This is where we’ll close this live blog. To keep following global rolling coverage of the pandemic, head over to our new blog here.
Summary
Here are some of the key points from over the last six hours.
- The global death toll has passed 280,000. The total number of coronavirus fatalities stands at 282,495, according to Johns Hopkins University. Globally, 4,091,297 cases have been confirmed.
- ‘This is not the time to end the lockdown,’ Boris Johnson has said. In a speech condemned by some as confusing, the UK prime minister said some schools in England and some shops might be able to open next month, and the government was “actively encouraging” people to return to work if they cannot work from home. Johnson encouraged workers to avoid public transport, and said restaurants and cafes should not expect to open until at least July.
- South Africa has passed 10,000 confirmed cases. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa stands at 10,015, including 194 fatalities, health minister Zwelini Mkhize has announced. 84% of new cases are in Western Cape and Eastern Cape, and eight new deaths have been recorded.
- A leading Latin American airline has filed for bankruptcy. Avianca Holdings, Latin America’s No. 2 airline and one of the oldest in the world, has filed for bankruptcy, after failing to secure aid from Colombia’s government and with a bond payment deadline looming. Avianca could be one of the first major carriers worldwide to go under as a result of the pandemic.
- Poland must declare new election date within 14 days, the head of Poland’s electoral commission has said. The central European country had been due to hold a presidential election on Sunday and, while the vote was not officially cancelled or postponed, the electoral commission had said on Thursday it could not be held due to the coronavirus crisis.
- France will be exempt from UK’s quarantine restrictions. The British and French governments have released a joint statement saying that the French will be exempt from the UK’s proposed quarantine restrictions, following a call between the countries’ leaders.
- France has reported its lowest daily death toll since lockdown. France reported 70 more deaths from the coronavirus on Sunday, its lowest daily toll since the lockdown began on 17 March, as it prepared to ease restrictions. The new deaths brought the total toll in hospitals and nursing homes to 26,380.
- The WHO has suspended activity in Yemen’s Houthi-held areas. The World Health Organization has suspended staff activity at its hubs in Houthi-held areas of Yemen in a move sources said aimed to pressure the group to be more transparent about suspected coronavirus cases. The Houthis have reported just two cases, compared to the government’s 34.
That’s it from me for now, I’ll hand over to my colleague Helen Davidson in Sydney. Thanks for following along, particularly to those who wrote in. Take care.
Updated
Survey by @NEUnion: 49,000 members responded within an hour.
— Alice Woolley (@alicewoolley1) May 10, 2020
85% of them disagreed with Boris Johnson's plan to restart reception, year 1 and year 6 from 1 June.
89% who were parents said they felt it would be unsafe or very unsafe to send their own children back to school
Boris Johnson has been warned by trade unions that ordering many people back to work from as early as Monday is a “recipe for chaos” in the absence of urgent action to safeguard workers’ health, Richard Partington and Rob Davies write.
The UK prime minister said on Sunday that anyone who cannot work from home should be “actively encouraged” to return to their jobs from Monday. Detailing plans to gradually reopen the British economy after more than a month of tough controls during the health emergency, he said those in manufacturing and construction jobs in particular should be encouraged to return.
Read the full report here.
Updated
South Africa passes 10,000 confirmed cases
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa has topped 10,000, including 194 fatalities, health minister Zwelini Mkhize has announced.
“As of today, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa is 10,015,” the minister said in a statement. “We note with concern that the Western Cape and Eastern Cape combined comprises 84% of the total new cases.”
The death toll of 194 is an increase of eight on the previous figure.
Since 1 May the government has gradually eased the confinement measures put in place in late March to stem the spread of the virus. South Africa is the country worst-hit in sub-Saharan Africa.
Updated
Here’s a handy overview of how European countries are emerging from lockdown, courtesy of AFP.
- France: Hair salons, clothes shops, florists and bookshops will open again on Monday. Bars, restaurants, theatres and cinemas remain closed. Primary schools will take small numbers of pupils, depending on space. Masks will be obligatory on public transport. Everyone will be able to move outside without having to present a form on demand but people will only be able to go 100 kilometres from their place of residence.
- Belgium: Most businesses will open Monday, with social distancing. Masks are recommended. Cafes, restaurants and bars remain closed. In central Brussels there will be speed limits on cars and priority will be given to cyclists and pedestrians. Schools remain closed until 18 May.
- Britain: People will be actively encouraged to return to work from this week if they cannot work from home. Unlimited outdoor exercise will be allowed from Wednesday. From 1 June (at the earliest) nurseries and primary schools may reopen, and some non-essential shops. By July, at least some of the hospitality industry and other public places could be reopened.
- The Netherlands: Primary schools will partially reopen Monday. Driving schools, hair salons, physiotherapists and libraries also return, with social distancing measures.
- Switzerland: Primary and middle schools will reopen Monday, with classes often reduced in size. Restaurants, museums and bookshops will also open, with conditions. Meetings of more than five people remain banned.
- Spain: Half of Spain’s 47 million people will be able to meet with family or friends in gatherings of up to 10 as of Monday. Outdoor spaces at bars and restaurants can reopen with limited capacity. Hardest-hit Madrid and Barcelona are excluded from the easing, though football clubs FC Barcelona resumed training on Friday and Real Madrid will follow Monday. Only movements within provinces are authorised and cinemas and theatres remain closed. Schools will not start up again until September.
- Italy: While schools remain closed until September, factories, building sites and offices reopened on 4 May. Social distancing rules are in place in parks. Wearing masks is mandatory on public transport. All retail businesses will reopen on 18 May, as will museums, cultural sites, churches and libraries. Bars and restaurants will reopen from 1 June, along with hair and beauty salons.
- Germany: Eating in restaurants is now possible in the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the country’s first cafes and restaurants reopened on Saturday. Under Germany’s federal system, each of the 16 states makes its own decisions on how to emerge from lockdown and cafes and restaurants will reopen in a number of other states in the coming days and weeks. Most shops are already open and children are slowly returning to classrooms. Bundesliga football matches are also set to resume. Heeding signs of a second wave, German authorities have agreed to reimpose restrictions locally if an area has more than 50 new infections per 100,000 residents over a week.
- Austria: Hairdressers, tennis courts and golf courses reopened in the first weekend in May. Travel restrictions have been lifted and gatherings of up to 10 people are allowed, with social distancing. Masks are compulsory in public transport and shops. Final-year school students returned to class on 4 May ahead of a gradual return for others.
- Poland: Hotels can reopen on Monday but foreign tourists must quarantine for two weeks on arrival.
- Denmark: Shopping centres reopen in Denmark on Monday. Primary schools opened in mid-April and secondary schools will open on 18 May.
- Norway: Schools opened for pupils aged 6-10 at the end of April, and all classes will start again Monday. Bars and leisure centres remain closed until 1 June.
- Iceland: Universities, museums and hair salons reopened on 4 May.
- Finland: Schools will start up again on 14 May, with social distancing measures.
- Croatia: Outdoor spaces at bars and restaurants reopen Monday and gatherings of up to 10 people will be allowed. Kindergartens and schools will resume on a voluntary basis.
- Serbia: Nursery schools will welcome children from Monday.
- Greece: Following bookshops and hairdressers reopening on 4 May, all other shops will resume trading on Monday. Shopping centres remain closed until 1 June. The Acropolis and all archeological sites will reopen 18 May. Museums reopen on 15 June.
Updated
Overcrowding and outmoded design may have made Canada’s care homes more vulnerable to Covid-19, experts have said.
Jodi Hall, chair of the Canadian Association for Long Term Care, said the pandemic’s toll has highlighted the chronic problem of government underfunding of long-term care homes, CBC reports.
Many homes maintain four-bed, hospital-like wards, where residents are separated only by a curtain.
Around 80% of all Covid-19-related deaths in Canada have been in long-term care facilities, according to CBC.
In light of the devastating impact on homes, New Democratic party leader Jagmeet Singh has called for an end to privatised facilities, advocating a universal framework for senior care.
In an interview aired on its network, CTV reports Singh as saying the government must work to bring long-term care under the Canada Health Act and make it federally regulated, while abolishing the private system.
Updated
Avianca Holdings, Latin America’s No. 2 airline and one of the oldest in the world, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, as a bond payment deadline loomed and after pleas for aid from Colombia’s government to weather the coronavirus crisis have so far been unsuccessful.
If it fails to come out of bankruptcy, Avianca would be one of the first major carriers worldwide to go under as a result of the pandemic, which has resulted in a 90% decline in global air travel.
Avianca has not flown a regularly scheduled passenger flight since late March and most of its 20,000 employees have gone without pay through the crisis.
While Avianca was already weak before the coronavirus outbreak, its bankruptcy filing highlights the challenges for airlines that cannot count on state rescues to avoid bankruptcy restructuring. An Avianca representative told Reuters it is still trying to secure government loans.
Updated
Meanwhile in Poland, the head of the electoral commission has said that the speaker of parliament has 14 days to declare the date of a new presidential election, according to Reuters.
Poland had been due to hold a presidential election on Sunday and, while the vote was not officially cancelled or postponed, the electoral commission had said on Thursday it could not be held due to the coronavirus crisis.
Updated
The municipality of Kos, the Greek island home to Hippocrates, regarded as the father of medicine and author of the Hippocratic oath, has made this video thanking medical staff worldwide.
Following Boris Johnson’s announcement that English primary schools could partially reopen in June, have a read through this piece about how home schooling is - or isn’t - working around the world.
France exempt from UK's quarantine restrictions
Downing Street has just released a joint statement from the British and French governments, following a call between Boris Johnson and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
It says the French will be exempt from the UK’s proposed quarantine restrictions.
[The leaders] stressed the need for close bilateral, European and international cooperation in the fight against Covid-19.
The leaders spoke about the need to manage the risk of new transmissions arising from abroad, as the rate of coronavirus decreases domestically.
In this regard, the prime minister and the president agreed to work together in taking forward appropriate border measures. This cooperation is particularly necessary for the management of our common border.
