France, Italy and Spain prepare to ease coronavirus lockdowns
Several other EU countries have already announced a tentative easing of restrictions
Oliver Holmes,
Sam Jones in Madrid, and
Jason Burke in Johannesburg
Sun 26 Apr 2020 14.52 BSTLast modified on Sun 26 Apr 2020 16.36 BST
Shares
42
A man jogs along the Champs Élysées in Paris during the coronavirus crisis. Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
France, Italy and Spain are preparing to loosen coronavirus restrictions, with other countries watching closely to see how some of the first and hardest-hit countries in
Europe might safely emerge from their crippling lockdowns.
After the US, where the number of infections is heading towards the 1m mark, with more than 53,000 deaths, the three countries have the highest numbers of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the world, according to
Johns Hopkins University.
The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic
passed 200,000 on Saturday, with more than 2.9m confirmed cases, rising rapidly in many countries but slowing in others because of lockdowns.
Decisions on how and when to reopen will be vital to how people and businesses can cope with the pandemic, balancing the need for economies to restart with the risks of new outbreaks and further shutdowns.
Advertisement
In Italy, which was the first European country to impose a lockdown in March, and where there have so far been close to 200,000 infections and at least 26,384 deaths, Giuseppe Conte
said manufacturing could restart as soon as 4 May.
The Italian prime minister said schools, however, would not reopen until September. Measures would be announced early this week, he told Italian daily La Repubblica.
Tight lockdowns have been seen as a blunt but effective tool to halt infections until a vaccine is developed.
Some countries have imposed less restrictive measures, for example Sweden, where shops, restaurants and junior schools have stayed open. Possibly as a result, Sweden’s death rate from Covid-19 is nearly 200 per million people, compared with 31 per million in neighbouring Finland and 36 per million in Norway.
The country’s chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell,
has argued that the effectiveness of lockdowns and border closures has not yet been properly analysed and that Sweden’s high infection rate
might help it in the future as more people will become immune.
However, Sweden’s deputy prime minister, Isabella Lövin,
told the BBC it was not yet fully clear if people who had been infected would be immune. She also said the country had a “big problem” with its main strategy after outbreaks in elderly care homes.
There was debate at the weekend on the topic of immunity after the World Health Organization (WHO)
said there was no evidence that people who had recovered were immune. After criticism from scientists, the agency rowed back, clarifying that it expected people to develop some level of protection but that it was not clear how much and how long it would last.
Advertisement
Unlike Sweden, France has imposed a mandatory tight lockdown for weeks. The country’s prime minister, Édouard Philippe,
said he would present a national exit strategy to parliament on Tuesday, which would then debate and vote on the recommendations.
The pandemic has killed at least 22,614 people in
France, with officials on Saturday reporting 369 new deaths in the previous 24 hours.
Seventeen priorities have been identified for bringing France out of lockdown. These include reopening schools, companies returning to work, getting public transport back to normal, the supply of masks and sanitiser, testing policy and support for elderly people.
Play Video
Coronavirus: dozens arrested in Berlin protesting against lockdown – video
In
Spain, health authorities have also begun to outline plans for a move towards “a new normality” as the number of overnight coronavirus deaths in the country dropped below 300 for the first time in weeks. As of Sunday, children under 14 were allowed out to exercise for the first time since mid-March, and the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced that adults could also be allowed to exercise outside from next weekend.
Speaking on Sunday, Fernando Simón, the head of Spain’s centre for health emergencies, said recent figures showed a “clear descending trend”. The government’s decision to allow some non-essential workers to return to their jobs a fortnight ago had not had any negative impact so far, he said.
Spain has confirmed a total of 207,634 cases and recorded 23,190 deaths, its health ministry reported. The growth rate of new cases stands at 0.8% – down from 3% in recent weeks and 38% when the state of emergency was declared on 14 March.
Several other European countries, including Belgium, Greece and
Malta, have already announced a tentative easing of restrictions. Elsewhere, there has been pressure to lift the lockdown. In Jerusalem, Israeli police clashed with merchants at a fruit and vegetable market that was prevented from reopening on Sunday while other highstreets shops were.
Advertisement
In Berlin, dozens of protesters were arrested on Saturday for a demonstration against the lockdown.
However, Hong Kong’s top epidemiologist has
warned against easing lockdowns in Europe too soon, saying “you need a sledgehammer” to bring down the rate of infections first.
Worldwide, a lack of testing and discrepancies in reporting from country to country make it impossible to fully track where and how the virus is spreading.
Share your
Share your stories
If you have been affected or have any information, we'd like to hear from you. You can get in touch by filling in the form below, anonymously if you wish or contact us
via WhatsApp by
clicking here or adding the contact +44(0)7867825056. Only the Guardian can see your contributions and one of our journalists may contact you to discuss further.
