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A TENTATIVE EASING of coronavirus lockdowns has gathered pace around the world, including the reopening of local shops in India that many of the country’s 1.3 billion people rely on.
The US states of Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska also began loosening lockdown orders on their pandemic-wounded businesses, even as the confirmed US death toll from the coronavirus soared past 50,000 and health experts warned that such steps may have come too early.
The relaxation of the strict Indian lockdown came with major caveats. It did not apply to hundreds of quarantined towns and other hotspots that have been hit hardest by the outbreak that has killed at least 775 people in the country and terrified many poor people who live in slum conditions too crowded for social distancing.
Shopping malls also remain closed nationwide.
Last week, India also allowed manufacturing and farming to resume in rural areas to ease the economic plight of millions of daily wage-earners left jobless by the lockdown imposed on 24 March.
India’s restrictions have allowed people out of their homes only to buy food, medicine or other essentials.
Elsewhere in Asia, authorities reported no new deaths on Saturday for the 10th straight day in China, where the virus originated.
South Korea reported just 10 fresh cases, the eighth day in a row its daily total came below 20. There were no new deaths for the second straight day.
In Sri Lanka, however, the lockdown was tightened, not eased, confirming a pattern of one-step-forward, one-step-back also seen elsewhere in the pandemic, as authorities juggle public health against the health of shut-down economies.
Sri Lanka had partially lifted a month-long curfew during daytime hours in more than two thirds of the country.
However, it reimposed a 24-hour lockdown countrywide after a surge of 46 new infections on Friday, the highest increase in a day on the Indian Ocean island. The new curfew remains in effect until Monday.
On Saturday, the global death toll climbed toward 200,000, according to a tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University from government figures. The actual death toll is believed to be far higher.
Pope Francis appealed to people to pray for funeral home workers, saying: “What they do is so heavy and sad. They really feel the pain of this pandemic.”
In Europe, Belgium sketched out plans for a progressive lockdown relaxation starting on 4 May with the resumption of non-essential treatment in hospitals and the reopening of textile and sewing shops to enable people to have face masks.
Bars and restaurants would be allowed to start reopening on June 8, although Belgian prime minister Sophie Wilmes also cautioned that a surge in infections could alter the timeline, and that “nothing is set in stone”.
Children in Spain will get their first fresh air in weeks on Sunday when a total ban on letting them outside is relaxed.
After 44 days indoors, they will be allowed to take one toy or scooter with them but not play together for adult-supervised one-hour excursions no further than one kilometre from home.
Italy announced that free protective masks will be distributed to nursing homes, police, public officials and transport workers, preparing for the return to work of millions of Italians when lockdown restrictions are eased from 4 May.
In France, the government is preparing to ease one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns from 11 May. The health minister detailed plans on Saturday to scale up testing to help contain any new flare-ups.
Testing shortages are a critical problem elsewhere, too, including in Brazil, Latin America’s largest nation, which is veering closer to becoming a pandemic hotspot.
Medical officials in Rio de Janeiro and four other major cities warned that their hospital systems are on the verge of collapse or already overwhelmed.
In Manaus, the biggest city in the Amazon, officials said a cemetery has been forced to dig mass graves because there have been so many deaths. Workers have been burying 100 corpses a day – triple the pre-virus average.
In the US, Republican governors in Georgia and Oklahoma allowed salons, spas and barbershops to reopen, while Alaska opened the way for restaurants to resume dine-in service and retail shops and other businesses to open their doors, all with limitations.
Some Alaskan municipalities chose to maintain stricter rules.
Though limited in scope, and subject to social-distancing restrictions, the reopenings marked a symbolic milestone in the debate raging in the United States and beyond as to how quickly political leaders should lift economically devastating lockdown orders.
During a White House press briefing on Friday, US president Donald Trump spoke optimistically of the economy but also asked people to continue social distancing and use face coverings.
The same day, Trump signed a $484 billion (€447 billion) bill to aid employers and hospitals under stress from the pandemic.
Over the past five weeks, roughly 26 million people have filed for jobless aid in America, or about one in six US workers.
Trump also said his widely criticised comments suggesting people can ingest or inject disinfectant to fight Covid-19 were an attempt at sarcasm.
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Have to do it here now for certain sectors, we are going to have to live with this for a long time, just keep social distancing and get people back to work.