No quarantine measures would apply to travellers coming from France at this stage; any measures on either side would be taken in a concerted and reciprocal manner. A working group between the two governments will be set up to ensure this consultation throughout the coming weeks.
For more on Boris Johnson’s speech, be sure to read political correspondent Peter Walker’s piece here.
Updated
Here’s Rowena Mason, the Guardian’s deputy political editor, on how the lockdown will be eased in England.
Boris Johnson’s new plans for a gradual easing of the lockdown could see primary schools in England, shops and nurseries partially reopening from June, some cafes or restaurants back from July, and more outdoor activity allowed in England from this Wednesday.
In an address to the nation, the prime minister said there was “no immediate end to the lockdown” as people will still be required to stay at home most of the time and to keep within their own household groups.
Updated
France reports lowest daily death toll in weeks
France reported 70 more deaths from the coronavirus on Sunday, its lowest daily toll in recent weeks just ahead of the first easing of an almost two-month lockdown.
The new deaths brought the total toll in hospitals and nursing homes from the pandemic in France to 26,380, the health ministry said.
It was the lowest daily toll announced since March 17, the day the lockdown in France began. Saturday had also seen a record low toll of 80 deaths.
France will on Monday emerge from its lockdown, although many restrictions will remain in place nationwide.
“Our efforts during the lockdown worked and saved thousands of lives,” said the health ministry.
“They need to succeed so that this new phase succeeds,” it added, warning that the epidemic is still “active and evolving”.
There has been a steady downward trend in France’s key coronavirus figures in recent days, although officials warn that caution is still needed and the risk of a second wave remains.
Continuing recent trends, there were 36 fewer coronavirus patients in total in intensive care for a total of 2,776 and 45 less in hospital for a total of 22,569 people.
The government has divided France into green and red areas for Monday’s easing of the lockdown, with Paris and three other regions classified as red seeing a more limited relaxation.
Updated
A reminder that you can get in touch with me on Twitter @cleaskopeliti with any stories, questions or suggestions. I won’t be able to reply to every message, but will do my best to read it all. Thanks to everyone who has already written in.
Head over to the UK blog to follow Boris Johnson’s speech about easing the lockdown. The PM has stressed that the lockdown cannot end this week, as the conditions have not been met.
Updated
Meanwhile in Algeria, analysts are saying the regime is exploiting the coronavirus to defeat a protest movement that has shaken it to its core over the past year.
Despite protesters deciding to suspend their weekly gatherings since the start of the public health crisis, repression of regime opponents has persisted, according to AFP. Security forces have targeted young bloggers, independent journalists, online media and activists from the “Hirak” protest movement.
Rapidly adopted laws ostensibly aimed at preventing the dissemination of false news and hate speech have further stoked fears of an orchestrated campaign to muzzle free expression. The new laws “aim to repress citizens’ freedom of expression”, said lawyer and activist Abdelouhab Chiter, a lecturer at the University of Bejaia.
A law on “spreading false information”, he said, “was debated and passed by parliament in a single sitting, in the absence of almost half of its members”.
Akram Belkaid, a journalist for the Oran daily, warned of “a return to the iron fist as in the 1970s”.
“Hirak won the first leg of the game,” he said. “The regime is on course to win the second leg, and its true goal is to prevent any further rematches being held at all - or in other words, to prevent protests reoccurring once the pandemic has been overcome.”
Karima Direche, a historian specialising in contemporary Maghreb region affairs, said the pandemic was “bread from heaven for the regime”.
“The confinement period lends itself to police and judicial harassment. This explains the dozens of arrests of known and unknown people in all Algeria’s cities,” she said.
WHO suspends activity in Yemen's Houthi-held areas
The World Health Organization (WHO) has suspended staff activity at its hubs in Houthi-held areas of Yemen, a directive seen by Reuters showed, in a move sources said aimed to pressure the group to be more transparent about suspected coronavirus cases.
War-ravaged Yemen is divided between the internationally recognised government temporarily based in the south and the Houthi movement that ousted it from power in the capital, Sanaa, in the north in late 2014.
The Saudi-backed government has so far reported 34 cases of the coronavirus with seven deaths in the territory it controls, while the Houthis, who control most large urban centres, have recorded just two cases with one death.
The WHO directive issued late on Saturday notified staff in Sanaa, in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, in the northern province of Saada and the central province of Ibb that “all movements, meetings or any other activity” for all staff in those areas were paused until further notice.
The WHO did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Three sources told Reuters that the WHO had taken the measure to press the Houthi authorities to report results of tests for Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus. The Saudi-backed government has accused Houthi authorities of covering up an outbreak in Sanaa, a charge the group denies.
The WHO has said it fears Covid-19 could rip through Yemen as the population has some of the lowest levels of immunity to disease compared with other countries. Minimal testing capacity has added to concerns.
Updated
Summary
Here are some of the key points from over the last few hours:
- Global cases are at over 4 million. The total number of confirmed cases stands at 4,055,863, while the global death toll has reached 279,892, according to Johns Hopkins. The US has reported the most fatalities, at 78,862, followed by the UK (31,662) and Italy (30,395).
- Italy has recorded its lowest daily infection rise in two months, with 802 new infections registered on Sunday. The country recorded 165 new coronavirus fatalities, bringing the death toll to 30,560.
- Over 90 percent of Tokyo’s coronavirus hospital beds are occupied, the Japanese health ministry has announced. Tokyo, which represents nearly a third of Japan’s total infections, stands in contrast with the rest of the nation, where the bed occupancy rate is at 38 percent.
- Greece will extend to the lockdown on migrant camps, which had been expected to be lifted from Monday, to 21 May. The Greek government started easing measures for the wider public on Monday, after imposing a series of measures in late March.
- Lebanon’s army has said 13 soldiers at a military court have contracted the coronavirus. The army said it had taken “all necessary preventive and medical measures”, while some 40 lawyers have been tested and other soldiers and judges will be tested on Monday.
- Austria’s finance ministry has said companies are abusing state subsidies for staff, after spot checks found hundreds of violations of the law. Austria has authorised 10 billion euros to support short hours, and 350 financial police officers have been doing spot checks on businesses for three weeks to measure companies’ compliance.
- Italy has tightened up rules for the release of mafia mobsters, following public outcry. A decree adopted overnight now requires any release to be reviewed every fortnight to ensure that it was fully justified, following some 376 mafiosi and drug dealers, including notorious Cosa Nostra boss Francesco Bonura, being transferred to house arrest.
- Turkey has relaxed restrictions for senior citizens, allowing over-65s to venture outside for the first time in seven weeks on Sunday. As part of a rolling program of reduced controls, they are now allowed out for four hours, after being subjected to a stay-at-home curfew since 21 March.
- China has reported a possible new wave of cases in the northeast of the country, with one city in Jilin province being reclassified as high-risk. Jilin officials raised the risk level of the city of Shulan to high from medium, following eleven news cases being confirmed on Saturday.
- China has hit back against ‘preposterous allegations’, issuing a 30-page rebuttal of what it termed “preposterous allegations” by some leading US politicians, including secretary of state Mike Pompeo, over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
India’s train network - one of the world’s largest - will “gradually” restart operations from Tuesday as India eases its coronavirus lockdown, as the number of cases passed 60,000 with more than 2,000 deaths.
Some 30 train journeys - 15 pairs of return trips - will run from the capital New Delhi to other cities including Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, Indian Railways said late Sunday.
“Indian Railways plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from 12th May, 2020... Thereafter, Indian Railways shall start more special services on new routes,” the railways ministry added in a statement.
“It will be mandatory for the passengers to wear face cover and undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train.”
The vast train network, which had carried more than 20 million passengers daily, was halted in late March as India imposed a strict lockdown to stem the spread of the virus.
A limited number of services have been operating in recent days to help stranded poor, rural migrant workers who lost their jobs in the lockdown to return to their villages.
India has started to ease its lockdown, which is due to lift on May 17, but interstate public transport and domestic and international flights had so far remain grounded.
Authorities on Sunday reported 62,939 cases with 2,109 deaths, with recent days having seen record jumps.
Italy records lowest daily infection rise in two months
Italy recorded 165 new coronavirus fatalities on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 30,560, while the number of new infections rose by 802, the lowest daily rise since 6 March.
2,150 people were registered as recovered on Sunday, bringing the total number of survivors to 105,186.
Italy, which started easing lockdown restrictions last Monday, has so far recorded 219,070 cases.
Updated
More than 90 percent of hospital beds secured for Covid-19 patients in Tokyo have already been occupied, the Japanese health ministry has announced, underscoring the pressing need to curb the further spread of the coronavirus.
The ministry said 1,832 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised in the capital as of April 28, or 91.6 percent of the 2,000 beds made available for such patients. The Tokyo metropolitan government aims to boost the number of beds for Covid-19 patients to 4,000 eventually.
“There is a possibility that the virus will spread further. It is necessary to bring closer the number of beds from 2,000 to such target quickly,” a health ministry official told Reuters.
About 5,000 people in Tokyo were confirmed to have been infected with the virus, representing nearly one-third of Japan’s total infections of around 16,000, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Nationwide, the number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients came to 5,558 as of April 28, versus 14,486 beds set aside for those with the lung disease caused by the virus, bringing down the occupancy rate to 38 percent, data from the ministry showed.
Greece extends migrant camp lockdown
Greece will extend the coronavirus lockdown imposed in March on migrant camps, which had been expected to be lifted from Monday, the authorities said.
“The coronavirus measures of confinement for those living in migrant camps and in reception centres in Greece are prolonged until 21 May,” the migration and asylum ministry said in a statement on Sunday, six days after the first easing of the general lockdown in the country
The ministry did not say why the camp lockdown was being extended, AFP reports.
The Greek government adopted a whole series of anti-coronavirus measures in late March but began easing them from Monday last week given the apparent success made in keeping the outbreak in check.
In Greece as a whole, some 2,710 cases of coronavirus have been recorded and 151 deaths.
People can now leave their homes without authorisation and on Monday, some shops will open and final year school pupils will return to class.
Until now, there have been no coronavirus cases in the Aegean island camps, according to authorities. On the mainland, however, two camps and a hotel accommodating asylum-seekers were locked down in April after positive coronavirus tests were returned.
