Warm weather draws many outside, but wariness lingers
NEW YORK — Gorgeous spring weather across the United States and Europe on Saturday drew people outside to soak in the sun, even as additional coronavirus hot spots in Russia and Pakistan emerged.
Though grateful to be outdoors after being cooped up inside for weeks, people were still wary — masks were worn everywhere, even on southern U.S. beaches and by some joggers in Spain. A New York City farmers market enforced the 6 feet of space between people waiting to buy spring flowers, and mothers in Central Park reminded their kids to give people space. And small groups of picnickers kept their safe distances, while joggers moved past one another without a glance.
Retired New York attorney Stan Neustadter pulled down his mask to say that getting out has been important to his spirit. “Why live like a rabbit? Plus I’m approaching 78; I’ve had a great run,” Neustadter said.
Police and park officials were spread out across New York City, which sent out 1,000 officers to enforce social distancing on the warmest day since mid-March. But they were more likely to break up large groups, leaving the nuisances of social distancing to New Yorkers themselves.
“I believe with the warm weather, people will come outside,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday. “You can’t stay indoors all the time. People will come outside, and that’s great; go for a walk. But respect the social distancing and wear a mask.”
With gigs drying up at clubs and concert halls, German native Julia Banholzer, a saxophonist, said she has taken to playing in Central Park for whoever happens by. On Saturday, that was a steady stream of folks, most wearing masks, who left tips for her trio as they worked their way through a set of jazz standards.
“It’s great to have an audience after all these weeks,” she said. “All my dates have been canceled through September, and I don’t know if any will come back this year. New York is a tough place, but this is just another tough period we need to get through.”
COMPLIANCE IN NYC
The New York Police Department has made 60 arrests and issued 343 summonses related to social distancing since March 16.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea issued a stern warning after a series of clashes last week between police officers and members of Orthodox Jewish communities over social distancing.
“We will not tolerate it,” Shea said after community members flooded the streets for funeral processions. “You are putting my cops’ lives at risk, and it’s unacceptable.”
Enforcement has its limitations when it comes to social distancing, police concede, leaving it up to New Yorkers to play by the rules to help keep infections on the downturn.
“You’ve got to get voluntary compliance,” First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker has said.
Meanwhile, the Mount Sinai Health System said it’s shutting down the small field hospital it erected in Central Park through a partnership with a charity run by Christian evangelical preacher Franklin Graham.
Only eight patients remained at the makeshift hospital as of Saturday.
The virus killed 299 people in the state Friday, according to Cuomo. That brought the state’s official death toll to more than 18,900, a number that does not include 5,200 additional people in New York City whose deaths were blamed on the virus on death certificates, but whose infections haven’t been confirmed by lab tests.
In neighboring New Jersey, state parks reopened Saturday. Limited to 50% capacity in their parking areas, several had to turn away additional arrivals by the afternoon. But nearly everyone followed the rules on social distancing, and Gov. Phil Murphy said “so far, so good” at his daily briefing.
Margie Roebuck and her husband were among the first people on the sand at Island Beach State Park. “Forty-six days in the house was enough,” she said.
Meanwhile, fighter jets from the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds drew people outside as they flew over Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington and other cities in honor of health care 2 NATIONS’ STRUGGLES
Around the world, the pandemic’s danger was still evident. Russia and Pakistan reported their biggest one-day spikes in new infections.
Overall, Russia has reported about 124,000 cases and more than 1,200 deaths. True numbers are believed to be much higher because not everyone is tested. In the far northeast, 3,000 of 10,000 workers at a vast natural gas field tested positive, Russian news agencies reported.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said last week that officials are considering establishing temporary hospitals at sports complexes and shopping malls to deal with the influx of patients. Infection cases have reached the highest levels of government, with both the prime minister and the construction minister contracting the virus.
The number of people confirmed to have caught the virus rose by 9,623, the highest 24-hour jump since the pandemic reached the country, Russian officials said Saturday.
Despite lockdown measures, infection numbers have been rising at an alarming rate for days in the world’s largest country by area.
Moscow is the worst-affected part of Russia, accounting for about 62,600 cases, about half of the nationwide total.