@Peter Hughes: You cant keep social distancing and send people back to work. What about workers who have to use public transport? And what about health care workers who have to use public transport? Cop on.
@Disabled Junkie: by using masks and gloves, same as Korea
@Disabled Junkie: if we stay locked down then eventually we won’t have any health care workers.
@Disabled Junkie: time and time again people like you come on and state the obvious and offer no solution. Constantly looking at the negative and short term which is no help to anybody. This isn’t going away anytime soon and we need to implement social distancing where possible if you had your way you would just lock it all up until it goes away and that’s just won’t work. The OP stated ‘some sectors’ and is likely talking about manufacturing and construction both with limited numbers that use public transport. Also can I add nobody uses public transport in large numbers outside the cities.
@Disabled Junkie: nobodies forcing you to go back to work. Stay at home. Let others pay for your keep.
@Disabled Junkie: your welcome
TRAGIC TOLL 20 bus drivers die from coronavirus in London with hundreds more ill
@Disabled Junkie: your welcome
TRAGIC TOLL 20 bus drivers die from coronavirus in London with hundreds more ill
@Disabled Junkie: Think you need to cop on….life has to get back to some normality
Straight to the comments to see what all the panel of hindsight experts have to say!
It’s interesting hearing all the whinging from people who “can’t take anymore” they would be the same people to demand government heads on plates if the loss of life had been what it was in Italy and Spain. No one wants this but it has to be endured to lessen the potential fatalities, and to ease the stress/danger on frontline staff. Go for a walk or a cycle and most of all be thankful you haven’t been directly affected because if you had, you wouldn’t be moaning in the first place, you would be mourning instead.
@Alan Biddulph: Hindsight experts all over the place. Why don’t they offer their expertise to the cause instead of talking nonsense online?
Can’t see why we locked down in the first place if we’re going to lift it now, we should have cocooned the old n vulnerable for three or four months n let the rest of get it n get over it,
@Philip McLoughlin: They panicked, the virus was fully noval. The CFR and IR were not probably understood. Thankfully the morally is highly skewed to very elderly or with those with chronic underlining conditions (only 3 deaths in Sweden under 50). These people can be cocooned long term.
@Ruairi O Gorman: How do you think the situation would have evolved in terms of hospital capacity and mitigation capacity had there not been a lock down?
@Philip McLoughlin: You better pray really hard that when you get the virus you won’t need to be hospitalised.
@Philip McLoughlin: the problem is that even younger healthy people can die as a result if Covid-19. The 2 week mark in the illness either results in your immune system adapting and fighting off the virus or it becomes overwhelmed, leading to an over-reaction of the bodies inflammatory response (this damages lung tissue) and pneumonia which are the cases that end up on respirators and ventilators.
@Philip McLoughlin: well you have some cheek. I am ‘an old person’ went into voluntary lockdown shortly after the outbreak in China. My choice! Now you want to deny us any freedom. Why don’t you gas us!
Why is Vietnam always ignored in these global headlines? Restrictions lifted there on Thursday and all of the teachers I know there were elated and celebrated until the sun rose. Social distancing, mask wearing and hand cleaning are all being followed, and the virus was taken seriously the minute Vietnamese authorities even suspected a hint of the disease spreading from Wuhan. No deaths and 270 cases is a phenomenal achievement and should be seen as a guide in how to do it. Its a sign that the world can begin again at some point.
Its time to phase out of lockdown here , the virus albeit suppressed won’t be eradicated this was the original plan based on modelling I believe . Mitigation has to be the way forward.
@Ruairi O Gorman: yes, that is the plan but only the government knows the hospital capacity. We still want to keep the curve flat. No point going through a lockdown, just to be overwhelmed with a second wave the moment lockdown lifts
@sue: That’s the issue with to severe a lockdown. Once slightly lifted people will forget everything and the R0 will return to near normal transmission ~6. A slow and steady infection of the population is needed ,while maintaining hospital capacity.
Belgium has the right idea, here we just keep getting threats by varadkar and co of further weeks of lockdown
Will be interesting to see if RTE/FF/FG/ICF manage to keep a lid on,hush away the shameful working and living conditions of the 80k plus migrant construction workers mainly living/working in the greater Dublin area,a mirror image of Irish construction workers living/working in the UK during the 50′s and 60′s.
Lucky someone had a charged phone handy to film the Keeling workers arriving in Dublin airport or we would never have heard a word about it.