According to the UNHCR, the total number of asylum-seekers in Greece is around 120,000. In April, on the five Greek Aegean islands where many have been housed waiting to be processed, there were 38,291 migrants, down from 42,052 in February, the UN body said.
On Sunday, 137 asylum-seekers are expected to be transferred from Lesbos to the mainland. The Greek government has promised to transfer 2,000 asylum- seekers from the islands to the mainland in order to ease the pressure on the camps there.
Rights groups say this is not enough to produce a real improvement in conditions, especially given the dangers from the coronavirus pandemic. They also fear that asylum-seeker rights are being eroded by the measures taken to curb the virus’s spread but officials insist that Athens will continue to respect its international obligations.
Updated
Some Austrian companies are abusing state subsidies for staff on short-time working or using illegal workers during the coronavirus pandemic, the finance ministry has said after spot checks found hundreds of violations of the law.
The short-hours regime, known in German as Kurzarbeit, is the main vehicle for preventing mass layoffs. The state helps top up pay for staff who remain on the payroll but work only a fraction of their normal hours given a sharp drop-off in demand.
Austria has authorised 10 billion euros to support short hours, and 350 financial police officers have been doing spot checks on businesses for three weeks to measure companies’ compliance.
Inspections of 5,119 people at 1,946 companies uncovered 460 violations of laws. Authorities have filed complaints against 31 people suspected of abusing the short-time working scheme, and nine on short hours for tax evasion, a ministry statement said.
Some companies were taking state subsidies while letting staff work more than allowed, the ministry added.“There is zero tolerance towards those who want to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense,” finance minister Gernot Bluemel said.
People convicted of abusing subsidies face imprisonment of up to five years in addition to tough penalties for forging documents and fraud.
Updated
Lebanon: 13 soldiers at military court diagnosed with Covid-19
Lebanon’s army has said 13 soldiers at a military court have contracted the coronavirus, as state media said judges would be tested for the illness, AFP reports.
Lebanon has so far announced 845 cases of COVID-19, including 26 deaths.
The country started to lift confinement measures this week, although the number of cases has increased in recent days, including among Lebanese repatriated from abroad.
The army said it has recorded “13 cases among members at the military court”, and that it had taken “all necessary preventive and medical measures”.
Some 40 lawyers who had been to court in the past week were tested, with results expected on Monday, the state-run National News Agency said.
Judges and other soldiers would be tested from Monday too, it said. The lawyers syndicate said all its buildings would be closed Monday to disinfect them.
Lebanon started on Monday the gradual lifting of confinement measures in place since mid-March, re-opening restaurants and hairdressers.
But with the number of virus cases rising, Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi warned that failure to comply with social distancing measures would result in the re-imposition of stricter lockdown measures.
Updated
Brazil’s provocateur president has continued to brush off the coronavirus, taking a spin on a jet-ski to a floating barbecue and attacking Covid-19 “neurosis” as his country’s death toll rose to more than 10,000, Tom Phillips reports.
Jair Bolsonaro has faced domestic and international condemnation for his dismissive attitude toward the pandemic. The rightwing populist continues to play down the disease despite the growing evidence of its deadly impact on Brazil.
Read the full story here.
Updated
Hello, I’ll be running the blog for the next few hours. Please feel free to get in touch with any news tips, suggestions or feedback. You can DM on Twitter @cleaskopeliti or drop me an email at clea.skopeliti.casual@guardian.co.uk. Thanks very much.
Iran: many worry about new spike in infections
While many people in Iran’s capital are taking advantage of loosened Covid-19 controls, some worry about a new spike in infections in what remains the Middle East’s deadliest virus epicentre.
“The line of fools,” muttered shopkeeper Manouchehr, peering disdainfully at a queue of customers outside a foreign currency dealer in the Sadeghieh district of western Tehran.
Many in the long line stood close to one another and did not wear masks.
A traffic policeman told AFP such queues have appeared regularly ever since the money changers reopened. People rarely observe basic anti-contagion protocols, he complained.
The government began paring back coronavirus controls outside Tehran a month ago, arguing that the economy – already sagging under punitive US sanctions – needed to get back to bare bones operations.
It allowed small businesses to reopen in the capital a week later, before permitting malls to welcome customers on 21 April and barbers on Wednesday.
At 802, declared daily infections in Iran on 2 May had reached their lowest level since early March. But this critical daily number has since begun resurging, breaching 1,500 on Saturday and, the following day, taking the total number of confirmed infections beyond 107,000.
“The situation should in no way be considered normal,” said health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, who warned of “a critical situation” in parts of the country.
In the capital, a member of the virus taskforce warned that current health protocols could not contain the spread of the illness in Tehran.
“With businesses reopening, people have forgotten about the protocols,” Ali Maher told ISNA news agency, adding that “maybe it was too soon” to return to normal life.
Updated
New clusters of coronavirus infections are igniting concerns about a second wave even as calls grow in some countries to relax restrictions even further.
In Germany, where thousands have protested in recent days against the remaining restrictions, health officials say the number of people each confirmed coronavirus patient infects rose above one again, reflecting a renewed increase in cases. The number must be below one for outbreaks to decline.
Worldwide, health officials are anxiously watching to see just how much infection rates rise in a second wave as nations and states emerge from varying degrees of lockdown.
China reported 14 new cases on Sunday, its first double-digit rise in 10 days. Eleven of 12 domestic infections were in the northeastern province of Jilin, which prompted authorities to raise the threat level in one of its counties, Shulan, to high risk, just days after downgrading all regions to low risk.
Authorities said the Shulan outbreak originated with a 45-year-old woman who had no recent travel or exposure history but spread it to her husband, her three sisters and other family members. Train services in the county were being suspended.
South Korea reported 34 more cases as new infections linked to nightclub-goers threatens the countrys hard-won gains against the virus. It was the first time that South Koreas daily infections were above 30 in about a month.
Across Europe, many nations were easing lockdowns even further even as they prepared to clamp down on any new infections.
Turkey’s senior citizens on Sunday got their first chance in seven weeks to venture outside in seven weeks.
France, which has a similar number of infections as Germany but a far higher death toll at over 26,300, is letting some younger students return to school Monday after almost two months out.
With tourism a major industry in Italy, hotel owners, tour guides, beach resorts and others who depend heavily on the summer holiday season are pressing to know when citizens can travel across the country. In an newspaper interview on Sunday, the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, promised that the restriction on inter-regional movement would be lifted but only after authorities better determine how the virus outbreak evolves.
Residents in some Spanish regions will be able to enjoy limited seating at bars, restaurants and other public places on Monday but Madrid and Barcelona, the country’s largest cities, will remain shut down.
Updated
As Donald Trump tries to move on from the coronavirus, Congress is rushing to fill the void and prepare the country for the long fight ahead.
Jolted by the lack of comprehensive federal planning as states begin to reopen, lawmakers of both parties, from the senior-most senators to the newest house member, are jumping in to develop policies and unleash resources to prevent a second wave.
In the House and Senate, lawmakers are pushing sweeping proposals for a national virus testing strategy. One seasoned Republican wants a war-like public health fund. A New Jersey freshman launched neighboring colleagues on a regional bipartisan task force to help guide Northeastern states back to work.
“This is going to be on us,” said Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., a former Navy helicopter pilot in her first term in Congress.
The legislative branch is stepping up in the absence of a consistent, convincing White House strategy, in much the way governors have been forced to go it alone during the nations pandemic response.
Congress is preparing its fifth coronavirus aid package, a Rooseveltian effort, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York put it. It’s a Democratic-heavy plan that wary Republicans are watching, despite support in the party for some provisions.
Unlike the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks, when President George W. Bush called on Congress to create a Department of Homeland Security, or during the Great Depression, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt led the nation to the New Deal, Trump is not seeking a legacy-defining accomplishment in the heat of national crisis.
Turkey’s senior citizens got their first chance to venture outside in seven weeks on Sunday under relaxed coronavirus restrictions.
People aged 65 and over — the age group most at risk from the virus — were subjected to a stay-at-home curfew on 21 March.
As part of a rolling program of reduced controls, they are now allowed out for four hours. People under 20, who are also subject to a curfew, will be allowed outside for a similar period later this week.
“It’s very nice to be out of the house after such a long time,” said Ethem Topaloglu, 68, who wore a medical mask as he strolled in a park in Ankara, the capital. “Although I’ve been able to sit on the balcony, it’s not the same as walking around outside.”
The relaxed curfew for over-65s came during the fifth weekend of lockdowns in Turkey’s largest cities. Health minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted his thanks to the elderly for their great support in fighting the outbreak by staying at home and reminded them to wear masks outside.
Turkey has recorded 137,115 infections, including 3,739 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Updated
Italy has tightened up rules for the release of mafia mobsters from jail due to coronavirus fears after public outcry.
A decree adopted overnight now requires that any release is to be reviewed every fotnight to ensure that it was fully justified.
Some 376 mafiosi and drug dealers have been moved from jails to house arrest since March and judges were examining release requests from 456 others, the Repubblica daily reported on Thursday.
Those freed include notorious Cosa Nostra boss Francesco Bonura, 78, and Franco Cataldo, 85, who was part of a gang which murdered the teenage son of a turncoat in 1996 and dissolved his body in acid.
The releases followed widespread riots in prisons in March by inmates fearful of catching the virus, which has killed some 30,000 people in Italy, but there was much public unease given the seriousness of some of their crimes, prompting the government to backtrack.
“No one can think they can take advantage of the health emergency caused by the coronavirus to get out of prison,” Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede told the AGI news agency.
“There is a new rule now which is going to put things straight,” Bonafede said.
Updated
Israel partly reopened nurseries and kindergartens today, increasing the number of children who have returned to daycare as part of efforts to revive the economy.
The country shut down the educational system in mid-March as contagions spiked.
With the new case rate levelling out, classes resumed last week for the first three and last two grades of school, freeing up parents to go back to work.
As with school pupils, preschoolers were allowed back with enhanced hygience requirements and group sizes capped - 17 for nurseries, 18 for kindergartens - to allow for social distancing.
