Europe set to further ease lockdown restrictions

ISLAMABAD: Europe on Sunday prepared for a further cautious easing of coronavirus restrictions following signs the pandemic may be slowing, with hard-hit Italy set to follow Spain in allowing people outside.

More than 247,000 people have been killed and 3.5 million infected worldwide by the virus, which has left half of humanity under some form of lockdown and pushed theglobal economy towards its worst downturn since the Great Depression.

With signs that the spread of the contagion has been brought under control, parts of Europe, Asia and the United States have begun to lift restrictions to try to inject life into economies crippled by weeks of closures and ease the pressure from populations wearying of confinement.

After a two-month lockdown in Italy — with the second-highest number of virus deaths in the world — people today (Monday) will be allowed to stroll in parks and visit relatives. Restaurants can open for takeaway and wholesale stores can resume business, but there was some confusion about the extent of the easing.

"I'm hoping this morning's paper will clear up some of the many questions about what we can and can't do," said Pietro Garlanti, a 53-year-old cleaner, as he queued at a kiosk. "I want to take my old mum to the sea-side, can I?"

Italian authorities have stressed that preventative measures are still needed. "On the one hand, we're super excited for the reopening, we're already organising various activities the kids will be able to do with their grandparents outdoors, workshops in the garden, that sort of thing. The kids can't wait to see them," said Marghe Lodoli, who has three children.

"On the other hand, it's disorientating. The rules are not clear, and we're not sure if just using common sense will do." Elsewhere in Europe, Germany will continue its easing today, while Slovenia, Poland and Hungary will allow public spaces and businesses to partially reopen.

With health experts warning the disease could hit hard once again, governments are sticking to measures to control the spread of the virus and more testing to try to track infections even as they relax curbs on movement.

Face masks will be mandatory on public transport starting today in Spain, where people were allowed to go outdoors on Saturday after a 48-day lockdown. With pressure growing on governments worldwide to balance public health requirements with the need to ease intense economic pain, some nations in Asia announced similar measures.

South Korea — once the second worst-hit nation on the planet — said Sunday it would ease a ban on some gatherings and events as long as they "follow disinfection measures". Thailand meanwhile allowed businesses such as restaurants, hair salons and outdoor markets to reopen on Sunday so long as social distancing was maintained and temperature checks carried out.

Despite the reopenings, experts have cautioned that many countries are still not through the worst of their outbreaks yet. In the latest sign that the pandemic remains a serious threat, the Philippines suspended all flights into and out of the country for a week starting Sunday in a bid to ease the pressure on its congested quarantine facilities.

Elsewhere, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that mosques would reopen across large parts of the Islamic Republic, after they were closed in early March to try to contain the Middle East's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak.

Rouhani warned, however, that while Iran would reopen "calmly and gradually", it should also prepare for "bad scenarios". Across the Pacific, the pressure to ease virus measures is intense on leaders in the United States, where the economy has been hammered with tens of millions left jobless.

The United States has the most coronavirus deaths in the world and President Donald Trump is keen for a turnaround to help reduce the economic pain. Florida is set to ease its lockdown today, as authorities in other states wrestle with pressure from demonstrators — some armed — who have protested against the lockdowns.

There are signs that the pandemic is slowing down in some parts of the United States. In New York City, the epicentre of the US outbreak, an emergency field hospital erected in Central Park is set to close, the Christian charity running it said Saturday, as virus cases decline in the city.

But authorities are wary of letting their guard down too fast, with fears the virus could wreak havoc in the most vulnerable communities in the United States.

A massive wave of infections is sweeping through America's prison population — the world's largest at 2.3 million — with coronavirus deaths on the rise in jails and penitentiaries across the country.

Riots over inadequate protection and slow responses by authorities have already taken place in prisons in Washington state and Kansas. "Things are beyond breaking point at this facility," said Brian Miller, an officer at the Marion prison in Ohio. "Right now it's hell."

Russia on Sunday registered more than 10,600 new coronavirus infections, marking a fresh one-day record increase. New infections jumped by 10,633 to 134,687 cases, Russian authorities said.

Russia is now the European country registering the most new infections. But the official fatality rate is low in comparison to countries like Italy, Spain and the United States. Fifty eight people died over the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 1,280.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said the Russian capital, which has emerged as the epicentre of the contagion, was not yet past the peak of the outbreak. Moscow recorded 5,948 new cases, bringing the capital´s total to 68,606.

President Vladimir Putin has said the situation remains "very difficult." Despite the steady increase in cases, the government has indicated it could gradually lift confinement measures from May 12, but the easing will depend on the region.

Sobyanin said on Saturday that about two percent of Moscow residents -- or more than 250,000 people -- have the coronavirus. According to official statistics, Moscow has a population of 12.7 million but the real figure is believed to be higher.

Landlocked Armenia will reopen shops, restaurants and bars, resume manufacturing and lift restrictions on movement from Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan said, despite a recent rise in confirmed infections.

The South Caucasus country has registered 2,386 cases of the coronavirus and 35 deaths, with the number of infections rising from an average of 50 a day in mid-April to more than 100 in recent days, including 134 registered on Wednesday.

Armenia, with a population of 3 million, has been looking to ease the hit on its economy which it expects to shrink by 2% in 2020.

Smaller shops, beauty salons and dry cleaners will open on Monday, Avinyan said on social media, adding that the construction and manufacturing industry would also be allowed to work as normal.

Vietnam reported its first new coronavirus infection in nine days on Sunday, a British oil expert who was quarantined on arrival, the health ministry said.

The Southeast Asian country has registered a total of 271 coronavirus cases and has reported no deaths, the ministry said in a statement. Over 30,500 people have been quarantined, and 261,000 tests have been carried out.

Vienna Airport will offer onsite coronavirus testing from today to enable passengers entering Austria to avoid having to be quarantined for 14 days.

Passengers arriving at the airport have been required to present a health certificate showing a negative COVID-19 result which is no older than four days, or go into quarantine.

From today passengers can have a molecular biological (polymerise chain reaction or PCR) COVID-19 test at the airport, and get the result in two to three hours, the airport said.

“Air travel, whether business journeys or urgent trips...will thus become safer and easier,” it added on Sunday. Last month Emirates, in coordination with Dubai Health Authority (DHA), said it was the first airline to conduct on-site rapid COVID-19 tests for passengers.