A gravedigger paints numbers on crosses at the Sao Francisco Xavier cemetery in Rio de Janeiro during the coronavirus pandemic. Photograph: Ian Cheibub/Reuters
A gravedigger paints numbers on crosses at the Sao Francisco Xavier cemetery in Rio de Janeiro during the coronavirus pandemic. Photograph: Ian Cheibub/Reuters
Shops in Wales are set to reopen on Monday. First Minister Mark Drakeford has said the “R” rate in Wales continues to be below 1 and the number of deaths reported every day is at the lowest point since lockdown began.
Each of the different nations in the UK are in charge of their own coronavirus lockdown restrictions, and this week has seen the lockdown eased slightly in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Drakeford says restrictions in Wales will be eased gradually over the next three weeks, with changes coming in on every Monday:
From Monday 22 June, all non-essential shops can reopen, providing they follow social distancing rules. The housing market will begin to reopen – with viewings able to take place. Outdoor markets can also reopen, along with outdoor sports courts for non-contact sports, as well as places of worship for private prayer. Childcare facilities will begin to reopen on a phased basis.
From Monday 29 June, pupils will be able to return to school.
And from Monday 6 July, Drakeford says “we will lift the requirement to stay local”. Currently people in Wales are only allowed to travel locally – with five miles given as a guide.
But Drakeford warned:
Coronavirus is not over. Every day people are being infected.
The European Central Bank’s chief warned EU leaders on Friday that their economies were heading for a “dramatic fall” due to the coronavirus crisis and urged them to agree quickly on a massive stimulus plan currently under discussion.
Reuters reports that Christine Lagarde told a video-conference summit that the full effects of Europe’s worst recession since World War Two had yet to appear in the labour market and unemployment in the 19-country euro zone could jump to 10% from 7.3% now.
Her stark message came as the European Union’s 27 leaders settled in at their computer screens for a day of discussions on recovery for their bloc.
A senior EU diplomat said:
It’s a crisis without precedent that has had an enormous impact - economic, social and also on the viability of the EU. To show that Europe protects, we cannot take any longer on this, as delays will only make things more difficult and more expensive.
Sources said Lagarde told the summit that financial markets were relatively calm because of expectations that they would act to show “the EU is back” in action.
Fragile gains in women’s workforce participation across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are at risk, while gender-based violence is on the rise, and women’s voices are going unheard, according to a new report from CARE International.
CARE’s rapid gender analysis provides a sobering picture of the pandemic’s impact on women and girls across the region.
It states:
The Covid-19 pandemic and efforts at mitigating the virus’ spread in recent months have heightened the insecurity, psychosocial distress, economic vulnerability, gender inequality, and deprivation that already existed in countries in the Middle East and beyond.
While men appear to have worse outcomes when infected with the coronavirus, women and girls are being deeply impacted– and fragile gains in women’s workforce participation are in jeopardy.
Serbia will hold Europe’s first national election on Sunday since the continent went into coronavirus lockdown three months ago, with protective masks made available to voters at polling stations to guard against the spread of Covid-19.
Reuters reports that president Aleksandar Vucic’s conservative ruling Serbian Progressive party is tipped to win more than 50% of votes, opinion polls show, buoyed by voters’ perception that the government has handled the pandemic effectively and by state handouts to soften its economic impact.
Serbia, with a population of 7.2 million, has so far reported 12,616 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 258 deaths.
Shops and cafes have reopened in Singapore from today as coronavirus measures are relaxed - but the city-state’s leader warned people “not to go overboard celebrating”.
AFP reports:
More than two months after a partial lockdown was imposed, massage parlours and spas also resumed operations while beaches were no longer off limits and sports and other facilities opened again.
“I feel happy because I can come out … a few restrictions still apply but I’m happy, I feel safe,” Mostafa Jamshidian, a computer science researcher, told AFP as he walked through the central business district.
Angelica Stasevich said she was “very happy”.
“Today it’s like I want to sing, I want to dance, I want to walk,” the 21-year-old said.
Social gatherings of up to five are allowed under the relaxed rules, but people must wear face masks and stay 1 metre (3.3ft) apart.
Authorities have been gradually easing restrictions imposed in early April that shuttered schools and non-essential businesses, as a test-and-trace effort stabilised infection rates.
The city-state’s 5.7 million residents had been told to stay home unless they had good reason to go out.
Singapore has the second-highest number of confirmed infections in south-east Asia with more than 41,000 cases, mostly among foreign workers living in crowded dormitories. The death toll stands at 26.
In a Facebook post marking the reopening of most businesses, the prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, said:
I am sure all of us have been eagerly looking forward to this day for a long time! But please don’t go overboard celebrating.
Potential super-spreader venues such as cinemas, bars and nightclubs remain closed.
UK study: People with a south Asian background most likely group to die from Covid-19
People with a south Asian background are the most likely group to die from Covid-19 after being admitted to hospital across the UK, according to a study.
Data from 30,693 people admitted to 260 hospitals found a 19% increased risk of death from coronavirus for those with south Asian backgrounds compared with white people.
Experts behind the study said 40% of the south Asians in the group had diabetes – a “significant factor” in their increased risk of death.
EU leaders meet virtually to discuss EU recovery fund
EU leaders are gathering virtually for a video summit that is attempting to find consensus for an ambitious €750bn (£676bn; $840bn) EU coronavirus recovery fund.
Several northern European nations are unhappy about the EU commission plan because it involves collectively raising €500bn as grants for countries worst hit by the pandemic, notably Italy and Spain.
A group known as the “frugal four” – Sweden, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands – have made clear their continued opposition to grants, rather than loans. There are also divisions over the proposed €1.1tn EU budget.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, are backing the commission’s plan. More on that here:
The UK’s chief medical officers have agreed that the Covid-19 threat level should be lowered one notch to “epidemic is in general circulation” from “transmission is high or rising exponentially”.
The joint biosecurity centre recommended the Covid-19 alert level should move from level 4 (a Covid-19 epidemic is in general circulation; transmission is high or rising exponentially) to level 3 (a Covid-19 epidemic is in general circulation).
In a statement the chief medical officers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland said:
There has been a steady decrease in cases we have seen in all four nations, and this continues.
It does not mean that the pandemic is over. The virus is still in general circulation, and localised outbreaks are likely to occur.
Reacting to the UK CMOs’ decision to lower the UK’s alert level from level 4 to level 3 , the UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, said:
The UK moving to a lower alert level is a big moment for the country, and a real testament to the British people’s determination to beat this virus.
The government’s plan is working. Infection rates are rapidly falling, we have protected the NHS and, thanks to the hard work of millions in our health and social care services, we are getting the country back on her feet.
