016 new cases yesterday, maintaining its position as the worst-hit nation in Southeast Asia.