Tell us
In Africa, the crisis appeared to be just beginning. A sudden rise of
more than 40% in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases during the last 10 days across the continent – to 30,300 – and a similar increase in the number of deaths – to 1,374 –
has worried specialists.
The WHO has warned of 10 million cases in Africa within three to six months, though experts say that the death toll could be lower if authorities can move swiftly to contain outbreaks of the disease.
“We are at the beginning in Africa,” Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, said last week.
South and Central America, by contrast, are already deep in crisis, with Brazil emerging as a significant epidemic hotspot. Cases of Covid-19 are overwhelming hospitals, morgues and cemeteries, even as President Jair Bolsonaro insists it is a relatively minor disease.
Other developments around the world include:
- Russia reported 6,361 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, pushing its national tally above 80,000.
- The daily death toll in Iran, the worst-hit country in the Middle East, has fallen to its lowest level in weeks. Officials said there were 60 deaths from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, down from an average of about 90 over the past 10 days.
- In the UK, the death toll at hospitals also appeared to show a slowdown, with an increase of 413 in the last 24 hours, the lowest daily rise since the end of March.
- State media in Saudi Arabia are reporting that the curfew there will be partially lifted for all regions starting on Sunday, but that a 24-hour curfew will be maintained in Mecca. Certain economic and commercial activities, including retail stores, will reopen during Ramadan, from 29 April to 13 May.
- India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, urged the country’s 1.3 billion citizens to strictly comply to a nationwide lockdown as the number of confirmed cases increased steadily despite the month-long curfew.
News is under threat …
… just when we need it the most. Millions of readers around the world are flocking to the Guardian in search of honest, authoritative, fact-based reporting that can help them understand the biggest challenge we have faced in our lifetime. But at this crucial moment, news organisations are facing an unprecedented existential challenge. As businesses everywhere feel the pinch, the advertising revenue that has long helped sustain our journalism continues to plummet. We need your help to fill the gap.
We believe every one of us deserves equal access to vital public service journalism. So, unlike many others, we made a different choice: to keep Guardian journalism open for all, regardless of where they live or what they can afford to pay. This would not be possible without financial contributions from those who can afford to pay, who now support our work from 180 countries around the world.
We have upheld our editorial independence in the face of the disintegration of traditional media – with social platforms giving rise to misinformation, the seemingly unstoppable rise of big tech and independent voices being squashed by commercial ownership. The Guardian’s independence means we can set our own agenda and voice our own opinions. Our journalism is free from commercial and political bias – never influenced by billionaire owners or shareholders. This makes us different. It means we can challenge the powerful without fear and give a voice to those less heard.
Reader financial support has meant we can keep investigating, disentangling and interrogating. It has protected our independence, which has never been so critical. We are so grateful.
We need your support so we can keep delivering quality journalism that’s open and independent. And that is here for the long term. Every reader contribution, however big or small, is so valuable.
Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
Support The Guardian
Remind me in July
Topics
Advertisement
Read The
Guardian without
interruption on all
your devices
Subscribe now
most viewed
more on this story
Most popular[/paste:font]
Support The Guardian
Available for everyone, funded by readers
ContributeSubscribe
Back to top
© 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Your privacy
We and our use your information – collected through cookies and similar technologies – to improve your experience on our site, analyse how you use it and show you personalised advertising.
You can find out more in our
privacy policy and
cookie policy, and manage your consent at any time by going to ‘Privacy settings’ at the bottom of any page.
@UKBengali Good news?
Coronavirus hospital deaths: England, Scotland and Wales report fewer fatalities
The vast majority of deaths have been in England where 336 deaths have been confirmed today, compared to 711 reported yesterday.
Sunday 26 April 2020 16:13, UK
Image:The figures do not cover coronavirus-related deaths in the wider community
Why you can trust Sky News
England, Scotland and Wales have reported fewer new hospital deaths linked to coronavirus than figures released yesterday - but there have still been 413 reported deaths across the UK.
The vast majority of deaths have been in England where 336 deaths have been confirmed today,
compared with 711 reported yesterday. The overall figure is now 18,420.
Sponsored link
Recommended by
- Scotland has reported 18 more coronavirus deaths in hospitals, taking its total to 1,249. Scotland reported 47 on Saturday.
- Wales has reported 14 more deaths in hospitals, taking its total to 788. Wales reported 23 on Saturday.
The Department of Health says the total number of deaths in hospitals across the UK is 20,732.
Some 15,953 people are in hospital having tested positive for COVID-19. This is down from 16,411 since yesterday.
Experts have cautioned against reading too much into the daily figure and advise people to look more at the weekly trend in the direction of numbers.
Also, sometimes there can be fewer reported during the weekend as some of the people who collate the numbers may not be working.
Northern Ireland officials have not announced their latest figures.
Don't Turn Off Your Computer Without Doing This FirstOnline Savers