Kindergartens are for now accommodating the overflow by admitting children on a rotating half-week basis. Nurseries, by contrast, have allowed only 70% of children back, on full-week schedules, the Labor and Welfare Ministry said.
In selecting which nursery children return, staff give priority to those from broken families or with single or working mothers, a ministry spokeswoman said. “We are trying to find creative solutions for the other 30%,” she said.
Israel, with a population of about nine million, has reported 16,458 new coronavirus cases and 248 deaths. Under nationwide business closures, unemployment has hit 27%.
Officials have said that if the partial reopening of schools and return of preschoolers does not unleash uncontrollable new contagions, the rest of Israel’s educational system could be operating by the end of May.
The Education Ministry is also looking at the possibility of extending studies into the summer holiday to make up for lost time.
China reports possible new wave of coronavirus cases
Chinese authorities have reported what could be the beginning of a new wave of coronavirus cases in the northeast of the country, with one city in Jilin province being reclassified as high-risk.
Jilin officials raised the risk level of the city of Shulan to high from medium, having raised it to medium from low just the day before after one woman tested positive on Thursday.
Eleven new cases in Shulan were confirmed on Saturday, all of them members of her family or people who came into contact with her or family members, Reuters reported.
Shulan has increased virus-control measures, including a lockdown of residential compounds, a ban on non-essential transportation and school closures, the Jilin government said.
The new cases pushed the overall number of new confirmed cases in mainland China on Saturday to 14, according to the National Health Commission on Sunday – the highest number since April 28.
Among them was the first case for more than a month in the city of Wuhan in central Hubei province where the outbreak was first detected late last year.
Updated
As the lockdown lifts in Greece, people in the county – like many others in Europe – have been left astonished and alarmed by the UK government’s handling of the public health emergency. Britain’s chaotic strategy, initial soft-touch approach and high death toll have been met with disbelief in a country that, despite the eviscerating effects of a near decade-long debt crisis, has kept the virus under control.
“Johnson’s management of the pandemic has been almost Mediterranean in style, flippant and carefree,” said the economic analyst Antonis Papagiannidis. “You can’t help but think that people have been left to rot, that the interests of the economy were put before health.”
China hits back against 'preposterous allegations'
China has issued a lengthy rebuttal of what it said were 24 “preposterous allegations” by some leading US politicians, including secretary of state Mike Pompeo, over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Chinese foreign ministry has dedicated most of its press briefings over the past week to rejecting accusations that China had withheld information about the coronavirus outbreak and that it had originated in a laboratory in the city of Wuhan, Reuters reported.
A 30-page, 11,000-word article posted on the ministry website on Saturday night repeated and expanded on the refutations, and began by invoking Abraham Lincoln, the 19th-century US president.
As Lincoln said, you can fool some of the people all the time and fool all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
Attempting to quash suggestions that the virus was deliberately created or somehow leaked from the Wuhan institute of virology, the article added that all the evidence shows the virus is not man-made and that the institute is not capable of synthesising a new coronavirus.
Updated
Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires and Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
When Alberto Fernández took office as Argentina’s president in December, his inauguration was boycotted by Brazil’s hard-right leader, who dismissed Fernández and his vice-president, the two-time former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, as “leftwing bandits”.
For Jair Bolsonaro, Argentina’s new Peronist government represented a throwback to the “pink tide” of Latin American leaders which coincided with Fernández de Kirchner’s time in office from 2007 to 2015. “Argentina is starting to head in the direction of Venezuela,” Bolsonaro predicted.
Five months on, it is Brazil that is heading in the direction of a humanitarian emergency, amid a devastating coronavirus outbreak propelled by Bolsonaro’s dismissive attitude towards the pandemic.
In contrast, Argentina swiftly imposed a national lockdown, and appears to have successfully flattened the curve of contagion.
“You can recover from a drop in the GDP,” Fernández has said about his decision to implement an early lockdown. “But you can’t recover from death.”
It’s been called the four-person puzzle. If you could only have the same four family members or friends to dinner for a few weeks of coronavirus lockdown, who would you choose? That is the dilemma the Belgian government has handed its citizens as it moves to the next phase in easing restrictions on everyday life.
From Sunday, every household in Belgium can invite up to four guests to their home. Two sets of four people make a “corona bubble”, who can visit each other’s homes. No one else is allowed into the domestic social circle. The concept, also being discussed by the British government, opens up the biggest social minefield of the coronavirus lockdown.
Belgium’s prime minister, Sophie Wilmès, announced the plan last week, after being accused of prioritising the economy over people’s wishes to be reunited with friends and family. Allowing social bubbles to start on Sunday, Mother’s Day in Belgium and much of continental Europe, is no accident.
Updated
Flamingos are continuing to flourish in an Albanian coastal lagoon as the drop in air and marine traffic offers wildlife respite.
Similarly to in Mumbai, where thousands of flamingos have flocked, local officials and residents have said the flamingo population is up to about 3,000 at Narta Lagoon, an important waterfowl habitat south-west of Tirana that flamingos returned to in recent years after a long absence.
Bird watchers also have noticed more pelicans, herons and other species this spring at the 28 square mile lagoon amidst the lockdown measures.
Dhimiter Konomi, who is part of a local group that manages commercial fishing in Narta Lagoon, said:
Isn’t that beautiful to see fearless flamingos all around?
Summary
Global cases at over 4 million
Global coronavirus cases stand at 4,024,973, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker, with global deaths at 279,321. The US has the most fatalities, at 78,794, followed by the UK (31,662) and Italy (30,395).
UK death toll ‘could hit 100,000 if lockdown eased too fast’
The Sunday Times is reporting that the UK death toll could climb to 100,000 if lockdown restrictions ease too quickly. At 7pm BST on Sunday, British prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions, but some scientists are worried about a second wave of the virus. According to the report the PM has been warned of having “very little room to manoeuvre” by his top scientific advisors and told Britain could suffer more than 100,000 deaths by the end of the year if ministers relax the lockdown too far and too fast, the paper reports a scientific adviser telling the government last night.
New infections on rise in Germany
New coronavirus infections are accelerating again in Germany just days after its leaders loosened social restrictions, raising concerns that the pandemic could once again slip out of control. The Robert Koch Institute for disease control said in a daily bulletin the number of people each sick person now infects – known as the reproduction rate, or R – had risen to 1.1.
France reports new cluster hours before lockdown ends
Hours before France ends its strict seven-week coronavirus lockdown on Monday, a worrying new Covid-19 cluster has been reported in the Dordogne. The outbreak has been traced back to the funeral of a 51-year-old man in the small village of L’Eglise-Neuve-de-Vergt – population 500 – south of Périgueux. The man did not die of Covid-19.
Bars closed in South Korean capital
Seoul, the South Korean capital, has closed bars and clubs over fears of a second virus wave, after more than two dozen cases were linked to a 29-year-old man who tested positive after spending time at five clubs and bars in Itaewon last weekend.
Three White House taskforce members self-quarantine
Three members of the White House coronavirus taskforce, including Dr Anthony Fauci, placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.
Sweden apologises for failing to protect older people
“We failed to protect our elderly. That’s really serious, and a failure for society as a whole.” Sweden’s government has apologised for not protecting older people, with 90% of the country’s Covid-19 deaths occurring in the over-70s.
Japan sees rise in bullying of sick people
There has been an onslaught of bullying and discrimination against the sick, their families and health workers in Japan, with the PM labelling such behaviour “shameful”.
Musk says he may quit California
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has threatened to pull his factory and headquarters out of California, saying health authorities have gone overboard in their corona protection measures, which do not allow Tesla to open.
Djibouti, the tiny Horn of Africa nation with the highest number of coronavirus cases on the continent per capita, reversed plans to begin lifting lockdown measures this week, saying it was premature.
“The government, through the voice of the prime minister, has decided to extend the confinement for another week until 17 May,” Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said in a Twitter post.
“Noting that the prerequisite conditions are not yet in place, the government made this decision just now,” he said.
The tiny but strategically important country that hosts major US and French military bases has recorded 1,189 positive cases - few on a global scale, but the highest number in East Africa. Three people have died.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says Djibouti has the highest number of cases in Africa relative to its population, though its testing has also outpaced many of its neighbours.
On March 23 the government announced a nationwide lockdown, closing borders and places of worship, banning public transport and allowing only workers in essential industries to go outside.
Yet the measures have been largely ignored, with large crowds still common in the capital city.
President Ismail Omar Guelleh, in power since 1999, warned last month of “even tougher measures” if the population did not respect confinement rules.
Kyrgyzstan will end the toughest restrictions it introduced to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, such as curfews, and allow certain businesses to reopen from Monday, the Central Asian nation’s government said today.
The former Soviet republic will in the meantime keep in place lockdown regulations barring travel between provinces, the cabinet said.
Among the businesses allowed to reopen from 11 May are providers of maintenance, cleaning and financial services, lawyers, property and tourist agents, as well as some non-food retailers.
Kyrgyzstan, which borders China, has confirmed 1,002 Covid-19 cases, of which 12 have died and 675 people have recovered.
Updated
Spain has logged its lowest single-day death toll in almost two months as around half the country prepares to move into the next phase of the lockdown de-escalation plan on Monday.
According to the latest figures from the health ministry, there were 143 deaths over the past 24 hours, and new 621 new cases. To date, Spain has confirmed 224,390 cases and 26,621 deaths.
From Monday, 51% of the country will see a loosening of one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns that will allow groups of up to 10 people to meet while observing social distancing rules.
Small businesses will be allowed to open, while cafes and restaurants will be able to open their outdoor terraces, which can operate at 50% capacity. Places of worship will also reopen, but will need to to operate at 30% capacity.
The easing of restictions has been decided on a region-by-region basis. The Madrid and Barcelona regions - two of the hardest-hit parts of Spain - will not be able to move into the next phase for the time being as they do not currently meet the health ministry’s de-escalation criteria.
The health minister has warned that the transition to what the government calls “the new normality” cannot be rushed.
“I want to insist that this is not a race, decisions must be based on cooperation and caution,” Salvador Illa said on Friday.
