The United Nations chief is warning world leaders that
the COVID-19 pandemic will cause “unimaginable devastation and suffering around
the world,” with historic levels of hunger and famine and up to 1.6 billion
people unable to earn a living unless action is taken now.
 |
| People prepare the terrace of their restaurant in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris, Thursday, May 28, 2020. France is reopening its restaurants, bars and cafes starting next week as the country eases most restrictions amid the coronavirus crisis. Edouard Philippe defended the gradual lifting of lockdown up to now, saying the strategy was meant to avoid provoking a second wave. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) |
The Latest on the
coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for
most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health
problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
— U.N. chief warns
of historic levels of famine.
— South Africa eases
bans on alcohol sales, church services.
— Moscow tries to
dispel doubts over nation's low virus deaths.
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UNITED NATIONS — The
United Nations chief is warning world leaders that the COVID-19 pandemic will
cause “unimaginable devastation and suffering around the world,” with historic
levels of hunger and famine and up to 1.6 billion people unable to earn a
living unless action is taken now.
Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres told a high-level meeting Thursday that COVID-19 could also
lead to “a loss of $8.5 trillion in global output, the sharpest contraction
since the Great Depression of the 1930s.”
Guterres called for
Immediate and collective action in several critical areas: enhancing global
financial liquidity; providing debt relief; engaging private creditors;
promoting external finance; plugging leaks in tax evasion; money-laundering;
and corruption. He also wants to make sure the recovery tackles the climate
crisis.
___
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said he
scolded one of his sons for violating curfew by going out at night and
endangering his grandmother’s health.
Kenyatta’s son is
staying at his home in Mombasa. The coastal city, the nation’s second largest,
is a center of infections, with a dusk-to-dawn curfew and ban on social
gatherings.
The president told
local media he asked his son if he would able to live with his actions if his
grandmother became ill with COVID-19. Kenyatta said that as the East African
country considers lifting restrictions, everyone must exercise responsibility.
Other Kenyans have
not escaped curfew punishment lightly. At least 18 people have been killed by
police for violating curfew, according to human rights activist Wilfred Olal of
the Dandora Community Justice Center.
PARIS — France is
reopening its restaurants, bars and cafes starting next week as the country
eases most restrictions amid the new coronavirus crisis.
All city parks will
reopen and more children will be accommodated in schools with classes capped at
15 students.
French Prime
minister Edouard Philippe also pledged to revive “cultural and sport life.”
Although life is
returning closer to normal, public gatherings larger than 10 people are still
banned, contact sports are not allowed, and night clubs will remain closed.
France, one of the
world’s hardest-hit countries, has reported at least 28,596 coronavirus-related
deaths.
___
ROME — Italy
registered 593 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, nine more than the previous
day-to-day figure from the Health Ministry.
Lombardy in the
north registered 382 new cases, nearly the same as a day earlier. All other
regions registered far fewer than 100 new cases, most with fewer than a dozen.
There were 70 deaths
in the 24-hour period ending on Thursday evening, raising the nation’s overall
known death toll to 33,142. Italy has logged 231,732 known cases of COVID-19.
Lombardy’s situation
is concerning health experts ahead of a looming government decision on whether
Italians can resume travel between regions and if people can arrive from abroad
without having to quarantine.
___
STORM LAKE, Iowa — A
rural Iowa county that's home to two meatpacking plants has seen an increase of
nearly 500 coronavirus cases in the past few days.
The state health
department reported 697 cases Thursday in Buena Vista County, where Tyson Foods
has pork and turkey processing plants. Health officials say the number of
coronavirus cases in the county had jumped from around 250 on Tuesday as more
testing has been done.
A Tyson pork
processing plant in Storm Lake has had more than 550 employees out of more than
2,500 test positive, said Iowa Department of Public Health Deputy Director
Sarah Reisetter.
Tyson Foods is in
the midst of testing all employees at the two plants. Company officials say
they plan to release results once the testing of the roughly 3,100 employees is
completed sometime in the next week.
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LONDON — British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced another easing of the coronavirus
lockdown restrictions in England,.
Johnson said
Thursday at the government’s daily press briefing that schools will start
reopening Monday. He also said that some outdoor-based businesses can reopen,
but social distancing guidelines have to be observed in all the changes.
Johnson said the
limited changes are possible because the government’s five tests on easing the
lockdown, in effect since March 23, have been met. Those include a sustained
and consistent fall in virus infections and the daily death rate.
Though the number of
people dying after testing positive for COVID-19 has fallen since the peak in
early April. the U.K. still recorded another 377 deaths, taking the total to
37,837.
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CAPE TOWN, South
Africa -- The South African government says it will allow people to buy alcohol
and attend church services starting Monday as part of its phased relaxation of
the coronavirus lockdown.
Both activities will
be subject to restrictions in a country with the highest number of cases in
Africa.
Alcohol sales,
banned since March 27, will be allowed four days a week. No alcohol can be
purchased on Fridays and over the weekend and bars remain closed. Alcohol may
be consumed only at home.
Churches can reopen
but must limit congregation size to 50 people. Churchgoers and officials must
wear masks and maintain social distancing. For those entering church, hand
sanitizing and screening will be compulsory.
Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma, the minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs,
also said cigarette sales remain banned but a national night curfew will be
lifted, and outdoor exercise will be allowed at any time.
___
MILAN -- The
governor of Sardinia is urging Italy’s government to back a coronavirus testing
regime that would give domestic tourists a greater sense of safety.
Borders between
Italian regions are to reopen Wednesday after three months, and Sardinia is one
of Italy’s most popular tourist destination. Italy’s minister for regional
affairs opposes such a system of ‘’immunity passports,’’ saying none of the
tests so far offers clarity.
