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ladystylestores · 4 years

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Russia, UK move to ease coronavirus lockdowns: Live updates | News

Residents of Moscow will be allowed to go out for a walk – for the first time in more than two months – on Monday, while the UK is also preparing to relax its lockdown despite concerns among the government’s scientific advisory body.

Latin America’s death toll has now exceeded 50,000 with some one million cases reported across the region.

Most of the deaths have been in Brazil, where supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro appeared at a rally on Sunday against the country’s top court, which is investigating the right-wing leader.

More than 6.17 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed around the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 372,000 people have died, including more than 104,000 in the US. At least 2.64 million have recovered globally.

Here are the latest updates:

Monday, June 1

08:50 GMT – Philippines sees traffic jams as lockdown eased

Traffic jams and crowds of commuters returned to the Philippine capital, as the metropolis relaxed anti-virus measures in a high-stakes gamble to slowly reopen the economy while fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Commuter trains, taxis, ride-sharing cars, special shuttle buses and motorcycles rumbled back on the road in metropolitan Manila but were only allowed to carry a fraction of their capacity as a safeguard.

Public transport was still limited by the relaxed rules and many commuters waited for hours to get a ride despite the government’s deployment of buses.

People have their temperatures checked before boarding a bus during the first day of a more relaxed lockdown that was placed to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in Manila, Philippines [Aaron Favila/AP]

08:45 GMT – Turkey resumes domestic flights

Turkey has resumed domestic flights as it eases restrictions in place since March to contain the novel coronavirus.

The first passenger plane took off from Istanbul for the capital, Ankara, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu, who was on board, said on Twitter.

There were a total of 156 passengers on the Turkish Airlines plane, state news agency Anadolu reported.

Safety first, as always!

For the safety of all our guests and crew, we are committed to apply high standards of hygiene measures regularly.#TurkishAirlines pic.twitter.com/GVeLz6CzsC

— Turkish Airlines (@TurkishAirlines) May 31, 2020

Only a limited number of flights are restarting for now, from Istanbul to the Aegean city of Izmir, the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya and the Black Sea city of Trabzon.

08:30 GMT – Greece lifts lockdown on hotels, primary schools

Greece has lifted lockdown restrictions for hotels, open-air cinemas, golf courses and public swimming pools as the country ramped up preparations for the crucial summer tourism season to start in two weeks. Primary school children also returned to class.

Strict public safety measures have kept Greece’s COVID-19 infection rate low with 2,917 cases. The country has seen only 175 virus-related deaths, according to the health ministry.

International flights with screening procedures will return to Athens and Greece’s second-largest city of Thessaloniki starting on June 15, and will be expanded to the rest of the country on July 1.

Classes will have no more than 15 children while the academic year will end on Friday, June 26 [Thanassis Stavrakis/AP]

08:15 GMT – China says US ‘addicted to quitting’ over WHO plan

China said the United States was “addicted to quitting” following Washington’s decision to leave the World Health Organization (WHO) and said the withdrawal reveals a pursuit of power politics and unilateralism.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing that the international community disagreed with what he said was the selfish behaviour of the US.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump announced the US will be terminating its relationship with the WHO, saying it had failed to adequately respond to the coronavirus because China has “total control” over it.

08:00 GMT – Japanese MotoGP round cancelled due to pandemic

Japan will not have a MotoGP round for the first time since 1986 after organisers cancelled the October 18 race at Motegi due to the COVID-19 pandemic that will keep the series in Europe until mid-November.

The race is a home one for champions Honda as well as manufacturers Yamaha and Suzuki. It is the sixth on the 2020 calendar to be cancelled this year.

Read here to find out which other sporting events have been cancelled because of the pandemic.

MotoGP is hoping to begin racing in Spain, which usually hosts four rounds of the championship, at the southern Jerez circuit in July [File: Toru Hanai/Reuters]

07:45 GMT – Latest coronavirus figures

Russia: 414,878 cases (9,035), 4,855 deaths (162)

Singapore: 35,292 cases (408), 23 deaths (0)

Germany: 181,815 (333), 8,511 deaths (11)

07:30 GMT – UK reopens markets and some schools

English schools are reopening for the first time since they were shut 10 weeks ago because of the coronavirus pandemic, but many parents planned to keep children at home amid fears ministers were moving too fast.

The easing of strict measures will mean classes will restart for some younger children, up to six people can meet outside in England, outdoor markets can reopen, elite competitive sport can resume without spectators and more than two million of the most vulnerable will now be allowed to spend time outdoors.