Antibody testing at a hospital in Lodi, the province in Lombardy where the first domestic transmission of coronavirus was detected in Italy, has shown that 20% of health workers had contracted the illness without knowing.
The hospital, where Italy’s ‘Patient 1’ was treated, is the first to complete serological tests on all of its 2,243 staff as part of a region-wide programme. In addition to the 296 staff who had tested positive for the virus up until 8 May, 77 had been infected but showed no symptoms.
The antibody testing programme got underway across Lombardy on 23 April, with 33,306 people so far tested, of which 25,331 are healthcare workers.
Lombardy is the region of Italy most severely affected by the virus, accounting for almost half of the country’s 30,395 fatalities.
Italy registered 194 new deaths on Saturday as the number of active infections fell to 84,842 and the number of people who have recovered rose to over 103,000.
The country began easing lockdown restrictions last Monday, allowing people to visit relatives and partners within their regions and go for a walk or exercise in the park.
People must still maintain social distancing, but images of busy parks in Milan and Turin over the weekend, as well as of people gathering for drinks in the Navigli canal district in Milan, have sparked criticism.
Milan’s mayor, Beppe Sala, said he was “pissed off” at the scenes of socialising in Navigli, and warned he would close the area completely if citizens didn’t respect the rules. Bars and restaurants across Italy can provide takeout services, but people aren’t allowed to gather outside.
With travel between regions still banned, the majority of Italians are respecting the lockdown rules and staying home, venturing out only for essential reasons.
Hours before France ends its strict seven-week coronavirus lockdown on Monday, a worrying new Covid-19 cluster has been reported in the Dordogne.
The outbreak has been traced back to the funeral of a 51-year-old man in the small village of L’Eglise-Neuve-de-Vergt – population 500 – south of Périgueux. The man did not die of Covid-19.
Local newspapers Midi Libre and Sud Ouest reported that about 20 people had gathered to pay their respects to the man, while allegedly following the distancing rules. However, afterwards many more turned up to the cemetery, some from Switzerland and Portugal from where the dead man originated.
Afterwards, a member of the family went to his local GP with Covid-19 symptoms and tested positive. The following day, five others were found to have been infected. The regional health agency identified, traced and tested those who had been in contact with those infected individuals, a total of 127 people. According to partial results, nine tested positive. The results of 63 tests are still not known.
“The situation has been brought under control,” a health official said.
During a press conference, local prefect Frédéric Perissat said the cluster was “an illustration of what we are hoping not to live through in the next few weeks”.
“There’s a slackening off, people gather in a group of 20 or 30 and one person contaminates others,” Perissat said.
The Dordogne department is “green” in the government’s coronavirus map, suggesting the virus is not circulating widely and the hospital intensive care departments are not “saturated” with cases.
Updated
Spain’s daily death toll from the coronavirus fell to 143 on Sunday, down from 179 the previous day, the health ministry reported.
It marks the lowest daily death toll since mid-March. Overall deaths rose to 26,621 from 26,478 on Saturday and the number of diagnosed cases rose to 224,390 from 223,578 the day before, the ministry said.
New infections on rise in Germany
New coronavirus infections are accelerating again in Germany just days after its leaders loosened social restrictions, raising concerns that the pandemic could once again slip out of control.
The Robert Koch Institute for disease control said in a daily bulletin the number of people each sick person now infects – known as the reproduction rate, or R – had risen to 1.1.
Chancellor Angela Merkel bowed to pressure from leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states to restart social life and revive the economy, announced on Wednesday measures that included more shop openings and a gradual return to school.
At the same time, she launched an “emergency brake” to allow for the reimposition of restrictions if infections pick up again.
Karl Lauterbach, a Social Democrat lawmaker and professor of epidemiology, warned that the new coronavirus could start spreading again quickly after seeing large crowds out and about on Saturday in his home city of Cologne.
“It has to be expected that the R rate will go over 1 and we will return to exponential growth,” Lauterbach said in a tweet. “The loosening measures were far too poorly prepared.”
The Robert Koch Institute said on Sunday the confirmed number of new coronavirus cases had increased by a daily 667 to 169,218, while the daily death toll had risen by 26 to 7,395.
“It is too early to infer whether the number of new infections will continue to decrease as in the past weeks or increase again,” the institute said in a separate daily bulletin issued on Saturday evening.
It cautioned that the R figure was subject to statistical uncertainty, adding: “The increase of the reproduction number R necessitates a close monitoring of the situation.”
Germany has the sixth-largest Covid-19 caseload in Europe but has managed to contain fatalities from the highly infectious respiratory disease thanks to widespread and early testing and a healthcare system that is well-run and well-funded.
Updated
Afghanistan has announced its highest one-day rise of new infections as the government issued a decree to distribute bread to those affected by coronavirus.
This comes as at least six people were killed in a protest against unfair distribution of aid.
361 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported in the war-torn country, marking the biggest one-day rise of infections, five patients also died overnight, taking the total number of infections to 4,402 and death toll to 120.
The capital Kabul, which is Afghanistan’s worst affected area recorded its worst day with 117 new cases confirmed in last 24 hours. Total number of infections in the capital passed 1,000 and now stands at 1,096.
The country’s health minister, Ferozuddin Feroz, has been isolating at home after being infected with the virus, meanwhile local officials in Kandahar announced its governor also tested positive as 26 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the southern province.
Toward the east, six out of the eight new coronavirus cases in Nangarhar were from province’s prison, said Shah Mahmoud Meyakhil, provincial governor, adding there are 12 other suspected cases are in the prison.
The government announced yesterday that it was planning to distribute bread amongst the poor across the country with around two million Afghans losing their jobs due to the pandemic.
However, the heath ministry raised concerns that the distribution of bread through bakeries will even worsen the situation.
“Some bread is being distributed in the bakeries, but more people gathering. It has more disadvantages than advantages because the virus is spreading rapidly,” said Wahidullah Mayar, a spokesman for the health ministry.
At least six people were killed and more than a dozen wounded yesterday in a protest went violent against the unfair distribution of aid to those affected by coronavirus in central Ghor province of Afghanistan. Interior ministry spokesman said two police officers and four civilians were killed, including a journalist.
The country’s vice president apologised for the incident and said will investigate that.
“I want the countrymen of Ghor to keep calm, we will investigate the case seriously. I apologies for the incompetence of the management. Forgive us”, Amrullah Saleh said in a Facebook post.
As France prepares to start letting public life resume after eight weeks under lockdown, many parents are debating whether to send their children back to school.
The French government is easing some of the closure and home-confinement orders it imposed on 17 March to curb infections, with businesses permitted to reopen, residents cleared to return to workplaces and schools welcoming some students.
Only preschools and elementary schools are set to start up at first, and classes will be capped at 10 students at preschools and 15 elsewhere. Administrators were told to prioritise instruction for children ages five, six and 10.
Due to the slow startup, as well as ongoing fears about Covid-19, school attendance will not be compulsory right away. Parents and guardians may keep children at home and teachers will provide lessons like they have during the nationwide lockdown.
Students with parents who want or need to send them to school are not guaranteed places in the smaller classes and will be allowed to attend only if their school can accommodate them.
Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer estimated 80% to 85% of France’s 50,500 preschools and elementary schools will open this week. Junior high schools in regions with fewer virus cases are expected to reopen on 18 May. A target date has not been scheduled yet for for high schools.
Cecile Bardin, whose two sons are aged six and two, said she thinks it is too soon to send them back.
“I am not reassured at the moment, because it will be very difficult to keep safe distance at school, especially for the little ones, who will want to play together,” Bardin said.
Mathilde Manaud and her partner, who have a three-year-old and seven-year-old, have agreed to send the children kids back to school if there are spaces.
“Truth is, we don’t know whether we are right to do so or no, we don’t know if its a mistake. We ask ourselves this question every day, and we change our mind every day,” Manaud said. “We are trying to convince ourselves that if they are reopening, they assume they can handle the situation.”
Updated
A navy ship carrying evacuees from the Maldives arrived in India today as part of an effort to bring home hundreds of thousands of nationals stranded overseas due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Workers and students were unable to return home after India banned all incoming international flights in late March as part of the world’s biggest lockdown to combat the spread of the deadly infectious disease.
The warship INS Jalashwa carrying 698 Indians from the Maldives capital of Male arrived at Cochin port on the southwestern coast of India on Sunday morning.
It followed the arrival of 326 Indians from London early Sunday at Mumbai’s international airport.
Another warship, INS Magar, is expected to arrive at Male on Sunday to repatriate more stranded Indians. Around 4,000 of the 27,000 Indians living in the Maldives have registered to be taken home.
The naval efforts are part of an initial operation to repatriate almost 15,000 Indians from 12 countries.
The repatriation process is expected to be expanded in the next few weeks to include more stranded citizens in other European and Southeast Asian nations, local media reported.
Malaysia’s government extended the time frame for movement and business curbs by another four weeks to 9 June, amid a gradual reopening of economic activity stunted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this week, businesses were allowed to resume business as usual, albeit under strict health guidelines, after having to close shop for two months as health authorities worked to contain the pandemic. Malaysia has so far reported 6,589 cases with 108 deaths.
Existing rules under a conditional movement control order remain in place until the new expiry date in June, which include practicing strict hygiene and social distancing, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a televised address on Sunday.
Hello, I will be updating the blog. Please send any tips and stories to nazia.parveen@theguardian.com or follow me on Twitter @NParveenG to send me a message. Thank you.
Updated
What you need to know
Here are the most important recent developments, including that global cases have passed 4 million.
- Seoul, the South Korean capital, has closed bars and clubs over fears of a second virus wave, after more than two dozen cases were linked to a 29-year-old man who tested positive after spending time at five clubs and bars in Itaewon last weekend.
- Three members of the White House coronavirus taskforce, including Dr Anthony Fauci, placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.
- “We failed to protect our elderly. That’s really serious, and a failure for society as a whole.” Sweden’s government has apologised for not protecting older people, with 90% of the country’s Covid-19 deaths occurring in the over-70s.
