Germany, Israel, South Korea and several other countries plan to ease coronavirus lockdowns this week as governments come under mounting pressure to reduce the economic and social pain caused by the safety measures.
As Europe approached a grim milestone of 100,000 confirmed deaths, recriminations continued over Covid-19’s origins, with a laboratory in Wuhan rejecting a theory pushed in the US that it might have engineered the virus, and Donald Trump warning China of consequences if it was found to be “knowingly responsible”.
After a week of slowing infection rates, the Israeli government announced on Sunday it was easing the stringent quarantine measures in place for the past five weeks. It will allow the partial reopening of hardware, electronic and office supply stores, and group prayer outdoors – for up to 19 people, standing two metres apart – and extend the perimeter for exercise to 500 metres from a person’s home.
Preschools, schools, hairdressers and shopping malls will remain closed, and people will continue having to wear a mask in public spaces, with fines for non-compliance.
The country of 9 million has had 158 casualties and about 13,000 cases. The relaxed measures will be trialled for a fortnight and tougher restrictions reinstated if the infection rate grows again.
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Maharashtra, India’s worst-hit state with more than 3,600 confirmed cases among its population of 114 million, said some activity would be permitted in its least-affected areas while maintaining a strict lockdown in zones that have the most infections.
“We need to start the economic wheels again,” the state’s chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, said on Sunday. “We are giving selective permissions from tomorrow, especially in [less-affected] orange zones and green zones.”
South Korea reported only eight new coronavirus cases on Sunday and said it would loosen some of its lockdown restrictions.
The prime minister, Chung Sye-kyun, said the government would consider opening public outdoor facilities and would relax guidelines on the circumstances in which sports facilities and restaurants can open. Other measures that were due to expire on Sunday were extended until 5 May.
South Korea has recorded 10,661 infections and 234 deaths. “We must not let down our guard until the last confirmed patient is recovered,” the president, Moon Jae-in, said on Sunday.
While Germany, Albania and New Zealand also prepared to cautiously relax their quarantine regimes, the UK, which is still in the middle of its outbreak, said it was too soon to give dates on easing the lockdown.
The Guardian
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