But Gov. Christian
Solinas said Thursday that while neither nasal tests to determine if someone is
positive nor antibody tests indicating exposure offer ‘’certainty,’’ the island
region would like an alternative ‘’to nothing.’’ He said testing arriving
tourists’ body temperatures was not enough.
Sardinia’s
insistence on a standardized testing regime has rubbed some the wrong way, with
Milan’s mayor saying when he considers where to go for a break he will look
elsewhere.
___
BERLIN --
Authorities in northern Germany say at least 72 workers at a UPS center near
Hannover have tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Officials said Thursday
that COVID-19 cases at a daycare center and a school in Hannover were also
linked to the outbreak at the logistics center.
Separately,
authorities in Frankfurt say the number of COVID-19 cases linked to a Baptist
church service on May 10 has grown to 200.
Despite loosening
numerous restrictions amid falling case numbers, German Chancellor Angela
Merkel warned Wednesday that “we are still living at the start of the
pandemic.” She cited the cluster linked to the church service as an example of
“how quickly infections can break out again.”
Germany’s Robert
Koch Institute, the country’s disease control center, said there have been
almost 180,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and
8,411 deaths.
___
LONDON — Since
March, Britons have stood on balconies, doorsteps and sidewalks once a week to
applaud care workers on the front lines of the pandemic.
But Thursday’s 10th
weekly “Clap for Our Carers” could be the last. The woman who founded the
ritual says that “to have the most impact I think it is good to stop it at its
peak.”
Annemarie Plas, a
36-year-old Londoner, was inspired by an idea from her native Netherlands. The
event quickly took off, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and members of the
royal family taking part, and news channels broadcasting the applause live from
around the country.
But there was
criticism as some people broke social distancing to take part. And some say the
gesture deflects attention from serious government failings in providing
testing and protective equipment to medics and care workers.
Plas also was
concerned the gesture was becoming “politicized.” She hopes it will become an
annual event on the last Thursday in March each year.
___
NICOSIA, Cyprus --
Cyprus is advising doctors to curtail the use of chloroquine and
hydroxychloroquine on some coronavirus patients amid renewed concerns the drugs
could trigger heart problems and put lives at risk.
The Health Ministry
urged doctors Thursday to be “particularly vigilant” and to even stop
administering the drugs to COVID-19 patients with pre-existing heart
conditions.
The announcement
came after the World Health Organization said it would temporarily drop
hydroxychloroquine from its global study into experimental COVID-19 treatments.
Cyprus’ health
minister said last month the country was among the first nations to approve use
of the anti-malaria drug to treat COVID-19 patients.
___
MOSCOW -- Health
officials in the Russian capital have updated numbers on coronavirus deaths,
trying to dispel doubts about the nation’s remarkably low COVID-19 mortality.
Moscow’s Health
Department said Thursday the coronavirus mortality index for April varies from
1.4% to 2.8% depending on the calculation. The results are significantly lower
than those from London, New York and other capitals.
On top of previously
reported 636 deaths directly caused by the coronavirus, it added 756 deaths of
those who tested positive for the virus but died of other causes and 169 deaths
of those who tested negative but likely died of the virus according to
autopsies.
Previously, the
department counted only deaths directly resulting from the virus, leaving other
“excess” deaths that represented a hike over the same period last year unexplained.
That has drawn
suspicions from Russian and Western experts, who contend authorities in Moscow
and other parts of Russia may have been under-reporting coronavirus deaths for
political needs.
___
ZAGREB, Croatia --
Croatia plans to reopen borders for the citizens of 10 European Union nations
as part of efforts to revive tourism after the new coronavirus lockdown.
Prime Minister
Andrej Plenkovic said at a government session Thursday that travel restrictions
will be lifted for citizens of Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. He says the list of
countries will be expanded.
Croatia, with one of
the weakest economies in the EU, is largely dependent on tourism along the
country’s stunning Adriatic Sea coast. The country hopes to salvage as much as
possible the summer tourism season after suffering losses the past months.
___
MOSCOW -- Residents
of Russia’s capital will be able to go for a stroll under relaxed coronavirus
regulations, but they’ll have to check an online map to find out when they can
do it.
The mayor’s office
said Thursday that it is developing an interactive for the walks that can start
on June 1. It says a resident will have to enter his home address and the map
will show days and times that walks are allowed.
Under current
restrictions, residents are supposed to stay home except for going to grocery
stores, pharmacies, doctors or jobs that require their presence.
___
LONDON -- British
police say Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s adviser Dominic Cummings likely
violated rules by traveling from home during lockdown, but the force has “no
intention” to pursue the matter.
Cummings has
acknowledged driving 250 miles (400 km) to his parents’ house in Durham,
northeast England, during the lockdown, and later taking another drive to a
scenic town 30 miles (50 kms) away.
Durham Constabulary
said Thursday that the second drive, to the town of Barnard Castle, was
probably a “minor breach” of lockdown rules that would have “warranted police intervention
had he been caught in the act.” But police say there is “no intention to take
retrospective action.”
Johnson has resisted
calls to fire Cummings for apparently flouting restrictions the government
imposed on the rest of the country.
___
NEW DELHI -- India’s
top court has ordered free train rides and food and water for hundreds of
thousands of migrant workers returning to villages in blazing heat after losing
city jobs because of the pandemic.
The Supreme Court on
Thursday ordered that state governments shall oversee the registration of
migrant workers and ensure that they board the train or bus at an early date.
Television images
have shown desperate and hungry migrants looting food carts on railroad
stations and highways. Several migrants have died while travelling on the
trains this week, with day temperatures rising to 113 degrees (45 Celsius).
After imposing a
countrywide lockdown March 25 to contain the spread of COVID-19, the government
stopped trains, buses and other transit.
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