UK scientists warn against lifting lockdown too soon

07:00 GMT – Armenian PM tests positive for COVID-19

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has revealed that he and his family have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

“I didn’t have any symptoms, I decided to take a test as I was planning to visit the frontline,” he said during a Facebook live video, adding that his whole family was infected.

Armenia, with a population of 3 million, has so far registered 9,402 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 139 deaths.

Pashinyan attends a meeting of heads of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Saint Petersburg, Russia in December 2019 [File: Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters]

06:40 GMT – South Africa partly lifts lockdown, schools’ reopening postponed

South Africa has partly lifted a two month-old coronavirus lockdown, letting people outside for work, worship, exercise or shopping, and allowing mines and factories to run at full capacity to try to revive the economy.

The government hopes Monday’s move to “level 3” lockdown will sputter businesses to a start.

However, the reopening of schools for the last years of primary and secondary school has been postponed by a week after concerns raised by the teachers’ union about insufficient protective equipment.

Zimbabwe lockdown: Grandmothers offer free therapy

06:30 GMT – Primark to open all stores in England on June 15

Fashion retailer Primark is working to reopen all its 153 stores in England on June 15, in line with the country’s easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, its owner Associated British Foods said.

Primark is currently trading from 112 stores across Europe and the United States, representing 34 percent of its total selling space. By June it is planning to have 281 stores open or 79 percent of selling space.

06:20 GMT – India climbs to 7th biggest outbreak in world

India has registered 230 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing its total to 5,394 as the country begins its three-stage reopening on Monday.

The lockdown is being eased in most places except for the containment zones now isolated due to coronavirus outbreaks.

People wearing protective face shields walk inside a park after few restrictions were lifted, during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease in New Delhi [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]

The Health Ministry said India had 190,535 cases, which is the seventh most worldwide, exceeding Germany and France.

More than 60 percent of India’s COVID-19 deaths have occurred in just two states – Maharashtra, the financial hub and entertainment hub of India, and Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hello, this is Saba Aziz in Doha, taking over the blog from my colleague Kate Mayberry.

05:30 GMT –

I’m handing over the blog to my colleagues in Doha. A quick recap of developments over the past few hours, as a number of places – from Australia to Russia and the UK – loosen their lockdowns further.

China has seen the biggest spike in cases in three weeks – linked to people returning home on a flight from Egypt – while Hong Kong has reported its first locally-acquired cases in two weeks. Japan, meanwhile, is considering allowing nationals of some countries to visit, provided they follow strict conditions.

05:10 GMT – Pakistan’s top leadership to meet as coronavirus cases spike

Pakistan’s National Coordination Committee on the Coronavirus, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, is due to meet on Monday to thrash out a plan to deal with a sharp rise in cases and fatalities from the virus, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Asad Hashim.

Cases rose by more than 2,900 on Sunday with an additional 62 fatalities taking the death toll to 1,579.

There has been a sharp increase in coronavirus deaths in the last week, with cases rising at an increasing daily rate after most restrictions were lifted ahead of Eid al-Fitr, the country’s most important holiday.

05:00 GMT – Eating out back on the menu in Turkey as lockdown eased further

Restaurants, cafes, museums, beaches and swimming pools are due to reopen in Turkey as the government further relaxes its lockdown.

More than 4,500 people have died from the virus in Turkey, but authorities say the outbreak is now under control. Restrictions on movement for people over 65 and under 18 will remain in force.

04:05 GMT – Japan considers allowing visitors from handful of countries

Japan may reopen its borders to visitors from countries with low levels of coronavirus infection, including Australia, Thailand, Vietnam and New Zealand, local media reported on Monday.

The Asahi Shimbun said business travellers from the four nations would be allowed entry providing they tested negative for COVID-19 before departure and on arrival. Their movements once in Japan would also be tightly restricted.

An near-deserted Narita Airport in Tokyo as the coronavirus spread in early March [Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters]

03:50 GMT – Hong Kong announces first locally transmitted cases in two weeks

Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) is investigating two new locally transmitted cases of coronavirus – a 34-year-old woman and a 56-year-old man.

Public broadcaster RTHK says the woman works at a logistics warehouse labelling food imported from the UK. Two people there tested positive for the virus a month ago.

The new cases bring the total number of cases in the territory to 1,085, with four deaths.

03:15 GMT – Muscovites get to go out for walks again as lockdown eased slightly

People in the Russian capital will be allowed to go out for a walk or run, and some shops will reopen, as Moscow moves to loosen a lockdown that has been in force since late March.

Residents will be allowed out for walks three times a week on a schedule linked to where they live. People will also be able to go for a run between 5am and 9am as parks open their gates again.

