Around the world...
CORONAVIRUS has infected more than 4.4 million people and killed over 300,000, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Here are the latest updates on the pandemic from around the world:
lithuania
The prime ministers of the three Baltic nations said the first coronavirus wave is under control in their region.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formally removed travel restrictions between them yesterday.
“We are the first in the European Union to open our borders to each other’s’ citizens,” Lithuanian prime minister Saulius Skvernelis said.
“But we remain cautious and responsible and are protecting the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian space.”
slovenia
Slovenia has become the first European country to proclaim an end to the coronavirus epidemic at home.
The government said the Covid-19 spread is under control and there is no longer a need for extraordinary health measures.
It said EU residents are free to cross into Slovenia from Austria, Italy and Hungary at predetermined checkpoints, while most non-EU nationals will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine in what is a major step for the small Alpine country as it accelerates the easing of restrictions.
germany
Germany’s most populous state has lifted a requirement for people arriving from other European countries to selfquarantine for 14 days, and other regions are expected to follow.
The rule expired in the western region of North Rhine-Westphalia at midnight yesterday. The state government said in a statement that Germany’s states agreed with the federal government on Thursday to exempt travellers from other countries in the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Britain and that they will implement that decision over the coming days.
china
China’s foreign minister said the country has brought the coronavirus outbreak under control as he lashed out at foreign politicians he accused of having “insisted on politicising the epidemic, labelling the virus, and smearing the World Health Organisation”.
Wang Yi’s comments, carried by the official Xinhua News Agency, appeared to be directed at the United States, where President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly castigated China for allegedly covering up the initial outbreak.
FEARS of spreading coronavirus complicated efforts to evacuate tens of thousands of people in the Philippines as a typhoon swept through the nation.
Fresh outbreaks of the virus are challenging public health networks worldwide, as well as testing the resolve of planners to reopen from pandemic shutdowns.
The strong typhoon hit the Philippines after authorities evacuated tens of thousands of people while trying to avoid the coronavirus risks of overcrowding emergency shelters.
The first typhoon to hit the country this year rapidly gained force as it blew from the Pacific then barged ashore in San Policarpio town in Eastern Samar province around noon local time on Thursday, weather agency administrator Vicente Malano said.
The typhoon came as the Philippines is trying to fight Covid-19 outbreaks largely by locking Filipinos in their homes and prohibiting gatherings that can set off infections. More than 11,600 infections, including 772 deaths, have been reported in the country.
Typhoon Vongfong, which had maximum sustained winds of 93mph and gusts of up to 115mph, was forecast to blow northwestward and barrel across densely populated eastern provinces and cities before exiting in the north on Sunday.
Overcrowding in emergency shelters is a common scene in the archipelago hit by about 20 typhoons and storms annually and regularly experiencing volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
Many officials faced a difficult dilemma on how to shield villagers from the double threats. Video showed fierce rain and wind swaying coconut trees, rattling tin roofs and obscuring visibility in Eastern Samar, where some towns lost power.