By Liza Lin
Rules that have slowed the new coronavirus were falling away in
some U.S. states, Italy and other countries across the world this
week as drugmakers raced to develop a new vaccine and China pledged
$2 billion to fight the pandemic beyond its borders.
Italy lifted many of Europe's earliest and strictest
virus-containment curbs on Monday, allowing restaurants, cafes,
clothing retailers, hairdressers and museums to open their doors
for the first time in two months.
Shops and small businesses also welcomed back customers in
Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Lebanon. Junior high-school
students were back in class in parts of France. Beaches in Greece
and some shopping malls in Thailand reopened as governments
concluded that declining infection rates allowed for a significant
relaxing of restrictions on how people move about, despite the risk
of a resurgence.
In Texas, gyms and movie theaters were set to reopen on Monday
even as infections and virus-related deaths there were reported on
the rise. Idaho on Saturday allowed dine-in restaurants to resume
operations under physical-distancing rules. New Jersey permitted
chartered-boat services and watercraft rentals to resume on
Sunday.
Warmer weather drew large crowds to beaches in New York City and
New Jersey over the weekend, highlighting the challenges that the
hardest-hit parts of the country face in enforcing distancing rules
this summer. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he doesn't want the
city's beaches to open for swimming by Memorial Day weekend.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday urged New Yorkers to get
tested for Covid-19. Mr. Cuomo said the state is conducting about
40,000 Covid-19 tests a day at more than 700 sites. New York has
more than 350,000 infections and 22,600 confirmed virus-related
deaths, according to figures from the state.
More than 4.7 million people across the world have caught the
coronavirus and more than 315,000 have died of Covid-19, the
respiratory disease it causes, according to data compiled by Johns
Hopkins University. Nearly 1.5 million cases of infection and more
than 89,500 deaths have been recorded in the U.S., the nation worst
affected, according to the data.
Experts caution that official numbers likely understate the
extent of the pandemic.
Public health officials say a safe and effective vaccine is the
best way to prevent the disease and curb its transmission.
Drugmakers are considering how to roll out vaccines, with the first
batches reserved for front-line medical workers. About 100 vaccines
are being developed globally, and eight of those -- from companies
like Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. -- are already being tested on
humans.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said his government would spend $2
billion fighting the coronavirus around the world, particularly in
Africa. He called on other countries to fund the World Health
Organization, offering his country as a global leader prepared to
support a United Nations agency from which the Trump administration
has withdrawn funding.
Mr. Xi spoke Monday at WHO's annual summit, the World Health
Assembly. Convened via videoconference, representatives of 194
nations were set to debate lessons learned since the virus was
first detected in late December in China's Hubei province. The
European Union and Australia brought a resolution backed by more
than 100 countries calling for an independent review of how
governments responded to the pandemic and whether WHO acted to the
best of its abilities to contain the disease.
In Asia, where infection rates rose early in many places, China
and other countries took the lead in closing their societies and
then in loosening restrictions.
South Korea reported 15 new cases on Monday and one new death.
In a reflection of the country's downward trend on fresh
infections, the U.S. military in South Korea eased restrictions
against dining out, going to off-base gyms, shopping and other
outdoor activities.
Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited one
of the South Korean company's semiconductor factories in Xi'an,
China, on Monday -- a visit the company said was the first by a
global business leader to China since the coronavirus outbreak
became a global health crisis.
In Thailand, one of the country's largest retail-property chains
opened its malls after nearly two months. The company, Central
Pattana PLC, said it opened its 33 malls nationwide to shoppers on
Sunday, while introducing new measures to space out customers and
facilitate contact tracing. Those include scanning a QR code upon
entering and leaving, in addition to providing contact information,
the company said.
Australia's most populous state on began its first full week out
of lockdown. Authorities in New South Wales released a plan to help
reduce citizens' use of public transportation during peak hours.
The state, home to the city of Sydney, will establish temporary
parking lots and bike lanes and increase access to pedestrian
paths.
Italy's emergence from two months of severe limitations was
visible in Rome, with the return of traffic to major roads and a
surge of bicycle riders. Priests resumed celebrating Mass.
But it's not back to normal. Schools are shut until the end of
the school year. Cinemas and theaters are closed at least until
mid-June. Travel between regions is still largely banned. And as in
other countries, the shops and other public places that are
reopening have to be sanitized regularly and distancing rules must
be enforced.
Some business owners, including Arrigo Cirpiani, the owner of
Harry's Bar in Venice, say the rules are so strict they may not
reopen for now. Under the new rules, the bar could only fit around
10 customers, down from the usual 150, he said.
Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, has
recorded declining infection rates for weeks but the virus
lingers.
Other countries that have eased freedom of movement are keeping
other restrictions in place.
"Countries around the world are going toward coexistence with
the virus, " Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Sunday as
he ordered people to wear masks in public places, public buildings,
trains and buses.
Some governments were struggling with new outbreaks.
Since easing its virus-fighting restrictions this month, France
has discovered 25 new infection clusters, and is attempting to
contain them by isolating those involved and testing people with
whom they came in contact, France's health minister said.
India on Monday registered its highest single-day increase in
confirmed infections for the second day in a row. The Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare reported more than 5,200 new cases,
bringing India's total to 96,169. More than 3,000 people there have
died from the disease, the ministry said.
The numbers offered a fresh challenge to authorities, who had
sought to ease lockdown restrictions. India's government on Sunday
extended its nationwide lockdown to the end of the month.
In China, fears about a new wave of cases were sparked this
month after new clusters were discovered in the northeastern
province of Jilin.
China reported seven new cases as of the end of Sunday, its
National Health Commission said. Four were imported, while two of
the three domestic cases were discovered in Jilin, which borders
Russia and North Korea.
Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan traveled to the province over
the weekend to learn more about efforts to control the virus,
according to local media. Authorities fired six senior provincial
officials on Saturday, according to the province's account on the
WeChat messaging service.
Japan on Monday said the pandemic helped push the country into a
recession. The world's third-largest economy after the U.S. and
China shrank by an annualized 3.4% in the first three months of
2020. That followed a contraction of 7.3% in the previous quarter
due to an increase in the country's sales tax. Two straight
quarters of contraction is one common definition of a recession.
Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said a worse result
is expected in the current quarter, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
declared a national state of emergency in April.
Write to Liza Lin at Liza.Lin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2020 09:20 ET (13:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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