Shopping centres, as well as car showrooms, dry cleaners, bookshops and laundrettes are also scheduled to reopen.

A shop assistant prepares a children’s clothing store for opening in Moscow after Mayor Sergei Sobyanin decided to relax coronavirus restrictions from June 1 [Yuri Kochetkov/EPA]

Thousands of cases are still being reported across Russia’s 11 time zones, but at a far lower level than previously. Russia has the third-highest number of confirmed cases in the world.

03:00 GMT – N Korea to start reopening schools after coronavirus delayed term

North Korea will start reopening schools in phases from this month, providing strict anti-coronavirus measures are in place.

State media says thermometers and hand sanitiser need to be provided at the school gate as well as in classrooms and administrative offices, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

Top priority will be given to testing children at nurseries and kindergarten, as well as disinfecting buildings.

North Korea has said it has no cases of coronavirus.

02:30 GMT – Encouraging drop in viral load in experimental S Korean drug

South Korea’s Celltrion Inc says its experimental treatment for COVID-19 has shown a 100-fold reduction in the viral load of the disease during animal testing.

The pre-clinical study of the drug showed improved recovery in runny nose, cough and body aches after the first day of treatment, and clearing of lung inflammation within six days, the company said in a statement.

Celltrion has research experience with other types of coronavirus conditions such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). It hopes to start the first human clinical trials for the COVID-19 treatment in July, said Kwon Ki-Sung, head of the firm’s research and development unit.

“(Celltrion) has the capability to roll out mass production of the therapeutic antibody treatment once it is ready,” Kwon said.

Want to know more about viral load, read our Doctor’s Note from Dr Sara Kayat.

02:00 GMT – China coronavirus cases highest in three weeks

China has reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases in three weeks after a number of cases were found among people who had returned from Egypt.

The National Health Commission reported 16 new cases, all of them in people coming from overseas.

Chinese state television said 11 people who arrived in Sichuan on a flight from Egypt had tested positive, while a further six asymptomatic cases were also found.

00:50 GMT – Australia zoos, museums reopen as restrictions eased further

Zoos, museums and other public attractions have begun to reopen in parts of Australia for the first time in more than two months.

In New South Wales, the state where most Australians live, cafes, restaurants have also been allowed to welcome as many as 50 people at a time.

Taronga Zoo reopens this morning after 9 weeks of being closed. Extra marshalling staff will remind people to social distance @9NewsSyd @tarongazoo

pic.twitter.com/bfaPHglRZk

— Zara James (@Zara_James9) May 31, 2020

23:30 GMT (May 31) – Brazil records 480 new deaths on Sunday

Brazil reported 480 deaths from coronavirus on Sunday, bringing its death toll to 29,314, the health ministry said.

More than half a million people in the country have now been confirmed to have a virus that Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has dismissed as a “little flu”.

Bolsonaro was out on horseback on Sunday, greeting supporters at a rally against the country’s top court, which is investigating the right-wing leader.

Brazil has the second-highest number of cases in the world after the US and the fourth-highest death toll after the US, UK and Italy.

23:00 GMT (May 31) – US sends 2 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to Brazil

The US has delivered two million doses of the antimalarial medicine hydroxychloroquine to Brazil to fight COVID-19, the White House said, even though the drug has not been proven effective against the coronavirus.

“HCQ will be used as a prophylactic to help defend Brazil’s nurses, doctors, and healthcare professionals against the virus. It will also be used as a therapeutic to treat Brazilians who become infected,” a statement said in reference to the drug.

It said the US would also send 1,000 ventilators to Brazil, the epicentre of South America’s outbreak.

“We are also announcing a joint United States-Brazilian research effort that will include randomized controlled clinical trials,” it added.

Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria as well as the autoimmune disorders lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. The WHO recently suspended trials into the drug because of concerns about side effects.

—

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur.

Read all the updates from yesterday (May 31) here.

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rememberthattime · 4 years

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Chapter 52. Finnish Lapland

I’m writing this introduction from our flight from London Gatwick. It is 6:14 AM. Cold and rainy. We’ve been up since 4, and even my few hours of sleep were interrupted by relentless coughing. I should feel tired and angry.

But instead I’m bursting with anticipation - like my body can’t handle the excitement (maybe that’s the reason for my cough?).

This is Chelsay and I’s first weekend trip, and as the plane makes its way to the runway, I’m remembering the #1 reason we moved back: accessible travel, starting with this weekend’s trip to the Finnish Lapland.

Our second round of European adventures began with this road trip to Nellim, Finland, an extremely remote town of 150 people tucked 250 miles into the Arctic Circle, just five miles from the Russian border.

