The World Health Organization has no blanket recommendation for countries and regions for easing measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, but urged them not to lift them too early, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
“One of the most important parts is not to let go of the measures too early in order not to have a fall back again,” said WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier in a virtual briefing.
“It’s similar to being sick yourself if you get out of bed too early and get running too early you risk falling back and having complications,” he added.
CORONAVIRUS LATEST
The number of confirmed infections of the novel coronavirus exceeded 1.34 million globally and the death toll crossed 76,000, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT.
EUROPE
• The pace of coronavirus deaths in Spain ticked up for the first time in five days on Tuesday, with 743 people succumbing overnight, but there was still hope the national lockdown might be eased soon.
• Doctors in Lombardy, Italy’s worst-hit region, denounced local officials for their handling of the crisis and said the mistakes they made should be a lesson for everyone.
Two people gesture as they lean out of their window after the applause in honour of healthcare workers, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in downtown Ronda, southern Spain, on 7th April. The placard reads: “Cheer up! Your efforts are our pride”. PICTURE: Reuters/Jon Nazca
• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was set to spend a second night in intensive care on Tuesday, while his foreign minister led the government’s response. Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said he was self isolating as a family member has symptoms.
• In the Swiss Army’s biggest call-up since World War II, thousands of soldiers have been sent to support health workers, while hundreds have been confined to barracks after potential exposure.
• France has officially registered more than 10,000 deaths from coronavirus infections on Tuesday, becoming the fourth country to go beyond that threshold.
• Norway will ease some restrictions, its Prime Minister said.
• Finland will start tracking the spread in its population with randomised antibody tests.
• Vietnam donated 550,000 face masks to five European countries on Tuesday.
• Ireland’s chief medical officer said he did not expect to be able to recommend a lifting of severe restrictions by 12th April.
• Czech lawmakers approved keeping the country under the state of emergency until 30th April, a shorter extension than the government had sought.
AMERICAS
• New York state is nearing a plateau in number of patients hospitalised, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, while total infections in the country rose to 374,329, with the death toll reaching 12,064.
• President Donald Trump accused the World Health Organization of being too focused on China and issuing bad advice during the coronavirus outbreak. He also accused the US Health Department’s inspector general of having produced a “fake dossier” on American hospitals suffering shortages.
• Wisconsin voters faced long lines at limited polling locations on Tuesday during the state’s presidential primary and local elections.
• Canada needs to do more to persuade Washington not to block medical supplies from flowing across the border, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
• Mexico’s health ministry warned that the country was facing a shortage of doctors as it seeks to ramp up hospital care.
• A report published by the Brazilian army’s strategic studies center last week contradicts President Jair Bolsonaro by calling for widespread isolation to fight the pandemic.
• El Salvador warned that security forces had been ordered to enforce quarantine orders more rigorously.
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
• Mainland China reported no deaths for the first time since the pandemic began, and a drop in new cases, a day before the city of Wuhan, where the virus emerged, is set to lift its lockdown.
• India’s 21-day lockdown is set to end next week but several state leaders have called for an extension or only a partial lifting of restrictions.
• Japan declared a one-month state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures, and rolled out a nearly $US1 trillion stimulus package.
• Australia’s chief medical officer said researchers were analysing data to help the government plot a recovery, after lockdown measures bought it some time.
• Philippines extended its lockdown and home quarantine measures until the end of April.
• Indonesia approved a request by the Jakarta administration to impose further large-scale social restrictions on the capital.
• India will allow limited exports of an anti-malaria drug that U.S. President Donald Trump has touted as a potential weapon in the fight against the virus.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
• Most Middle Eastern countries are seeing worrying daily increases in cases but the region still has a chance to contain its spread, a senior WHO official said.
• The coronavirus could eventually infect between 10,000 and 200,000 people in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s health minister said.
• Egypt will ban any public religious gatherings during the holy Muslim fasting month Ramadan starting in around two weeks.
• South Africa’s main health workers’ union planned to challenge the government in court on Tuesday over shortages of protective gear for frontline staff.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
• World stock markets posted sharp gains on Tuesday on signs of progress in curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus in both Europe and the United States.
• Euro zone finance ministers hope to agree on measures worth half a trillion euros to finance recovery from the coronavirus, a discussion that has sown divisions.
• The Trump administration asked Congress for an additional $US250 billion in emergency economic aid for small US businesses reeling from the pandemic.
• US job openings fell in February, suggesting the labour market was losing momentum even before stringent measures to control the outbreak shuttered businesses.
• Latin American assets extended their recovery into a second session on Tuesday, as risk assets were propped up by hopes that the coronavirus outbreak had peaked in several hotspots.
• Slovenia will post a “high” budget deficit and public debt will increase this year, the Fiscal Council said on Tuesday.
• Portugal will boost its credit lines for struggling businesses to €4.2 billion on Wednesday, after it was bolstered by a state aid package from the European Commission.
• Japan will sell a record amount of extra bonds this fiscal year, worth more than $US165 billion, straining the industrial world’s heaviest debt burden.
• Thailand approved measures worth $US58 billion on Tuesday.
• Nearly 140 campaign groups and charities urged the IMF and World Bank, G20 governments and private creditors to help the world’s poorest countries through the crisis by cancelling debt payments.
• The IMF said it was considering Nigeria’s request for $US3.4 billion in emergency financing to combat the impact of the pandemic.
– Compiled by MILLA NISSI, ADITYA SONI and UTTARESH V
