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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Update (International) – Sunday/Monday, April 5/6

COVID-19 Coronavirus Update (International) – Sunday/Monday, April 5/6

by Anne Laurie|  April 6, 20206:00 am| 24 Comments

This post is in: COVID-19, Foreign Affairs

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Disinfecting Pericles who died from the plague in 429 B.C. pic.twitter.com/mbhesRxn4b

— Dimitar Bechev (@DimitarBechev) April 4, 2020

Follow @Reuters liveblog for the latest developments around the coronavirus outbreak https://t.co/cEBwkoEQ5P pic.twitter.com/ROBDrMGkqO

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 6, 2020

% of people in each country who say they are avoiding crowded places. Japan & Sweden tied for last place, with just 64% in their most recent respective surveys
Interactive at link:https://t.co/CRwtrWsGod pic.twitter.com/mqU4dRTYRA

— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) April 5, 2020

South Korea reports fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases for the first time since its peak at the end of February as daily infections in Asia’s largest outbreak outside China continues to trend downward https://t.co/8zRfifw7DM by @HeeShin Live updates: https://t.co/yUS3mWZr6i pic.twitter.com/nGx72N7X6t

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 6, 2020

Some will see Singapore's move to add new community mitigation measures as a failure of case-based interventions. But their "big spike" is just 120 cases, and they have kept counts low for months. Until we have a vax, that is what success looks like https://t.co/J1tRf1fHcM

— Caitlin Rivers, PhD (@cmyeaton) April 5, 2020

Malaysia government detains 202 suspected Rohingya Muslims who arrived illegally by boat raising fears that people smugglers are back in action despite the coronavirus pandemic.https://t.co/z7wFkyz954

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 5, 2020

After a coronavirus-fuelled wave of panic-buying briefly left Hong Kong's supermarket shelves bare, residents are turning to local producers for fresh food in a city almost entirely reliant on imports https://t.co/up6KF6OhWZ pic.twitter.com/JrlzZlkmRk

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 6, 2020

Doctors and nurses in Tokyo say a shortage of beds and a rise in cases linked to hospitals are pushing the city’s medical system to the brink of collapse https://t.co/tcJOyKblfZ by @juminism Izumi Nakagawa @eimiyamamitsu pic.twitter.com/xL6AODs45B

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 6, 2020

Japan considering six-month period for state of emergency: TBS https://t.co/yhKoMqEF3b pic.twitter.com/JlaEiG42SH

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 6, 2020


Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian and Syrian refugees living in overcrowded and rundown camps in Lebanon are bracing for the novel coronavirus as aid groups mobilise to help https://t.co/vldj8SlFyd pic.twitter.com/9HXzqNIbzQ

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 6, 2020

What impact is COVID-19 having on Middle East conflicts?

Here is an overview of the impact so far on the conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq:@AFP's @AFP_Beirut, Baghdad, Dubai and Tripoli bureaux contributehttps://t.co/bnhxOa0WPP

— AFP Beirut (@AFP_Beirut) April 5, 2020

Iran to restart 'low-risk' economic activities soonhttps://t.co/OflTGF8JtO

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 5, 2020

On an abandoned sidewalk in Baghdad, a city under strict government curfew to contain the novel coronavirus, a handful of volunteers with masks and gloves make food packages for needy families https://t.co/X5V8beReuN

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 5, 2020

#COVID19 INDIA : Drones used by police to monitor activities of people and spread awareness announcements in Chennai

?Arun SANKAR pic.twitter.com/F63S7Gqk47

— AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) April 5, 2020

VIDEO: Pakistan opens the first drive-through virus testing facility in Karachi, as part of the attempts to stem the spread of the pandemic in the country, where infections are rising pic.twitter.com/9xNm32CjUl

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 6, 2020

In Europe, officials, doctors and engineers look at how smartphones could be enlisted in the war against the spread of the #coronavirus, but can this be done without intrusive surveillance and access to a wealth of private information? https://t.co/P6Hfm8s6RA pic.twitter.com/5aj63ad75U

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 5, 2020

If indeed far more people have been infected with #COVID19 than has been realized, this could be very good news, especially for planning for post-shutdown scenarios. Still need to drive down transmission now. https://t.co/GLWyS3bnoQ

— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) April 4, 2020

Italian officials say they may soon have to consider easing restrictions after seeing the daily toll plunge to its lowest in over two weeks. But how do you reopen a country of 60 million without setting off a new pandemic wave? @AFP takes a look from Romehttps://t.co/iX9JD6G5tC pic.twitter.com/IdI0byiJ4u

— Dmitry Zaks (@dmitryzaksAFP) April 5, 2020

Death at home: Interviews with families, doctors and nurses in Italy’s stricken Lombardy region show the unseen toll of the country's coronavirus crisis https://t.co/6qpYRaoDoz by Emilio Parodi @silviaaloisi pic.twitter.com/N9fdzuDgTw

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 6, 2020

Coronavirus: Leo Varadkar to work as doctor during pandemic https://t.co/irykDxHKyd

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 5, 2020

The British government on Sunday warned that outside exercise could be banned if people flout stringent guidelines to cut the spread of coronavirus infections https://t.co/J8JfkCq4wd

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 5, 2020

South African public healthcare workers dispersed into the buzzing streets of Johannesburg's Yeoville neighbourhood as Africa's worst virus-hit country rolled out mass door-to-door testing for COVID-19 https://t.co/TLjrd79NAq

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 5, 2020

Ethiopia reports first coronavirus death https://t.co/sFru23j4WW

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 5, 2020

Ivory Coast coronavirus testing centre destroyed by locals fearing it would pose contagion risk https://t.co/Y1kmIx8SDw pic.twitter.com/tkJfVvh5Ns

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 6, 2020

The Argentine government has ordered people to stay at home until mid-April, but thousands have literally nowhere to go — for them "home" is the street https://t.co/6Rlt68KkWK pic.twitter.com/97vZMnDa3N

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 6, 2020

Coronavirus 'could wipe out Brazil's indigenous people' https://t.co/qSBfj2logE

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 5, 2020

One of the main pieces of advice to protect against #coronavirus is to wash hands regularly, but with historically low river flows and reservoirs running dry due to drought, people in central Chile are particularly vulnerable https://t.co/tSePxVeWeJ pic.twitter.com/dgi0XYXMKK

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 6, 2020

Haiti on Sunday reported its first novel coronavirus death, a 55-year-old man who had underlying health conditions https://t.co/7D7tbPptl3

— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 5, 2020

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Reader Interactions

24Comments

  1. 1.

    Amir Khalid

    April 6, 2020 at 6:14 am

    One painful thing we’re learning from the pandemic: too many of us on this planet can’t obey a stay-at-home order because they don’t have a home.

  2. 2.

    prostratedragon

    April 6, 2020 at 6:30 am

    @Amir Khalid:  Or wash hands frequently, for lack of fresh water.

  3. 3.

    WereBear

    April 6, 2020 at 6:37 am

    @Amir Khalid: That is a stark lesson. And of course, those of us saying we can’t mistreat giant swathes of the population and “get away with it” for long were right. Always, a realization too late, as these vulnerable populations are pandemic vectors.

    I guess it takes an unthinking, single-mission, bit of technical “life” to throw such lessons into stark relief. I don’t mean the virus: I mean the hideous creature currently in the White House.

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    April 6, 2020 at 6:39 am

    Today’s  numbers from Malaysia look rather encouraging: new cases are back down to 130 after reaching 217 a couple of days ago, only one death (running total 62). We haven’t got this licked yet, but it looks like we do have a handle on it.

  5. 5.

    Amir Khalid

    April 6, 2020 at 6:51 am

    For my American friends, here is video of today’s media conference by the Malaysian Ministry of Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. I know that with the Trump administration, one sight you don’t see often enough is a competent and knowledgeable official giving the facts straight up, without political spin or ignorant speculation.

    I’m sorry that the briefing part is all in Malay without English subtitles, but I think his calm manner and matter-of-fact answers to the questions in English convey precisely what people need from public officials at a time like this.

  6. 6.

    Geminid

    April 6, 2020 at 6:58 am

    The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel provide good coverage of Covid-19 in Israel. One story: yesterday  the government rushed trucks to the port of Ashdod to unload a shipload of eggs from Spain. There is a pre-Passover egg shortage. Another: soldiers enforcing social distancing in ultra-orthodox towns like Bnai Brak are being issued Hebrew-Yiddish conversation pamphlets. Sadly, many of the other stories are like ours; pandemic planning and preparation were neglected in recent years, and the government was caught flat-footed by the outbreak.

