Debate rages on when to reopen
A LACK of new hot spots in the coronavirus pandemic appeared to be holding yesterday, fuelling a debate about how soon authorities could start scaling back social restrictions and reopen economies.
While concerns remained over the virus’s fresh spread in places like Japan and Indonesia, nowhere was currently undergoing the explosion in hospitalisations and deaths that were seen earlier in China, southern Europe and parts of the US.
Even in New York – where deaths passed 10000 on Monday – governor Andrew Cuomo declared the “worst is over if we can continue to be smart”.
“I believe we can now start on the path to normalcy,” he said.
The number of people hospitalised with the virus in New York has almost flattened at just under 19000, once discharges and deaths are taken into account. That’s a relief after weeks of increases raised fears New York City hospitals would be overwhelmed.
Dr Sebastian Johnston, a professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London, said it appeared that Covid-19 illnesses had peaked in much of Europe, including France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Britain.
While the death toll in Britain climbed past 11300, the 717 deaths reported were the third daily decline in row, though it was unclear if that might in part be because of delays in reporting over the Easter holiday.
With physical distancing and lockdowns in place across a large portion of the world, grim projections that the virus that would spread with equal ferocity to other corners of the world have yet to materialise. But questions remain about what could happen once those measures are eased.
Health authorities have warned that easing up too soon could undo the hard-earned progress and lead to new outbreaks.
Governors on both coasts of the US announced that they would join forces to come up with a co-ordinated reopening at some point, setting the stage for potential conflict with President Donald Trump, who asserted that he was the ultimate decision-maker for determining how and when to reopen.
Trump continued those assertions during an afternoon White House briefing, pushing back against reporters’ questions about whether the president or governors had the authority to ease the restrictions. He said “the federal government has absolute power” in that decision-making process if it chooses to exercise it.
In some European countries, officials pointed to positive signs as they began prepping for the reopening of largely shuttered economies.
Italy’s day-to-day increase in infections was one of the lowest in weeks, bolstering a generally downward trend.
Some health experts and politicians argue that it is premature to ease the lockdown in a nation that has suffered more than 17 750 deaths and reported more than 170000 infections, second only to the US’s more than 582000 cases.
Spain Health Minister Salvador Illa said he would proceed with “the utmost caution and prudence… and always based on scientific evidence.”
Johnston said he worried the virus might take off across Latin America, Africa and South-East Asia. He also expressed concern about Russia.
More than 1.9 million infections have been reported and over 119 000 people have died worldwide, according to count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The figures certainly understate the true size and toll of the pandemic, due to limited testing, uneven counting of the dead and some governments’ desire to play down the extent of outbreaks.