Nations pressured to lift lockdowns despite threats of 2nd wave

GENEVA (AP) — As the virus progresses at different speeds around the globe, there has been pressure in many countries to lift crippling lockdowns, despite experts’ warnings of a possible second wave of infections.

In Britain, which is set to begin lifting its lockdown today, senior advisors to the government warned that it was moving too quickly.

India said Saturday it would begin relaxing the world’s biggest lockdown in stages from early June, even as it marked another record daily rise in infections.

Iran, meanwhile, announced that collective prayers would resume in mosques, despite infections ticking back upwards in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country.

Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound — the third-holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia — reopened to worshippers yesterday.

With infection numbers falling in many of Europe’s most affected countries, the push to restart economies was gaining steam.

In Austria, hotels and cinemas were allowed to take in customers, provided they wear masks.

Across the Atlantic, the US capital Washington resumed outdoor dining, while on the West Coast, restaurants and hair salons in Los Angeles reopened.

New York City, the worst-hit American city with about 21,500 coronavirus deaths, is on track to begin reopening the week of June 8.

The overall US death toll has topped 103,000 out of more than 1.7 million cases of the virus.