  7. 7.

    La Nonna

    April 6, 2020 at 7:29 am

    People here in the South of Italy are starting to get antsy, and the carabinieri have stepped up homestay enforcement, stationed at most entry/exit routes into and out of nearby villages and small cities.  Fines of up to 3000 eu and possible confiscation of the car are being used, and more careful follow-up to our self-certification travel papers.  Going to the store and post office every 10 days or so has become running the gauntlet, but the rate of death and infection seem to be flattening, so lockdown is working.  Somewhat encouraged that antibody testing is becoming a thing here, family doctor is saying before May, an attempt to blood test everyone in Italy.

  8. 8.

    YY_Sima Qian

    April 6, 2020 at 7:38 am

    Today, the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang recorded 20 new imported confirmed cases, all of them Chinese nationals fleeing Russia. They all took flights from Moscow to Vladivostok over the past week, then took the bus to the land border crossing with China. One might use this data as indirect indication how bad the epidemic might be in European Russia.

    Compiling such imported cases around the world is one good way to sanity check the severity of the COVID-19 epidemic at the sources of such imported cases. When two tourists from Wuhan were confirmed in Thailand and Japan in early to mi-Jan., that was an indication that there were far more infected cases in Wuhan than the 41 that were being reported by the local authorities.

    Looking at the overall number of cases imported from China to other Asian countries and regions also suggests that the total case count in China is probably not off by an order of magnitude. To date, 900+ Taiwanese expatriates have been evacuated from Hubei, only 1 confirmed case among them, back in early Feb. Half of that number only returned from Wuhan last week, having lived through the entire roller coaster ride, and they took high speed rail from Wuhan to Shanghai, before boarding chartered flights to Taipei, no infected case. Imports from China now account for < 3% of all imported cases for Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, none since early Feb. The vast majority of imports have been people fleeing Europe and the US, and tourists who visited Middle East (and more recently Latin America). Travelers from China (whether Chinese nationals or expatriates) have been 100% screened and closely monitored. The health authorities at these places have no incentive to cover up imported cases from China.

  9. 9.

    Geminid

    April 6, 2020 at 7:51 am

    @Amir Khalid: Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia has a calm manner similar to that of the Malaysian Prime Minister. A doctor and former Army surgeon, Northam was often criticized for his bland, unexciting style. But now people need work horses, not show horses, and he proved his work horse credentials two years ago when he put Medicaid expansion through a Republican majority General Assembly. His daily briefings are quite good.

  10. 10.

    Geminid

    April 6, 2020 at 8:07 am

     

     

     

    @Geminid: correction. Mr. Khalid was describing briefings by the Director-General of the Malaysian Ministry of Health, not the Prime Minister.

  11. 11.

    Barbara

    April 6, 2020 at 8:11 am

    @Geminid: Yeah, Northam is a good guy to have in charge right now. But other governors have risen to the challenge as well.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    April 6, 2020 at 8:13 am

    @Geminid:

    Dr Noor Hisham is Director General of the Ministry of Health — a career civil servant, not a poltician. But yes, his lack of a politico’s slickness and his command of the facts add so much to his credibility.

  13. 13.

    Geminid

    April 6, 2020 at 8:30 am

    @Barbara: Other governors have risen to the challenge, and Northam had the examples of Inslee and Newsome to follow. Reminds me that I haven’t checked out Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina, and how he is doing with a Republican legislature in place.

  14. 14.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo expat)

    April 6, 2020 at 8:55 am

    Abe announced that he’ll declare a National Emergency starting as early as tomorrow and is to last from 3 weeks to a month. 6 prefectures are included under the order. It’s really not a shut down as restaurants are still allowed to remain open and if you go out and about there is not a lot they can do except ask you nicely to go home.

    This weekend everyone was asked to stay home. Today, Monday, my husband got on a train before 6:30am and said it was packed. What was the point of staying home over the weekend if everyone becomes a sardine come Monday? Even with the emergency declaration, there will be people who will go to work because their companies tell them to.

    At this rate, I think 3 weeks to a month is very optimistic.

  15. 15.