- Social-distancing rules are being ignored in Tehran, with people saying they need to get back to work to earn a living. Since 2 May, the number of cases has begun to rise, and many in the capital are not wearing masks or keeping their distance.
- There has been an onslaught of bullying and discrimination against the sick, their families and health workers in Japan, with the PM labelling such behaviour “shameful”.
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk has threatened to pull his factory and headquarters out of California, saying health authorities have gone overboard in their corona protection measures, which do not allow Tesla to open.
- UK prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to unveil a coronavirus warning system for England when he outlines his plans to gradually ease the lockdown.
Updated
Climate change scientists thwarted by Covid-19 pandemic
They prepared for icy cold and trained to be on the watch for polar bears, but a pandemic just wasn’t part of the program.
Now dozens of scientists are waiting in quarantine for the all-clear to join a year-long Arctic research mission aimed at improving the models used for forecasting climate change, just as the expedition reaches a crucial phase.
For a while, the international mission looked like it might have to be called off, as country after country went into lockdown because of the virus, scuppering plans to bring fresh supplies and crew to the German research vessel Polarstern that’s been moored in the high Arctic since last year.
News of the pandemic caused jitters among those already on board, said Matthew Shupe, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado and co-leader of the MOSAiC expedition.
Some people just wanted to be home with their families, he told The Associated Press in a video interview from the German port of Bremerhaven, where he and about 90 other scientists and crew have been kept in isolation to ensure they’re virus-free.
Organizers at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Ocean Research managed to fly out a handful of people via Canada last month. The rest of the crew will be exchanged with the help of two other German research ships that will meet the Polarstern on the sea ice edge.
That upcoming rendezvous will force the Polarstern to abandon its current position for three weeks at a critical time in the Arctic cycle.
“We are on the cusp right now of the onset of the sea ice melt season and that’s a really important transition,” said Shupe. “That could happen when the ship is gone,” he said. “It’s a distinct risk we face.”
To avoid missing out on key data, researchers will leave some instruments behind, including an 11-meter (36-foot) tower used for atmospheric measurements, and hope that it’s still there when they return.
The ice could just come together and destroy everything,” said Shupe. “Hopefully that doesn’t happen.”
Scientists on the 140-million-euro ($158 million) expedition have already gathered valuable data since setting out last September with 100 researchers and crew from 17 nations including the United States, France, China and Britain.
The intense interest into research about the coronavirus could have a positive knock-on effect for fields such as climate science, said Shupe.
“Everybody is now looking at the new for models of how this (virus) spreads,” he said. “Perhaps this actually opens the door to more people to understand the climate problem.”
Still, the researchers on MOSAiC are hoping to deal with one problem at a time, hence the strict quarantine to avoid any chance of carrying the coronavirus into the Arctic.
“We definitely don’t want anybody getting sick and we don’t want to take that out to the ship, said Shupe. Realistically, it’s actually one of the safest places on Earth right now.”
The Associated Press
Updated
100,000 could die by year's end: Sunday Times report
The Sunday Times is reporting that the UK death toll could climb to 100,000 if lockdown restrictions ease too quickly. At 7pm on Sunday British prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions, but some scientists are worried about a second wave of the virus.
According to the report the PM has been warned of having “very little room to manoeuvre” by his top scientific advisors and told Britain could suffer more than 100,000 deaths by the end of the year if ministers relax the lockdown too far and too fast, the paper reports a scientific adviser telling the government last night.
SUNDAY TIMES: 100,000 dead if UK eases too fast - scientists warn #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/T76QvRLJ2j
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 9, 2020
Updated
What is an antibody test and why is it so important?
Following on from the below post, an extract from a just-published Observer feature, you may wonder what antibody testing is, and why it’s so important.
The aim of using antibody tests is to conduct what is known as serosurveillance or a serosurvey. This means testing a sample of a population to get an indication of how prevalent Covid-19 infections have been, including those who have been asymptomatic or only suffered mild symptoms
Antibody tests search for the Y-shaped proteins produced by the body in response to an infection that linger (in some cases permanently) in the blood for some time after recovery.
The hope is that policymakers will be able to obtain accurate models of how far the epidemic has spread, and what the real infection tallies are, a topic that has become increasingly heated in recent weeks.
Acquiring accurate antibody data will also be vital for vaccine developers to verify that their products are working as intended during clinical trials. Results from serosurveys will eventually help tell us whether exposure to Covid-19 provides immunity, or if we will face seasonal waves of infections. And intriguingly, they may assist in determining the importance of pre-existing immunity. Scientists have already wondered whether the differences in fatalities between various countries is due to certain populations having had greater exposure to similar viruses in the past.
But to gather truly reliable information, the antibody tests used must be shown to have a high degree of accuracy, something that has so far proven to be easier said than done.
Read more here:
Can antibody testing deliver on promises to lift the lockdown?
At the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Marion Koopmans and a team of scientists are going throught the laborious process of verifying antibody tests for Covid-19. Over the last two months, dozens of prospective tests have hit the market, and with many governments wanting to feed the results of large-scale testing into their decisions whether to end lockdowns, biological tests have rarely carried such weight.
Most of the tests are enthusiastically marketed, boasting of their ability to accurately detect whether someone has previously been infected with the Sars-CoV-2 virus. The painstaking job of proving whether the tests do what they say has fallen to a worldwide network of 12 independent centres, of which Koopmans’s team is one.
“There are now more than 200 tests being offered and that number is increasing by the day,” she says. “Because people want to have testing up and running fast, there’s this massive, almost aggressive marketing of test kits that promise a lot, but haven’t gone through proper scrutiny.”
Read more from this Observer feature here:
Fear, judgment, hysteria: six survivors talk about life after coronavirus
After facing the existential threat of testing positive for Covid-19, these Australians describe the reactions of their communities, and the loneliness, isolation and pain many of them felt.
For Sean Sweetser, 50, the disease felt biblical: “I felt like a leper”
For Sweetser, who lives in a share house with his 18-year-old son and a roommate, isolating in his bedroom was easy enough. He plugged a throwaway kettle into his en suite, had an assortment of disinfectants on hand and kept himself entertained with streaming services. He worked sporadically as an engineer. At the height of his symptoms, he stayed in bed. After some concern about how he and his son would be fed, the problem was solved by Sikh Volunteers Australia who dropped off hot meals. Logistically, most things were there: except empathy.
“There was no compassion for me or the fact I might die, just themselves,” he says of his son and roommate, who entertained conspiracy theories about the virus.
Even after an honest conversation about their hostility, little changed, Sweetser recounts. “It felt biblical, I felt like a leper,” he says. “That was the hardest part – being ostracised in your own home.”
Sweetser was cautious and managed to recover without infecting either housemate. But when his son left the air conditioning running for too long – a pet peeve of Sweetser – he jokingly threatened to touch the remote without a glove.
As a regular blood donor in the past, Sweetser has been hoping researchers will ask him to be a part of a trial or make a blood donation.
Instead, the question he does get often is if he will write a science fiction book on a deadly virus, having already published a few e-books in the genre. His answer is firm no: “It’s boring. I like an enemy you can see … I prefer something like robots.”
Read more accounts from Covid-19 survivors down under here:
Sick patients turned away from Mexican hospitals
In Mexico, coronavirus patients were being turned away from hospitals on Saturday, as both public and private medical facilities quickly filled up and the number of new infections continued to rise. Of the 64 public hospitals in the capital’s sprawling metro area designated to receive Covid-19 patients, 26 were completely full, according to city government data.
Mexico announced 1,938 new cases of the virus on Saturday, bringing the total to 33,460, along with 193 additional deaths, bringing fatalities to 3,353.
Updated
Three members of US coronavirus taskforce in quarantine
Three members of the White House coronavirus taskforce have placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.
Anthony Fauci, a high-profile member of the White House coronavirus response team, is considered to be at relatively low risk based on the degree of his exposure, according to a representative for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Fauci, the 79-year-old NIAID director, has tested negative for COVID-19 and he will continue to be tested regularly.
Dr Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be “teleworking for the next two weeks” after it was determined he had a “low-risk exposure” to a person at the White House, the CDC said in a statement Saturday evening. The statement said he felt fine and has no symptoms.
The Food and Drug Administration confirmed that FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn had come in contact with someone who tested positive and was in self-quarantine for the next two weeks. He has tested negative for the virus.
Vice president Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive this week. A member of the military serving as one of Trump’s valets tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump, who publicly identified the affected Pence aide as spokeswoman Katie Miller, said he was not worried about the virus spreading in the White House.
Updated
New Zealanders break lockdown in record numbers
New Zealand police have been busy over the weekend as Kiwis break lockdown in record numbers on the eve of an announcement from the PM on restrictions easing.
On Monday Prime minister Jacinda Ardern will announce whether lockdown will effectively end, after 7 weeks of some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world confining Kiwis to their homes.
On Sunday police reported that 50 people breached Level 3 lockdown rules in 24 hours, including a family hosting a children’s birthday party, and a backyard church gathering.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean told local media that capital city Wellington was “like rush hour” over the weekend, while the beach and walking tracks “have taken a hammering”.
WHO issues guidance on food risk
The World Health Organisation has issued guidance on whether you can catch coronavirus from food packaging or food touched by an infected person.
“While there’s no evidence to date that anyone has been infected this way, it is always good to practice food safety.” WHO tweeted.
We know that some people are worried they can catch #COVID19 from food or food packaging. While there’s no evidence to date that anyone has been infected this way, it is always good to practice food safety.
— World Health Organization Western Pacific (@WHOWPRO) May 9, 2020
https://t.co/YAaSnk0qK8 #RamadanAtHome #FoodSafety pic.twitter.com/wr27Br9aig
Chinese weddings go online
Like many couples in the era of social distancing, Ma Jialun and Zhang Yitong held their wedding ceremony online – but they added a twist by livestreaming the event to more than 100,000 strangers.
Wedding preparations are now restarting since all provinces in China have lifted their top-level state of emergency and life is beginning to show some return to normality.
However, banquets and big gatherings are still not allowed, leaving an online celebration as a preferred option.
In China - where livestreaming is extremely popular - some young couples are allowing anyone to watch their big day - and even send them gifts.