@joe oneill: leo and his crooks must have heavy back pockets
Not for a second do I believe India’s numbers
@Thomas Byrne: Agreed. India’s numbers lack all credibility as of course do China’s. The most ominous part of this worldwide tragedy is that the information coming from the country of source of this pandemic cannot be considered in any way to be credible. This makes the work of the WHO and by extension that of the Health authorities in all other countries so much more difficult. The real scale of the tragedy, a significant part of which can be attributed to the blatant lying of the Chinese authorities, will emerge in the next four to six weeks when numbers of Covid-19 related deaths on the African Continent, South America and Russia (if they are to be believed!) is revealed. Watch Brazil. It’s scary.
@Thomas Byrne: Indian here, do not know about China, but India’s numbers are fairly credible in terms of the number of infections discovered. The testing is on lower side and the people only with symptoms are the one tested and are reported by the health authorities to the media.
Unlike China, indian state has comparatively less power on media than China.
Low infections are purely because india is a hot country and miraculously that seems to be working. Secondly countrywide lockdown has limited people to people interaction.
The number of actual cases , those having the virus but no symptoms can be super high but again given the poor nature of India’s health infrastructure , not everybody can be tested.
But to answer your question, there is no intention by the government to hide the number of infections and I myself live in a denser area in northern India , and there are hardly any cases in the 3 mile radius around me.
I used to live in Dublin for 3 years , hence kind of still follow journal , saw this comment and thought to clear any misconceptions.
Also with respect to China and India , people regulary use naturopath treatments such as steam inhalation , drinking warm water , basil -ginger tea etc and not say breathing yoga techinques.
I don’t know how effective they are in practice against corona, I cure my normal cold through them, however I find this to be another possible reason for low reported infections.
Again don’t intend to be a snake oil salesman , but given the appaling nature of hygiene in india and falling consistently ill since returning from europe , I have seen using naturopathic treatement as a great immune defense at times.
Anyone who can WFH should do so.
Everyone allowed out and about they MUST keep social distancing.
Self employed trades men should be allowed out.
Same for garages, dog groomers vets clothes shops hardware, garden centres, butchers, fish mongers, car showrooms auctioneers.
Kids sports should start, as should kids creche and schools.
Elderly and those with underlying conditions a stay in lockdown.
It has to happen at some point and waiting indoors for the vaccine is not possible or needed for the majority.
@DeWitt: Good luck with getting children under 12 to social distance . You do understand that it’s not just those who are over 70 or those who have underlying conditions can contract Covid and be seriously ill? Yes, there will need to be a return to some form of normality before a vaccine is found , but it’s not simply as saying “ open everything .”
Most children’s sports coaches are volunteers, why should they be placed at serious risk?
@Bríd Uí Mhaoluala: of course you are correct, everyone could get the virus, and we should expect that most people will unfortunately get it. Or we stay in isolation until a vaccine is given to everyone. Problem is that we don’t know when the vaccine will arrive, we do know that the bill, will arrive every month. We don’t really have a choice.
If all are opening up around us, what do we do. The UK will open up and we have an open border there. Not an expert, just a commentator on here so have not a clue of the solution but we can’t be the only country that keeps the lock down going past early May. Or is that the plan. Wait and see what other people do our how they fair? Don’t make a decision on our own.
No one can deny that what we are going through has worked in containing,but all experts are saying it’s around for a while, maybe a year, so we need a plan to start getting back some little semblance of normality. We can’t stay locked down indefinitely. So with all these counties coming up with plans, where’s ours? Or is the plan , wait and see how other counties plan pans out.
Your welcome
TRAGIC TOLL 20 bus drivers die from coronavirus in London with hundreds more ill
Just had a group ‘of friends ‘ arrive at the guest house looking for accommodation. Ffs, how they travelled so far is bejond question. My answer was simply NO. Idiots, and no they are NOT part of anything to help others. 4 technology boys, 2 solicitors and 2 teachers.
The figures coming out of India are frankly laughable.
@Robert Clifford: as are those out of China!
It’s a bit soon to be lifting sanctions for fear of a second wave of the Covid-19.
Not only are they not able to get a test and free treatment, but they have to risk their lives to make a living… man, these countries are worse than the 3rd world’s…
It’s far too soon to be lifting restrictions just yet
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