However, before writing about our three days in Finland, I want to quickly cover our first three weeks in London.

I could talk about our return to Richmond Park, about our walks through Soho and the reminders of how “cool” London is, or about how we found our flat in Hampstead within 24 hours of arriving... All of that was great, but I really only want to write about one thing: Indy.

Yes, 12 year old Chelsay’s dream finally came true. As a kid, she’d tell her mom she was going to live in London (...she watched a lot of Mary Poppins). She would have a great job and a nice husband. But most importantly: she would have a border collie named Indiana Jones. This dream came true when Chels and I traveled up to Derby, England to visit a puppy litter. All of the puppies had chubby butts, but our little Indy was easy to spot: tail wagging, stomping over his puppy siblings, and already showing affection to his new parents. It was love at first site.

We won’t get to take little Indy home for a few more weeks, but that hasn’t slowed Chelsay’s “puppy mom” obsession. We bought his crate and fence on the ride home from Derby. We’ve been watching hours of dog training videos on YouTube. I’m receiving dozens of texts each day with the same puppy picture. ...Who am I kidding though? I’m just as much of an obsessed “puppy dad”.

That one Indy story means you’re caught up on our first three weeks in London. Back to our first trip.

There’s always a buzz when you’re going somewhere new, and that’s especially true in Europe. Every country is so accessible yet so unique. Spain is nothing like Sweden nor Morocco. They’re all just three hours away, but might as well be on different planets.

This was proven true as our plane descended into Finland. The landscape was whiter than a Dave Mathews concert. Snow everywhere. No patches of civilization, just patches of evergreen forests covered in more white. We took off in metropolitan London and landed literally in the Arctic Circle.

If this was evident on the flight in, it became especially clear as we left the airport. I asked our rental agent for the car keys and he looked back at me as if it were obvious: “They’re in the car - I started it 30 minutes ago.”

As we stepped out the airport doors, I realized why this should’ve been obvious — and also why his directions to the car were so emphatic. Everything was frozen, including the car had he not started it earlier. Chelsay and I would’ve been frozen too if we didn’t literally dive into the car.

After barely avoiding frostbite, my first thought upon hitting the road was “How can people survive here?” It’s just snow, ice, and sub-zero temperatures for months!

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But the Finnish rightly play up their winter wonderland. In fact, it’s close enough to the North Pole that Lapland claims to be the Home of Santa. Yes, of all the places in the entire world, Santa chose Rovaniemi, Finland to set up shop. What an honor.

After a brief stop at Santa’s offices, we hit the road for our four-hour drive to Nellim. This place is remote, and that was exactly the intention. My two goals for the trip were (1) to see the Northern Lights and (2) to walk through snowy, silent Finish forests. Heading as far into Lapland as possible gave us the best chances for both.

The drive was a breeze: we had studded tires for the icy roads, and a James Acaster audiobook for entertainment. Plus the landscape kept us in awe - tall spruce forests lined the roadway and the black concrete was covered in ice, loose snow whipping around in the wind.

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We were conscious of daylight on our drive up. In winter, the sun technically rises at 9:30 AM and sets at 3 PM. I say “technically” because there is actually far more daylight thanks to Nautical and Civil twilight, two things I’d never heard of before this trip. Given Lapland’s latitude, sunrise and sunset last about two hours each — rather than have a defined light time and dark time, Finnish days are just caught in perpetual semi-visibility... In addition to being “Home to Santa”, Lapland is apparently also the Twilight Zone.

Stop it Mike.

Anyway, we arrived at Nellim Wilderness Resort after sunset and nautical twilight and civil twilight and any other twilight. It was dark, but there were still a few activities available our first evening.

First, our resort had an illuminated sled hill. We didn’t know about the sledding beforehand, but once we’d seen it, Chelsay and I couldn’t resist.

Our riding styles were absolutely on brand: Chelsay laughed and screamed the entire way down (reminding me of our ride on The Mummy roller coaster at Universal Studios).

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Meanwhile, I took sledding to an extreme by riding headfirst (likely breaking my ribs with what Chelsay called “The Salmon Jump”), then later trying to surf down (likely breaking my back with what Chelsay called “The Concussion Tumble”).

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We were in the right country to recover from our (my) frigid falls, because the Finns love a hot sauna. In fact, they invented it! 1000 years ago, some Viking named Olaf probably tried that sled-surf thing, and a smoky sauna was his novel therapy!

Luckily the resort’s saunas were private, because similar to sled-surfing, I introduced a new twist to an old tradition: no one in the history of saunas has ever sweat as much as I did. Olaf included.

