With Australia’s virus curve not just flat but “crushed” – as some keen local tabloids are describing it – restrictions are easing in some areas.
Currently, for the most part, Australians everywhere are still required to stay at home unless they have crucial work, shopping or exercise reasons. When outside you must maintain a 1.5m distance from others. Bars, pubs, gyms, churches and other non-essential places have been shut down but restaurants are open for take-away and many shops remain open too.
Variations on these rules range from state to state. The two biggest states New South Wales (incorporating Sydney) and Victoria (incorporating Melbourne) have the strictest lockdowns and don’t plan on lifting measures until mid-May.
But some of the less-affected states have relaxed some rules. In Queensland from Saturday, people can go shopping again for fashion, have a picnic in the park or go for a swim at the beach – as long as it’s within a 40-minute drive from home.
Western Australia is also joining South Australia in expanding the national two-person limit on gatherings to 10 people – but again such meet-ups have to be for essential reasons.
New Zealand
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there are no undetected transmissions anymore and that the country has “won that battle”.
At midnight, New Zealand will lift some of its nationwide lockdown measures, moving down one level on its alert scale.
Director-general of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the country had achieved its “goal of elimination”.
He explained that this didn’t mean zero cases “but it does mean we know where our cases are coming from”.
There was one new confirmed case reported on Monday and one further death.
Overall, there have been fewer than 1,500 cases in New Zealand and around 80% of those have already recovered. The deaths of 19 people have been linked to the virus.
Kids in Spain go outside for the first time in weeks
Restrictions of movement in Spain have been eased to allow children outside for the first time in six weeks.
Spain has had one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns but the government hopes to ease measures further to let everyone exercise outside.
Kate Walder, who lives in Madrid, filmed her family both during the lockdown and as they ventured out again after 42 days inside. This is the moment her children tasted (some) freedom again:
Italy
Italy holds the grim record of the highest numbers of deaths linked to Covid-19 in Europe: almost 27,000 deaths and 200,000 confirmed infections.
But with the numbers slowly coming down, the country has now laid out plans how to come out of its lockdown.
From 4 May, with people being allowed to visit their relatives – only in small numbers, and only wearing masks.
People will also be allowed to move around within their regions, parks will reopen, restaurants will do takeaway, funerals can be held again – with a maximum of 15 people – and athletes are allowed to resume training.
More services like hairdressers and beauty salons will reopen on 1 June. Schools, though, will not restart classes until September.
Singapore: ‘Shining example’ to virus hotspot
Singapore, an island-nation of five million, now has one of the highest number of virus cases in Asia.
Once seen as a shining example of how to contain the virus, it now has more than 13,000 cases. That’s the third-highest figure in Asia behind China and India – both of which have populations of over one billion people.
Singapore says it’s been testing thousands of people each day
– mostly migrants – after an outbreak in its migrant worker communities.
People on construction work permits, usually men from South Asian countries, live in tightly-packed dormitories that have made it easy for the virus to spread.
There were 931 new cases reported on Sunday – the majority of which were foreign workers. Citizens and permanent residents made up just 15 of the new cases.
It’s worth nothing that Singapore may not have the third-highest number of cases across Asia – and that high numbers are down to its aggressive testing.
But as it continues testing, it’s likely we’ll see an ever-growing discrepancy – a rise in the number of migrant infections, and a fall in the rest of the population
Other countries
In Sweden, garden centres and hairdressers will be allowed to resume activities as part of a phased reopening plan
More US states begin to lift lockdown orders, but leaders warn social distancing will last months
Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus began, says the last Covid-19 patients have been discharged from hospital
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to return to work on Monday after recovering from the coronavirus
There are almost 3 million confirmed cases and more than 206,000 deaths globally, according to Johns Hopkins University
– BBC News