    Geminid

    April 6, 2020 at 9:14 am

    One good thing  Va. Governor Northam did was to extend to June 10 the stricter measures he put in place last Monday. Again, learning from the examples of other states hit hard earlier in the epidemic.

  16. 16.

    Ohio Mom

    April 6, 2020 at 9:35 am

    Geminid: I don’t know what Israeli Passover cuisine is like but here in North America a lot of traditional dishes require lots of eggs, such as sponge cakes and matzo brei, matzoh balls, etc.

  17. 17.

    Salty Sam

    April 6, 2020 at 9:43 am

    The government of Puerto Rico has taken the virus very seriously since early March, beginning with urging residents to self-isolate, and posted measures and curfews have increased in severity.  This morning we received the strictest measures yet, with police enforcement of stay-at-home orders, mandatory face covering and gloves if out shopping (food only), and strict limits to numbers of persons at a time inside stores.  The DNR (marine natural resources enforcement, like game wardens) have stepped up patrols of harbors and marinas, and have turned away boaters arriving from offshore.

     

    As a live-aboard myself, I am really glad I got here back at Christmastime, and our tiny little community on the island of Culebra is still COVID free (that we know of).  My heart goes out to those boaters who are stuck in international limbo, seeking refuge but being turned away by authorities; it is happening all over the cruising world.

     

    ETA: Part of the Puerto Rican cultural identity (for centuries) is a sense of self-sufficiency, “we’re on our own in this”.  The response to Hurricane Maria only reinforced that identity.

  18. 18.

    Geminid

    April 6, 2020 at 9:59 am

    @Ohio Mom: I am not Jewish but I’m guessing that Passover cuisine in Israel and the U.S. have a common origin in central Europe. I have heard that eggs are in short supply generally here, and that some stores limit purchases. It could be that people are tightening their belts, and substituting eggs for meat. I noticed that Kroger’s has brown rice again, after none the last three weeks.  Now, if people will actually cook and eat all the brown rice they bought, they could be a little healthier. At least, those who survived the epidemic.

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    April 6, 2020 at 10:10 am

    This about did me in this morning:

    Coronavirus ‘could wipe out Brazil’s indigenous people’.

    No words.

  20. 20.

    Ohio Mom

    April 6, 2020 at 11:06 am

    Geminid: the Israeli Jews whose families emigrated from Middle East and Arab countries have their own culinary traditions.

    But I could definitely see people substituting eggs for meat as a cause of the egg shortage as well. When I was in Israeli —okay it was twenty years ago — the standard of living wasn’t very impressive.

  21. 21.

    Geminid

    April 6, 2020 at 11:41 am

    I know I am eating more eggs and less meat, and it is probably good for me, but shifting to plant based protein sources would be even healthier and more economical. I imagine the influence of the origins of different Jewish traditions on Israeli Passover food is an interesting area. I see food articles in the Jerusalem Post but I skip them, but I bet there is a lot of reporting on the subject.

  22. 22.

    ziggy

    April 6, 2020 at 1:29 pm

    Very interesting to hear the reports from all over the world! Our experiences are so similar, it is eerie.

  23. 23.

    Skepticat

    April 6, 2020 at 2:09 pm

    Here in the Bahamas, the 24-hour curfew with outside activities and no interisland travel except for a few exceptions (grocery and fuel deliveries and medical emergencies) is back in effect after this weekend’s extremely strict lockdown (only truly essential services, including police, hospitals, the defence force, and hotels were exempt; NO private businesses except gas stations could open or deliver), but we’re going into another complete lockdown for the Easter holiday, (8 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Tuesday). At the end of that lockdown, the 24-hour curfew and restrictions will resume, but the full lockdown will be on every weekend for the remainder of April, from 9 p.m. on Fridays to 5 a.m. on Mondays. The prime minister said there could be further full lockdowns for longer periods. As of Sunday, there were 29 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and five related deaths in the country, so it seems to be working. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to be able to work online and to be an antisocial introvert!

  24. 24.

    Origuy

    April 6, 2020 at 4:52 pm

    @Salty Sam: I pride myself on my geographical knowledge, but I never heard of Culebra before. Puerto Rico has been on my bucket list, so maybe when this is all over I’ll visit your island. It sounds nice. I hope it stays clean of the virus.

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