How other countries are dealing with virus

CORONAVIRUS has infected almost 5.6 million people across the world and killed more than 350,000, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the latest updates on the pandemic from around the world:

■■HUNGARY

The Hungarian football federation says matches in the country can once again be held with spectators in the stadiums.

The announcement comes on the back of a government decree allowing the option amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Organisers are obliged to keep three seats empty between each occupied seat and no fan may sit directly behind or in front of another while players and essential personnel on or near the field during matches must recently have tested negative for coronavirus.

■■RUSSIA

The country continues to record high numbers of new cases even though its far-flung regions have increasingly moved to reopen the economy.

The government’s anticoronavirus taskforce reported 8,371 new infections yesterday, about the same as the previous day but lower than the peak levels of more than 11,000 cases earlier this month. The total number of infections topped 379,000, the world’s third-largest caseload behind the US and Brazil.

Russian officials reported 174 new deaths, repeating the highest daily toll recorded two days ago and bringing the total to 4,142. The Russian capital, which accounted for about half of all infections, eased the lockdown in place since late March, ordering non-food stores, dry cleaners and repair shops to reopen.

■■AUSTRALIA

A Catholic archbishop has accused the New South Wales government of inequitable pandemic rules by allowing up to 50 people into pubs while church congregations are limited to 10.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher encouraged Catholics to sign a petition calling on the administration to treat churches the same as pubs, restaurants and cafes. New pandemic restrictions that take effect on Monday increase the number of customers such commercial premises can hold from 10 to 50.

“Contrary to what has been said throughout this pandemic, we do not consider church attendance to be non-essential; indeed, nothing is more essential than the practice of our faith,” the petition said.

THE death toll from coronavirus has risen above 100,000 in the US, while there were also record numbers getting sick in India and worrying signs of a resurgence in South Korea.

The once-unthinkable milestone in the US means more Americans have died with the virus than were killed in the Vietnam and Korean wars combined.

“It’s a striking reminder of how dangerous this virus can be,” said Josh Michaud, associate director of global health policy with the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington.

But amid the devastating death toll, there are continued – and controversial – moves to kick-start the nation’s economy.

Las Vegas casinos and Walt Disney World have made plans to reopen, and crowds of unmasked Americans are expected to swarm beaches over the summer months.

Public health officials resurgence by the autumn.

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, issued a stern warning after watching video of Memorial Day crowds gathered at a pool party in Missouri.

“We have a situation in which you see that type of crowding with no masks and people interacting. That’s not prudent, and that’s inviting a situation that could get out of control,” he said.

Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 5.6 million people and killed over 350,000, with the US having the most confirmed cases and deaths, predict a according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Europe has recorded about 170,000 deaths.

The true death toll from the virus is widely believed to be significantly higher, with experts saying many victims died without being tested.

Early on, President Donald Trump downplayed the severity of the virus, likening it to flu, and predicted the US would not reach 100,000 deaths.

“I think we’ll be substantially under that number,” he said on April 10. Ten days later, he said: “We’re going toward 50,000 or 60,000 people.” Ten days after that: “We’re probably heading to 60,000, 70,000.”

Critics have said deaths spiked because he was slow to respond, but he has contended on Twitter that it could have been 20 times higher without his actions.

He has urged states to reopen their economies after months of stay-athome restrictions.

In India, meanwhile, home to more than 1.3 billion people, officials reported more than 6,500 new infections yesterday as cases continued to rapidly rise.

The surge comes as the nation’s two-month-old lockdown is set to end on Sunday, with the country also grappling with scorching temperatures and the worst locust invasion in decades.

This triple disaster drew biblical comparisons and forced officials to try to balance the competing demands of simultaneous public health crises: protection from eviscerating heat but also social distancing in newly reopened parks and markets.

The heat wave threatens to compound challenges of containing the virus, which has started spreading more quickly and broadly since the government began easing restrictions of one of the world’s most stringent lockdowns earlier this month.

“The world will not get a chance to breathe anymore. The ferocity of crises are increasing, and they’re not going to be spaced out,” said Sunita Narain of New Delhi’s Centre for Science and Environment.

Temperatures soared to 47.6C in the capital New Delhi this week, marking the warmest May day in 18 years, and 50C in the desert state of Rajasthan, after the world’s hottest April on record.

India suffers from severe water shortages and tens of millions lack running water and air conditioning, leaving many to seek relief under shady trees in public parks and stepwells, the ancient structures used to harvest rainwater.

At the same time, swarms of desert locusts have devastated crops in India’s heartland, threatening an already vulnerable region that is struggling with the economic cost of the lockdown.

Exasperated farmers have been banging plates, whistling or throwing stones to try to drive the locusts away, and sometimes even lighting fires to smoke them out.

The swarms appeared poised to head from Rajasthan north to Delhi, but on Wednesday a change in wind direction sent them southward toward the state of Madhya Pradesh instead.

KL Gurjar, a top official of India’s Locust Warning Organisation, said his 50-person team was scrambling to stop the swarms before breeding can take place during India’s monsoons, which begin in July.

Otherwise, he said, the locusts could destroy India’s summer crops.

India’s record single-day jump of more than 6,500 coronavirus cases yesterday, pushed up the total to 158,333 confirmed cases and 4,531 deaths.

Prime minister Narendra Modi’s government is preparing a new set of guidelines to be issued this weekend, possibly extending the lockdown in worst-hit areas while promoting economic activity elsewhere, with unemployment surging to 25%.

Rising numbers of positive Covid-19 have also been reported in South Korea, where officials reported 79 new cases – the biggest daily jump in more than 50 days.

The figures mark a big setback for a nation that has been held up as a model for containment.

Health officials warned the resurgence is getting harder to track and social distancing and other steps need to be taken.

The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said 67 of the 79 new cases reported were from the Seoul metropolitan area, where