Outside of sledding and saunas, the other big nighttime activity in Lapland is searching for the Aurora Borealis. The Northern Lights are fairly common this time of year: about 50/50. The problem was the weather was due to be overcast & snowing throughout, so Chelsay and I came in with zero expectation.

We mentioned this to the receptionist at Nellim, but she wasn’t giving up hope. She said to keep our eyes peeled for stars: if you can see the stars, there’s a break in the clouds and a chance to see the Aurora. It didn’t hurt that our room was 50% window.

Just as the receptionist predicted, we saw stars from about 10:30 to midnight. Staring out felt like being on a hunt, eyes dashing from one side of the sky to the other in hopes of seeing a green flash. Eventually I fell asleep, but the resort offers an Aurora alarm in case the lights appear.

Unfortunately there were no alarms either night.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed - the Northern Lights were one of the main reasons for visiting, and the brief star sightings provided a cruel tease of unwarranted hope. But the Aurora is just weather after all, and as the sun rose the next day, we remembered how cool it was to be in Nellim, Finland. Plus, the flip side of this snowy cloud cover was a clean and white-coated winter wonderland.

The fresh snow was perfect for our first activity of the day: dog sledding. These huskies were dying to get out and run, and I’ll never forget their excited gallop as we burst through the trees onto an open, frozen lake.

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Chelsay and I switched off as driver, both flirting with danger. Chelsay nearly led us into Russia, while I ghost rode the sled. If you’re not familiar with ghost riding, it’s where you hop out of a moving (now driverless) vehicle and run beside it. Based on the look in our dogs’ eyes, I’m not sure they’d seen this before.

After the morning excitement, Chelsay and I had earned extra whipped cream on our hot chocolates. I’ll briefly mention the dining, which we both surprisingly enjoyed. Finnish food is not traditionally exciting (a lot of lingonberry and reindeer), but the Wilderness Resort came through for each meal: tasty lamb shanks, potatoes gratin, mushroom risotto, panna cotta, and more. And obviously a lot of hot chocolate.

We regained enough energy over lunch for our afternoon activity: snow shoeing. We planned to be out for a few hours, so bundled up in three layers of everything: socks, leggings, sweaters. We even doubled up on gloves.

Now insulated from the sub zero temperatures, we were motoring around the quiet, empty wilderness in no time. Nothing but clean snow and creaky timber for miles. Chelsay said it reminded her of the land of swirly twirly gumdrops from Elf: “Byeee Buddyyyy”

We climbed up hills, slid down slopes, trekked across frozen lakes, forged our own paths through the deep snow, and tracked the only other footprints we could find: wolf and reindeer.

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Just as the sun was setting (at 3 PM), Chelsay and I stumbled into a peaceful and perfect grove. It was a beautiful setting and the most memorable moments I’ll take from the trip.

The evergreen branches were coated in snowy white clumps, the crisp air was cold in our chests, and the only sound we could hear was crunch... crunch... crunch... as we gently shuffled across the deep snow.

We returned to our room with that “exhausted but content” feeling. Our quads were burning but we’d accomplished what we came for.

That night, we enjoyed another remedial sauna - this one was somehow sweatier than the last. We didn’t have any energy or unbroken bones left for sledding that night, so we instead stayed in our room and watched Parasite (great movie) while sipping hot chocolate. I doubt I’ll remember what JOMO meant when I read this in 20 years, but this night describes it well.

We were making the long drive back to Rovaniemi around lunch the next day, but had plenty of time for morning walk. This time we attempted to go without snow shoes, but quickly realized that walking through deep snow is hard! Your feet sink with every step, and you have to contort your legs up & out of the snow to make any progress.

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Chelsay compared it to the Sahara, except instead of sinking ankle-deep in sand, we were literally waist-deep. Luckily we persevered long enough to stumble across a pack of reindeer.

With our quads burning, we figured the reindeer sighting was a good enough cap to our Lapland adventure. Sure, I wish we’d seen the Northern Lights, but Chelsay and I are still very content with our first trip back in Europe.

I say that without any doubt. Rewinding to our flight from London: Lapland’s frozen landscapes exceeded the “new city” excitement I felt as our departing plane rolled toward the runway.

Lapland is a different planet: part winter wonderland, part uninhabitable wasteland. Its frigid wilderness is unlike any of the previous places we’ve visited, but the craziest part is that it was all so easily accessible. Chelsay and I were 250 miles into the Arctic Circle, literally a short walk into Russia’s northernmost territories, yet remained just a three hour flight from London.

That’s why we moved back: because every trip Chelsay and I take has the potential to bring us somewhere new, special, and completely different from anywhere we’ve ever been.

I can’t wait for our next departing plane to roll its way to the runway.

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