Spain looks to ease restrictions amid fears of new Asia hotspots
● Japanese slow to move to home working as Abe panned over video
Spanish authorities have let some workers begin returning to their jobs, but health minister Salvador Illa says the government will move carefully on allowing others to end their self-isolation amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Spanish government, looking to get the economy moving again, has allowed workers to return to some factory and construction jobs. But retail stores and services must remain closed and office workers have to keep working from home.
Ill a said officials will proceed with “the utmost caution and prudence… and always based on scientific evidence” in easing restrictions.
“We’re in no position to be setting dates” about when isolation might end, he told a Madrid news conference yes chung terday. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves.”
He said Spain, a country of 47 million people where the death toll officially attributed to the coronavirus is 17,489, is carrying out some 20,000 tests a day and plans to increase that number.
Interior minister Fernando Grande-marlaska said a programme to distribute ten million face masks began yesterday. “We’re still at an early stage” in fighting the coronavirus, Grande-marlaska said. “Once it is defeated, we will have to rebuild our country, socially and economically.”
Spain’s move came as South Korean officials warned that hard-earned progress fighting the coronavirus pandemic could be hit by new infections at bars and leisure spots.
South Korea’s caseload has slowed from early March, when it was reporting around 500 new cases a day, but officials warned of a broader “quiet spread”, pointing to transmissions at locations such as bars that may indicate eased attitudes towards social distancing.
South Korean prime minster Sye-kyun said officials were discussing new public guidelines that would allow people to engage in “certain levels of economic and social activity” while also maintaining distance to slow the spread of the virus.
Social distancing was still on full display for Easter Sunday celebrations around the globe, with many Christians marking the day isolated in their homes while clergy preached to empty pews.
US president Donald Trump in his Easter message paid tribute to the medical professionals, first responders and other essential workers striving to combat the pandemic. Mr Trump had suggested the US could emerge from widespread lockdowns by Easter.
Instead, the US is the new epicentre of the pandemic, with more than half a million cases and more than 22,000 deaths, the world’s highest.
About half the US deaths have been in the New York metropolitan area, but hospitalisations are slowing in the state and other indicators suggest that lockdowns and social distancing are “flattening the curve” of infections.
But while attention has focused on the US and southern Europe, new coronavirus hot spots have been emerging in Japan and Turkey.
Japan, the world’s third-biggest economy, has seen its number of new cases climb rapidly in recent days and now has 7,255 confirmed cases of the virus.
Japanese companies have been slow to switch to remote-working and people are still commuting, even after a state of emergency declaration for seven prefectures, including Tokyo.
In an effort to encourage citizens to stay at home, the government released a video showing prime minister Shinzo Abe cuddling his dog, reading a book, sipping from a cup and clicking a remote control at home. The message drew criticism that he did not understand the plight of those who cannot rest at home.
More than 1.8 million infections have now been reported and more than 114,000 people have died worldwide.