Spain allows children outdoors as global pandemic cases near 3m
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SPANISH children were allowed outside yesterday for the first time in six weeks as countries eased lockdown measures and reopened economies gutted by the coronavirus pandemic that has infected nearly 3 million people worldwide.
Governments from France to Italy and the United States are gearing up for a partial easing of severe restrictions that have kept more than half of humanity indoors for weeks on end.
Coronavirus cases around the world rose to 2.9 million and deaths have doubled since April 10 — hitting nearly 203,000 people by yesterday — with well over half of them in Europe, according to an AFP tally.
The daily toll in Western countries appeared to be leveling off and even falling, but fears abound in many places of a second surge after restrictions on movement are lifted.
Governments are planning to slowly peel back lockdown measures in order to avoid a sudden rush back to normal life — and the risk of a resurgence amid warnings from the World Health Organization that recovered people might not be immune to reinfection.
Spanish families embraced new rules allowing children outside for the first time since March 14, with kids hopping on bicycles and scooters on the streets of Madrid — some wearing small masks and gloves.
“They are super excited, very, very impatient. They were up at 6:30am, saying ‘We are going out, We are going out!’” Inmaculada Paredes said, readying to take her 7- and 4-year-old kids outdoors.
Under the revised rules, children are allowed out once per day between 9am and 9pm, but cannot venture more than 1 kilometer from their homes.
The new rules were rolled out as the death toll in the hard-hit country dropped to 288 people yesterday, the lowest since March 30.
With more than 23,000 fatalities, Spain has the third highest death toll in the world after Italy’s 26,000 and more than 53,000 in the United States.
In France, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said he will unveil a “national deconfinement strategy” tomorrow. That follows weeks of work by experts seeking a balance between restarting the eurozone’s second-largest economy and preventing a second wave of infections that could overwhelm France’s intensive care units.
French President Emmanuel Macron had already announced that France’s lockdown would start to be lifted on May 11.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte is expected to announce more details easing the lockdown in the coming days for the first European country to see a large-scale coronavirus outbreak. Conte said priorities include restarting construction projects and export industries so businesses won’t “risk being cut out” of markets. He confirmed that school classes won’t begin until September.
Germany allowed nonessential shops and other facilities to open last week and Denmark has reopened schools for children up to fifth grade.
Germany’s restaurants and tourism industry are among those still awaiting word on a way forward in Europe’s largest economy, but Chancellor Angela Merkel has indicated major decisions won’t come before May 6.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that Europe must move “as quickly as possible, but as responsibly as necessary” to restore freedom to travel.
Some US states are easing restrictions, but Hawaii extended its stay-at-home order until the end of May. New York, the epicenter of the US outbreak, is keeping restrictions on until May 15 but Georgia and Oklahoma have allowed salons, spas and barbershops to reopen. Alaska cleared the way for restaurants to resume dine-in service and for retail shops and other businesses to open, all with limitations.
In Asia, India allowed neighborhood stores to reopen this weekend, though not in the hardest-hit places.
Saudi Arabia said it would partially lift its 24-hour curfew, allowing malls and retailers to open their doors during certain hours.
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