Groom Ma and his bride Zhang got married in the eastern city of Hangzhou on May 1, more than 100,000 impromptu guests watched it live on video-streaming site Bilibili, leaving likes, comments and virtual coins and gifts. Just a dozen people were able to join in person.
Ma joined Zhang just one day before their wedding as Beijing lifted quarantine measures. They had been seperated by lockdowns for three months.
“This epidemic has made us feel that we could become each other’s strength,” said Ma.
The pair said they wanted to share their big day online to do something meaningful during the epidemic.
“It’s good to share our happiness with more people, even unknown netizens,” said Ma.
Endless possibilities
While many couples are content with a simple ceremony, livestreaming platform Huajiao has used special effects to give one of its employees their dream wedding.
“When we were designing the wedding, the bride told us that her dream wedding would be held in a hot-air balloon in front of a castle, so we used the special effects to make her dream come true,” said Huajiao’s online wedding event organiser Liu Qi.
He thinks these special effects and the chance to share the fun on social media will appeal to young Chinese people.
“It may be difficult to realise in the real world, but there are endless possibilities online,” Liu said.
“Young couples have more and more diverse demands,” said Liu.
“But this kind of online wedding may become a new option for couples in the future even when the epidemic ends.”
Agence France Presse
Updated
What you need to know
Here are the most important recent developments, including that global cases have passed four million.
- Seoul, the South Korean capital has closed bars and clubs over fears of a second virus wave, after more than two dozen cases were linked to a 29-year-old man who tested positive after spending time at five clubs and bars in Itaewon last weekend.
- Three members of the White House coronavirus task force, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
- “We failed to protect our elderly. That’s really serious, and a failure for society as a whole.” Sweden’s government has apologised for not protecting older people, with 90% of the country’s Covid-19 deaths occurring in the over 70s.
- Social-distancing rules are being ignored in Tehran, with people saying they need to get back to work to earn a living. Since May 2, the number of cases has begun to rise, and many in the capital are not wearing masks or keeping their distance.
- There has been an onslaught of bullying and discrimination against the sick, their families and health workers in Japan, with the PM labelling such behavior “shameful”.
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk has threatened to pull his factory and headquarters out of California, saying health authorities have gone overboard in their corona protection measures, which do not allow Tesla to open.
- UK prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to unveil a coronavirus warning system for England when he outlines his plans to gradually ease the lockdown.
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'The line of fools': cases climb in Iran as social distancing ignored
As many ignore social distancing practices in Tehran, residents worry about a new wave of infections, AFP reports.
“The line of fools,” muttered shopkeeper Manouchehr, peering disdainfully at a queue of customers outside a foreign currency dealer in Tehran. Many in the long line stood close to one another and did not wear masks.
A traffic policeman told AFP such queues have appeared regularly ever since the money changers re-opened. People rarely observe basic anti-contagion protocols, he said.
The government began paring back coronavirus controls outside Tehran on 11 April, arguing that the economy – already sagging under punitive US sanctions – needed to get back to bare bones operations.
At 802, declared daily infections on 2 May reached their lowest level since early March. But this critical daily number has since begun rising, breaching 1,500 on Saturday to take the country’s total number of confirmed infections beyond 106,000.
The capital’s streets, bazaars and malls are now bustling after being nearly deserted for weeks after the bulk of control measures were imposed in March.
Milad, a shopkeeper in a mall, was conflicted about the easing of movement restrictions.
“All these customers coming in will endanger our lives - us who are forced to come” to work, he said.
Covid-19 has killed nearly 6,600 people in Iran since the first two fatalities were reported in the city of Qom on 19 February.
Deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi has called Tehran the country’s “Achilles heel” in the fight against the virus. The city’s eight million residents are densely packed together and it is a magnet for hundreds of thousands of workers from other provinces.
Health officials have vowed to reimpose stringent measures if the number of cases continues to climb.
But many Iranians remain adamant that they have to work to avoid financial ruin.
“Life costs money,” said Hamed. “People have to go to work since this virus has been with us for about three months now.”
The 22-year-old was among those out on the streets without a mask, deeming such protection “largely ineffective”.
Agence France Presse
Updated
What's behind the deaths of so many elderly in Sweden?
Unlike many European countries, Sweden has kept its primary schools open as well as bars and restaurants, while urging people to respect social distancing and hygiene recommendations.
Sweden kept its primary schools, bars and restaurants open - unlike many of its European neighbours - but it did ban visits to care homes on March 31.
Sweden’s Nordic neighbours also introduced bans around the same time, but have recorded far fewer care home deaths.
But unlike in those countries, Swedish nursing homes are often large complexes with hundreds of residents.
They are only available to those in very poor health and unable to care for themselves, and residents are, therefore “a very vulnerable group”, according to Henrik Lysell of the Board of Health and Welfare.
Bjorn Branngard told AFP the personnel at his mother’s home did not have proper protective gear.
“There was no protection. The personnel were going between different sections and spreading the virus.”
In greater Stockholm, the epicentre of Sweden’s virus spread, 55 percent of nursing homes have so far confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to Region Stockholm health authorities.
Kommunal, Sweden’s largest union for municipal employees which includes many care workers, has meanwhile blamed precarious working conditions for the unfolding tragedy.
It said that in March, 40 percent of staff at Stockholm nursing homes were unskilled workers employed on short-term contracts, with hourly wages and no job security, while 23 percent were temps.
In other words: people who often can’t afford not to go to work even if they’re sick.
“There are a lot of different people who work at several nursing homes, and that also leads to a greater spread,” the head of Kommunal’s nursing home division, Ulf Bjerregaard, said.
Abdullah, a pseudonym for a 21-year-old refugee who didn’t want to disclose his real name, has worked as an assistant in a care home outside Stockholm for two years.
He told AFP about a resident treated in hospital for a broken leg.
“She tested negative for the virus when she was with us. When she returned from the hospital three days later, she was positive,” he said.
“We had protective aprons but no masks when we were working with her,” he said, adding that he has since refused to go to work.
Updated
Sweden failed to protect elderly in care homes
Sweden’s soft response to the coronavirus has been controversial, and now authorities have admitted they failed to adequately protect the elderly, with around half of COVID-19 deaths occurring among nursing home residents.
3,220 have died from the virus in Sweden, and although the country said early on that shielding those 70 and older was its top priority, 90 percent of those who had died as of April 28 were over the age of 70. Half were nursing home residents, and another quarter were receiving care at home, statistics from the Swedish Board of Health and Welfare show.
“We failed to protect our elderly. That’s really serious, and a failure for society as a whole. We have to learn from this, we’re not done with this pandemic yet,” Health and Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren told Swedish Television recently.
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South Korean capital closes bars and clubs over fears of second virus wave
The nation has been held up as a global model in how to curb the virus, but the order from the Seoul mayor on Saturday followed the new infection cluster in Itaewon, one of the city’s busiest nightlife districts.
More than two dozen cases were linked to a 29-year-old man who tested positive after spending time at five clubs and bars in Itaewon last weekend.
Health authorities have warned of a further spike in infections, with around 7,200 people estimated to have visited the five establishments identified.
“Carelessness can lead to an explosion in infections,” Seoul mayor Park Won-soon said, adding the order will remain in effect indefinitely.
Of the 18 new South Korean cases reported on Saturday, 17 were tied to the Itaewon cluster, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The jump in new infections comes as everyday life in South Korea has slowly started returning to normal, with the government relaxing social distancing rules last Wednesday.
The nation endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside mainland China, and while it never imposed a compulsory lockdown, strict social distancing had been widely observed since March.
Th country’s extensive “trace, test and treat” programme has drawn widespread praise, and the latest outbreak appears to be under control.
34 new cases were reported on Sunday, taking the total to 10,874 - the largest daily increase in a month.
Agence France Presse
Lockdown in a French psychiatric ward
An Agence France Presse photojournalist has been granted rare access to a psychiatric ward under lockdown in France, which has one of the highest death tolls in Europe.
The patients of the Centre psychiatrique du Bois de Bondy have been under strict lockdown since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in France in mid-March, and they haven’t received any visits from their relatives since. According to a tribune published by a group French psychiatrists early April 2020, a person affected by a psychiatric disease can suffer 1.5 or 2 times more often, compared to the rest of the population, from associated conditions, such as cardiovascular disorders, diabetes or hypertension, and are therefore more vulnerable to Covid-19.
Images by @LoicVenance
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Japan: ‘Onslaught of bullying and discrimination’ amid outbreak
The Associated Press reports that the coronavirus in Japan has brought not just an epidemic of infections, but also an onslaught of bullying and discrimination against the sick, their families and health workers trying to save lives.
A government campaign to raise awareness seems to be helping, at least for medical workers. But it’s made only limited headway in countering the harassment and shunning that may be discouraging people from seeking testing and care and hindering the battle against the pandemic.
Apart from fear of infection, experts say the prejudice against those even indirectly associated with the illness also stems from deeply rooted ideas about purity and cleanliness in a culture that rejects anything deemed to be alien, unclean or troublesome.
Medical workers risking their lives to care for patients are a main target, but people working at grocery stores, delivering parcels and carrying out other essential jobs also are facing harassment, as are their family members.
“I can imagine people fear the virus, but we are working hard at the front lines under enormous pressure,” a nurse in her 30s told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear she might be targeted if identified. “We also have our own families we care about. Discrimination against us just because we are medical workers is discouraging and demoralizing.”
The backlash against coronavirus patients may lead some who fall sick to avoid seeking medical care, raising the risks of infection spreading further, clinical psychologist Reo Morimitsu at the Suwa Red Cross Hospital said in an interview with NHK public television. Reports said Japanese police last month found about a dozen people dead at home alone or collapsed on the streets who later tested positive for the virus.
“The virus not only infects our body but also our minds and behaviour, harming us and dividing our society,” Morimitsu said.
Random acts of hatred against those with virus connections have been reported countrywide, prompting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other officials to speak out.
“It’s shameful,” Abe told a recent parliamentary session.
