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Denmark and the Czech Republic have said that partially easing their blockages has not led to an increase in new coronavirus infections, as the WHO continued to urge extreme caution and Germany relaxed some restrictions, but extended others.
As EU governments grappled with complex and conflicting imperatives of easing blockages that paralyzed their economies while preventing a disastrous second wave of infections, meanwhile, South Korea reported no new cases for the first time.
Of the 44 European countries that imposed restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, 21 began to alleviate some of them and 11 others planned to do so soon, said Hans Kluge, regional director of the World Health Organization in Europe.
Kluge cautioned that all governments must remain extremely cautious. “As I said before, this virus is relentless,” he said. “We must remain vigilant, persevere and be patient, and be ready to step up the measures again when necessary.”
However, there was encouraging news from the Czech Republic and Denmark, where phased departures of strict blockades implemented at the start of the pandemic are ongoing. In Denmark, nurseries and schools started reopening two weeks ago, followed by hairdressers and other small businesses on April 20.
“There are no signs that the partial reopening has caused a further spread of the infection,” said Christian Wejse, a scientist in the department of infectious diseases at Aarhus University. “At least there is no indication that we are headed for another wave. That has been the concern, but I can’t see that at all. “
Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtěch said the number of new cases in the country had been below 100 for the past eight consecutive days and also reported that a phased reopening of shops and services had not led to an increase in infections. .
“So far we have not seen a negative trend as a result of previous relaxations,” said Vojtěch. “We will proceed with caution, gradually in the coming waves, and I think we are on the right track.”
Proceeding cautiously, Germany said Thursday that places of worship, museums, gardens, zoos, playgrounds and monuments could reopen in the coming days after Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the heads of the 16 German states.
But the federal government and state leaders postponed decisions on whether to reopen all schools and kindergartens and said that the physical distancing rules would remain in effect until at least May 10, with no further relaxation decided before 6 May. may.
Merkel said that reopening cafes and restaurants at this stage would be problematic due to the difficulty of verifying whether “the people around a table are from one family or from different homes.” She said Germany’s goal remained to prevent the virus from spreading rapidly.
“We have no medicine, we have no vaccine against the virus and … therefore the goal will always be to curb the virus,” Merkel said, adding that so far Germany had been “successful in achieving this goal.”
Germany began reducing its closure last week, when some stores were allowed to open as long as they practiced strict social distancing, but Merkel and government advisers have voiced serious concerns about the dangers of going too far, too fast, with the risk of infection rate indicating getting up again.
In Spain, where the number of daily deaths fell to its lowest level in six weeks on Thursday, the health minister announced time slots for specific outdoor activities, in an effort to avoid confusion and increased contagion when adults They can go out on Saturday to exercise for the first time. time since mid-March.
Salvador Illa said that except in the smallest cities with less than 5,000 inhabitants, people could go for a walk or do other exercises at 6 a.m. at 10 a.m. and from 8 p.m. at 11 p.m., while people who needed caregivers or were over 70 could be out of 10 a.m. and from 7pm to 8pm.
Parents may accompany children under the age of 14 on walks between noon and 7pm. “We need to continue to act very cautiously and prudently and follow the advice of experts,” said Illa. “We got into this together and we need to go out together. There is no other way.”
France classified each of its 95 departments as red, amber, or green depending on your risk level, with much of the north and east of the country including Paris, red, and much of the west and southwest green. Based on the infection rate and the capacity of the intensive care bed, the designation will be updated daily until May 7, when a decision will be made on how quickly everyone will be able to get out of prison on May 11.
The country’s environment minister, Élisabeth Borne, said the government will contribute € 50 per person for bicycle repair starting May 11, as part of a package of measures to encourage cycling and keep cars out of the roads of the city.
Under pressure from some regional politicians to lift Europe’s longest blockade earlier, Italy’s prime minister also said that the gradual return to normalcy of the country must be carefully coordinated and based strictly on scientific advice, if you do not want to see a increased infections.
“I will say it clearly, at the risk of appearing unpopular,” Giuseppe Conte told parliament on Thursday. “The government cannot immediately guarantee a return to normal … We are still in this pandemic.”
However, the economic devastation caused by Covid-19 on the continent is already evident. After Germany said on Wednesday it was facing its worst recession since 1949, France, Italy and Spain revealed similarly dire figures on Thursday.
France and Italy officially fell into recession after historic first-quarter economic downturns, while Spain warned of an annual contraction “unprecedented in modern history.” European Central Bank Director Christine Lagarde said the crisis threatened “an economic contraction of unprecedented magnitude and speed in peacetime.”
Infectious disease epidemics behave in different ways, but the The 1918 flu pandemic that killed more than 50 million people is considered a key example of a pandemic that occurred in multiple waves, the latter being more severe than the first. It has been replicated, albeit milder, in subsequent influenza pandemics.
How and why multi-wave outbreaks occur, and how subsequent waves of infection can be prevented, has become a staple of epidemiological modeling and pandemic preparedness studies, which have looked at everything from social behavior and health policy up to vaccination and the accumulation of community immunity. , also known as collective immunity.
Is there evidence that the coronavirus is returning elsewhere?
This is being watched very carefully. Without a vaccine, and without widespread immunity to the new disease, the Singapore experience has raised alarm, which has seen a sudden resurgence of infections despite being praised for its early management of the outbreak.
Although Singapore instituted a strong contact locating system for its general population, the disease reappeared in tight dormitory accommodation used by thousands of foreign workers with inadequate hygiene facilities and shared dining facilities.
Singapore’s experience, while very specific, has demonstrated the disease’s ability to return in force in places where people are very close, and its ability to exploit any weaknesses in established public health regimes to counter it.
What are the experts concerned about?
Conventional wisdom among scientists suggests that second waves of resistant infections occur after treatment and isolation capacity are depleted. In this case, the concern is that the social and political consensus behind the closings is being overtaken by public frustration and the urgent need to reopen the economies.
The threat decreases when the population’s susceptibility to the disease falls below a certain threshold or when widespread vaccination is available.
Generally speaking, the proportion of susceptible and immune individuals in a population at the end of a wave determines the potential magnitude of a subsequent wave. The concern at the moment is that with a vaccine still months away, and the true rate of infection only guessing, populations worldwide remain highly vulnerable to both the resurgence and subsequent waves.
Peter Beaumont
Meanwhile, South Korea, once one of the countries hardest hit by a pandemic that has so far infected more than 3.2 million people worldwide and killed nearly 230,000, reported no new cases for the first time since detected the disease there, raising hopes of an eventual return to normal.
An aggressive test-and-trace strategy and widespread social distancing had allowed the country to control the spread of the virus, President Moon Jae-in said. “This is the force of South Korea and its people,” he said Thursday.
Elsewhere, the virus continued to advance. Cases in Russia rose more than 100,000 on Thursday when the country registered its largest daily increase. The country is now the center of the outbreak in Europe, but a relatively low total of 1,073 deaths prompted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to say he had avoided a catastrophic “Italian scenario.”
