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Countries Gingerly Taking Steps to Return to Normal
Several countries are gingerly taking steps to return to normal and reopen businesses to try to mitigate the devastating effects the coronavirus pandemic is taking on the global economy.
German authorities are planning to let some small stores reopen their doors Monday, while still enforcing social distancing rules.
Hundreds of small businesses in Albania will be allowed to open Monday for the first time in a month. Fishing boats and food processors will also be able to resume operations.
Children who have been forbidden to leave their homes in Italy and Spain – two of the world's hardest-hit nations – will be able to enjoy playgrounds and fresh air again when they will be permitted to leave their houses early next week.
Spain has already let factory and construction workers back on the job and some small stores in Italy have also reopened.
Some shops are up and running again in Austria and the Czech Republic and while Danish schools plan to welcome many students back on Wednesday.
But some countries have no immediate plans to ease restrictions.
"We must not let down our guard until the last confirmed patient is recovered," South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said Sunday.
A British government minister said pubs and restaurants will stay closed after the country starts easing its nationwide lockdown on May 7.
Zimbabwe's president Emmerson Mnangagwa says mines and factories can reopen, but he has extended his country's lockdown that was supposed to end Sunday another two weeks.
French Prime Minister Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has told citizens to "learn to live with the virus" even after the lockdown ends next month. Bus and subway passengers will still have to wear masks and Philippe has told French families not to plan any long-distance summer vacations.
But businesses and schools and offices across the United States remain shuttered, sparking demonstrations against governors and their orders for people to lockdown in their homes and avoid social contact as much as possible.
Small groups of mostly pro-Trump demonstrators have turned out in several state capitals, complaining that the closures are violating their constitutional rights.
President Trump said at the daily coronavirus briefing Sunday that some governors have gotten "carried away" with their restrictions and that people have the right to protest. But he said none of it really matters in the end because he said states will start to reopen.
Some governors say their states are far from ready to reopen.
"We're sending completely conflicting messages out to the governors and to the people, as if we should ignore federal policy and federal recommendations," Maryland's Republican Governor Larry Hogan said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday.
Democrat Jay Inslee of Washington says Trump's message that states reopen is "dangerous."
But Trump said people have "cabin fever" and want their lives back.
Also Sunday, White House coronavirus task force member Seema Verma said U.S. nursing homes are now required to report if there are any COVID-19 cases in the facility to patients and their families and to report any such cases directly to federal health authorities.
The elderly are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus and some nursing homes, not just in the U.S. but in other countries, have come under criticism for an alleged lack of transparency.
Thousands of Israelis followed strict coronavirus rules, including wearing face masks and keeping their distance – when they demonstrated Sunday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The protesters do not want opposition leader Benny Gantz to form a power-sharing deal with Netanyahu after a third general election failed to elect a new government.
Meanwhile, Broadway actor Nick Cordero is recovering after coronavirus complications led doctors to amputate his right leg because of blood clots.
As well as being a Tony Award-nominated Broadway performer, Cordero has also appeared in numerous films and television shows.
April 20, 2020 at 12:12PM