Sobyanin said on state television that the capital’s lockdown would only be gradually lifted once the number of new infections reported daily was in decline.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin prolonged the country’s coronavirus quarantine regime until May 11.
Pakistan appears to be joining Russia with rapidly increasing case counts. On Saturday, Pakistan announced nearly 1,300 new cases, raising the total in the country of 220 million people to about 19,000.
Newspaper photos showed large numbers of the faithful at Pakistani mosques and only some practicing social distancing. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government said it might ease controls, but doctors have pleaded for stricter lockdowns and warned that an explosion of infections would overwhelm hospitals, as Pakistan has only 3,000 intensive care beds nationwide.
EUROPE REOPENING
The virus has killed more than 243,000 people worldwide, including more than 66,000 in the United States, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. Health experts warn that a second wave of infections could hit unless testing around the world is expanded dramatically.
In Spain, where covid-19 has caused more than 25,100 deaths, people ventured out Saturday for the first time since a March 14 lockdown.
“I feel good but tired. You sure notice that it has been a month, and I am not in shape,” 36-year-old Cristina Palomeque said in Barcelona. “Some people think it may be too early, as I do, but it is also important to do exercise for health reasons.”
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Spaniards deserved relief after weeks of confinement, but he asked citizens to remain vigilant.
“Until we have a vaccine, we are going to see more outbreaks,” Sanchez said. “What we need to guarantee is that these outbreaks do not put our national health system in danger.”
The next stage of the government’s plan to phase out the lockdown will start Monday, when restaurants, stores, bars and hotels are allowed to open under certain strict rules in four islands. Spain’s economy will contract more than 9% this year, Sanchez said, underscoring the importance of reopening businesses.
While Spain has been among Europe’s worst virus hot spots, new cases and fatalities are easing, a trend echoed elsewhere in Europe.
Germany reported the fewest deaths in five days and the slowest increase in new cases in four days. France, which plans to reopen shops starting May 11, recorded 166 new deaths linked to covid-19, the fewest since March 22.
In Italy on Friday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte took to Facebook to publicly apologize to Italians for delays in distributing virus-related financial aid and said he was open to a further easing of lockdown measures. Construction and manufacturing activities will resume next week, while retailers and museums are currently set to reopen on May 18 and bars and restaurants in June.
The government is trying to limit the economic effects of the pandemic by restarting some activities. It approved an initial $27.5 billion package of measures in March and plans to fund another stimulus package for the economy worth more than $60 billion.
Still, Italy’s retailers association forecast on Saturday that consumer spending in the country will decline 8% this year.
The United Kingdom’s government will give companies guidance within days on returning to work safely once restrictions ease. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration is reviewing whether it could relax the 6-foot social-distancing rule, which could allow more businesses and schools to reopen,
The Daily Telegraph reported. Government ministers have asked scientific advisers whether people need to stay so far apart, the paper said.
The Sun newspaper reported that the U.K. could begin relaxing restrictions on May 26.
STATES’ RULES
In some areas of the United States, reopening is being urged to ease the shutdown of businesses that plunged the global economy into its deepest slump since the 1930s and wiped out millions of jobs.
It has created a patchwork of rules across the 50 states. In South Carolina, where about 20% of the state’s revenue comes from tourism, beach hotels were allowed to reopen Friday. Webcams showed dozens of people on the beach Saturday, but pools were still closed. South Carolina also hasn’t reopened dine-in restaurants, unlike neighboring Georgia. Some U.S. states have yet to start the reopening process.
Business owners have also been left wondering whether customers will return. On a postcard-perfect spring day, Detroit’s Eastern Market had far fewer customers and vendors than normal at the farmers market.
Jill and Mark Thomas said they felt safe selling bottles of homemade wine from their Unwined Winery, but it wasn’t the same in the covid-19 world.
“It’s easier when you can get samples to people,” said Jill Thomas. “We’re not allowed to do that now.”
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and those with health problems, it can cause severe illness such as pneumonia, or death. Information for this article was contributed by David Porter, Jeffrey Collins, Joseph Wilson, David Rising, Jim Heintz, Jim Mustian and Tom Hays of The Associated Press; by Chiara Remondini, Marco Bertacche, John Follain, Charlie Devereux and Rodrigo Orihuela of Bloomberg News; and by staff members of Deutsche Presse-Agentur.