Open borders greet Europeans; COVID-19 grips Latin America
Italy reopened its borders to European travellers on Wednesday as the continent slowly emerged from quarantines to restart battered economies even as the coronavirus pandemic carved its deadly path through Latin America.
European nations among the hardest hit by the outbreak have mostly flattened out infection curves and turned to the task of balancing economic recovery against the risk of a second wave of cases.
The United States, with the highest death toll, and Latin America have emerged as new centres for infections of COVID-19 that has killed more than 380,000 people worldwide since it first emerged in China late last year.
Across the globe, nations are cautiously reopening schools, businesses and returning to life after months of quarantine.
Italy -- the first country badly hammered in Europe -- is leading the way to restart, hoping tourism will revive its recession-hit economy three months after the nation shut down.
International flights were only expected to resume in three main cities Milan, Rome and Naples, and some of Italy’s neighbours are not yet ready to lift travel restrictions there.
Austria said on Wednesday it would scrap virus controls on all land borders, except for Italy, still viewed by some of neighbours as a virus hotspot.
Germany will also lift its blanket travel warning for European nations from June 15, replacing it with warnings for individual countries.
An elementary school in the Netherlands closed in the city of The Hague after two teachers tested positive for COVID-19 and seven students developed gastrointestinal symptoms.
Sweden’s chief epidemiologist said the country should have done more to combat the coronavirus but backed the broad strategy, which avoided the strict lockdowns seen in many other countries.
London City Airport announced it would reopen at the end of June, with domestic services first and international flights expected to follow in early July.
Britain - with the second highest death rate in the world after the US at nearly 40,000 fatalities - is still advising against non-essential travel.
British doctors are trialling a formulation of anti-inflammatory ibuprofen to see if it reduces respiratory failure in patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19.
The trial involves a particular formulation of ibuprofen, which researchers said had been shown to be more effective than standard ibuprofen for treating severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a complication of COVID-19.
The formulation is already licensed for use in Britain for other conditions.
Meanwhile, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) on Wednesday announced 571 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 36,359.
Ministry also announced that 427 patients have fully recovered after treatment. The new recoveries brings the total number of recoveries in the UAE to 19,153.
It also announced the death of one person due to the complications, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 270 in the country.
Mosques in the Gaza Strip reopened on Wednesday after a 70-day closure due to the novel coronavirus, with one worshipper saying he was “overjoyed” despite fears over the pandemic.
Wearing a black face mask, an imam in Gaza City led the call to prayer as mosques reopened across the Palestinian enclave with health measures in place.
Worshippers were told to wear face masks inside mosques, which would be regularly disinfected as a precautionary measure, Gaza’s religious affairs ministry said.
Children and sick people were told not to attend prayers.
The number of Covid 19 cases in India has swished past 200,000, surging to 2,07,615 as of Wednesday morning.
In Pakistan two more lawmakers have died after testing positive for the coronavirus amid an alarming spike in infections.
Mian Jamshed Uddin Kakakhel, Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, and Shaukat Manzoor Cheema, who was a member of the Punjab assembly, both died on Wednesday.
Cheema was elected on a Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-N) ticket in 2018 from PP-51 Gujranwala constituency.
571 new cases and a death in UAE; mosques in Gaza reopen; two more Pakistani lawmakers die; COVID-19 cases cross 200,000 in India; British doctors trying ibuprofen as cure.