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Sam Neill, Jurassic Park actor, shares his advice for combating anxiety
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor famous for roles in Jurassic Park and Hunt for the Wilderpeople has kept busy during lockdown filming short videos designed to cheer his followers up. Today, he shared his tips for combating anxiety and sleeplessness.
“Smile stupidly in the dark” Sam Neill
ANXIETY? Not sleeping well ? From Cinema Quarantino - the palliative (maybe) DAS ANGST KAPUT, our most ambitious production yet. Enormously helpful... or utterly useless . Well worth it . With #HeatherMitchell ‘Not sexy’ (Playboy)‘Sexy’(ODT) Only on #Instagram @samneilltheprop pic.twitter.com/x9WfregIjb
— Sam Neill (@TwoPaddocks) May 10, 2020
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UK to unveil corona warning system, as deaths climb
UK prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to unveil a coronavirus warning system for England when he outlines his plans to gradually ease the lockdown.
The prime minister will drop the “stay home” slogan and instead tell the country to “stay alert, control the virus and save lives” when he outlines his “roadmap” to a new normality during an address to the nation on Sunday. Johnson is planning to tell workers who cannot do their jobs from home to begin returning to their workplaces while following social distancing rules.
It is understood that a warning system administered by a new “joint biosecurity centre” will detect local increases in infection rates, with the aim of altering restrictions locally in England. The alerts will range from green at level one to red at level five. Johnson is expected to say that the nation as a whole is close to moving down from four to three.
The prime minister will chair a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee with cabinet ministers, leaders of the devolved nations and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, before his 7pm pre-recorded address.
On Monday, the government will publish a 50-page document outlining the full plan to cautiously restart the economy to MPs.
Updated
14 new confirmed coronavirus cases in China
China’s National Health Commission reported 14 new confirmed coronavirus cases on May 9, the highest number since April 28 and up from only one case a day earlier.
Of the new cases, two were imported infections. The remaining 12 confirmed cases were locally transmitted, including 11 cases in the northeastern province of Jilin.
Newly discovered asymptomatic cases were at 20, the highest since May 1 and up from 15 a day earlier, according to the health commission. No new deaths were reported, it said.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country reached 82,901 as of May 9, while the total death toll from the virus stood at 4,633, it said.
On Sunday, Jilin province raised the coronavirus risk level of Shulan city from medium to high after a cluster of 11 cases were confirmed in Shulan.
The move came after all areas in China were considered low-risk on Thursday.
Reuters
Updated
Three members of US coronavirus taskforce in quarantine
Associated Press is reporting that three members of the White House coronavirus task force have placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.
Dr Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be “teleworking for the next two weeks” after it was determined he had a “low-risk exposure” to a person at the White House, the CDC said in a statement Saturday evening. The statement said he felt fine and has no symptoms.
The Food and Drug Administration confirmed that FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn had come in contact with someone who tested positive and was in self-quarantine for the next two weeks. He has tested negative for the virus.
Anthony Fauci, a high-profile member of the White House coronavirus response team, is considered to be at relatively low risk based on the degree of his exposure, according to a representative for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Fauci, the 79-year-old NIAID director, has tested negative for COVID-19 and he will continue to be tested regularly.
Vice president Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive this week. A member of the military serving as one of Trump’s valets tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump, who publicly identified the affected Pence aide as spokeswoman Katie Miller, said he was not worried about the virus spreading in the White House.
Updated
New Zealand will decide tomorrow on loosening restrictions
On Monday New Zealand’s cabinet will decide whether to downgrade the country’s alert system from Level 3 to Level 2. With less than a dozen cases of the virus recorded this past week, it is widely assumed the country will lower its alert level, allowing domestic travel, the opening of bars and restaurants and the widening of “bubbles” - meaning people can leave the home to meet friends, family or even online dates. Schools and workplaces will also reopen.
The country’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has described New Zealand as “half-way down Everest” in its battle against the virus, which has claimed 21 lives.
Today Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern outlined the cautious approach that's being taken by Cabinet to ensure that when New Zealand moves to Alert Level 2, it is done safely. Before a decision is made, they want to be confident that the hard-won gains we've made won't be lost. pic.twitter.com/IrCpEeICvC
— New Zealand Labour (@nzlabour) May 7, 2020
Australian state of NSW to ease lockdown restrictions on Friday
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed that the state’s lockdown will begin to ease on Friday, after only two new cases of the virus were recorded on Sunday.
Loosened rules will permit outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people, meaning it’s the first time since the new rules were introduced that people will be able to leave the home for recreational activities. Berejiklian says a gathering of 10 people might be physical training, sitting down in a park, or “having some type of gathering outdoors”.
NSW is the most populous Australian state. Queensland’s new restrictions will begin next Saturday, Victoria won’t announce theirs until Monday and the ACT has already modified its restrictions.
In other changes for NSW:
- Cafes and restaurants can have 10 patrons at a time
- Visitors in the home will also rise from two to five. That includes adults and children.
- Religious gatherings or places of worship will now be able to include up to 10 people.
- Weddings will increase from five people to 10, and funerals will increase to 20 mourners or 30 for an outside service
- Restrictions on regional travel will not change
“To have a population the size of New South Wales, to see our cases go from a maximum of 200 or so a day down to just a small handful is a wonderful achievement. We don’t want to see any of this lost. We need to fire up our economy. We need to get people back into jobs. We need to see some semblance of normality come back. But we can’t breach any of the restrictions in place. No matter what you are doing, when you leave your home, you need to maintain social distancing.” – NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian
Updated
Lockdown restrictions ease in some parts of Europe
France and Spain, two of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus, are preparing to ease out of lockdown, as the number of cases worldwide passes 4 million.
Amid the barrage of deaths, some European countries cited signs of progress they said justified taking slow steps back toward some version of normality, French news agency AFP reports.
French officials on Saturday said the day’s death toll of 80 was the lowest since early April. Nursing home fatalities also fell sharply as France prepared to relax curbs on public movement imposed eight weeks ago.
“I’ve been scared to death” about the reopening, said Maya Flandin, a bookshop manager from Lyon. “It’s a big responsibility to have to protect my staff and my customers.”
French health officials warned that “the epidemic remains active and is evolving”, and a state of emergency remains in place to July 10.
In Spain, about half the population will be allowed out on Monday for limited socialization, and restaurants will be able to offer some outdoor service as the country begins a phased transition set to last through June.
Fears lingered, however, of a viral resurgence if restrictions are lifted too quickly: “The virus has not gone away,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned.
Belgium is also easing some restrictions on Monday, and in some parts of Germany bars and restaurants reopened on Saturday with further easing set for Monday. Overall, however, the situation in Europe is still far from normal.
Updated
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is threatening to pull his company’s factory and headquarters out of California after local officials stopped him reopening the electric car factory due to the Covid-19 risk, Associated Press reports.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court, Tesla accused the Alameda County Health Department of overstepping federal and state coronavirus restrictions when it stopped Tesla from restarting production at its factory in Fremont. The lawsuit contends Tesla factory workers are allowed to work during California’s stay-at-home order because the facility is considered “critical infrastructure.”
Musk has been ranting about the stay-home order since the company’s 29 April first-quarter earnings were released, calling the restrictions fascist and urging governments to stop taking people’s freedom.
Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020
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Hundreds crowd US national parks, flouting social distancing rules
The reopening of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina border in the US has drawn crowds of hundreds, many not wearing masks, knocking over barricades and standing pressed together in lines a mile long to view the sights.
Park spokeswoman Dana Soehn told the Associated Press that many people were not wearing masks or social distancing, with visitors over the weekend from 24 different states.
President Donald Trump has prioritized reopening national parks as a sign of significant progress against the invisible enemy of the pandemic, even as cases rise in an outbreak that has devastated the U.S. economy.
Global cases pass 4 million
In another grim milestone of this pandemic, global cases have passed 4 million, with deaths at over 278,750. The US has the most infections on 1,307,676, followed by Spain on 222,857. Russia is fast approaching 200,000.
The US also tops deaths, with 78,746, followed by the UK (31,662) and Italy (30,395).
Obama criticises Trump’s Covid-19 response as ‘chaotic’
An explosive tape has emerged of former US president Barack Obama describing President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis as “an absolutely chaotic disaster”.
In the recording, obtained by Yahoo News, Obama discusses Joe Biden’s chances in the upcoming presidential elections with his alumni association.
“This election that’s coming up on every level is so important because what we’re going to be battling is not just a particular individual or a political party. What we’re fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy — that has become a stronger impulse in American life. And by the way, we’re seeing that internationally as well.
“It’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anaemic and spotty. It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset – of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ – when that mindset is operationalised in our government.”
Obama goes on to discuss the justice department’s decision to drop the case against Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Moscow.
Read the full report here:
Updated
Hi and welcome to the our global coronavirus blog, Eleanor Ainge Roy at the helm today.
Here are the most important recent developments, including that global cases have passed four million:
- The coronavirus has killed at least 278,756 according to the Johns Hopkins tracker. Infections globally stand a 4,020,878. The death toll is highest is the US, at 78,693.
- Former US president Barack Obama has called Trump’s virus response “an absolute chaotic disaster”. The former US president harshly criticised his successor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic during a conversation with ex-members of his administration, according to a recording obtained by Yahoo News.
- Germany’s plans to restart competitive football next Saturday suffered an early setback after the entire Dynamo Dresden team were placed in a two-week quarantine following two positive coronavirus tests among the players.
- Nigeria’s largest city Lagos could return to lockdown to halt the coronavirus if residents continue to ignore social distancing rules, the governor warned on Saturday. Since the easing of five-week restrictions, people have been seen thronging markets and banks despite orders remaining in place to avoid mass gatherings.
- Indonesia has reported its biggest daily increase in infections, with 533 new confirmed cases, taking the total to 13,645. But with Indonesia’s low testing rate criticised by medical experts, the number of infections in the country – which has the fourth biggest population in the world – is feared to be far higher than official figures show.
- The number of people who have died from coronavirus infections in France rose by 80 to 26,310 on Saturday, the health ministry said. This is a much smaller daily increase than the previous day when it was 243.
Let’s get started.
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