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 Lessons unlearned
As the coronavirus spread through the Diamond Princess cruise ship
with passengers dying in what became one of the first hot spots
outside China, Japanese authorities issued no warnings to the Costa
Atlantica cruise ship docked at another Japanese port.
The Costa Atlantica now hosts one of Japan's biggest clusters of the
coronavirus, with a quarter of the more than 600 people then onboard
infected.
Public health experts say a lack of additional measures on cruise
ships after the Diamond Princess outbreak, toothless coronavirus
legislation and a nationwide paucity of virus testing combined to
allow the outbreak on the ship to blossom.
Getting out from under the doona
Australia laid out a three-step road map to ease social distancing
restrictions on Friday, aiming to remove all curbs by July and get
nearly one million people back to work.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it will be up to Australia's
various states and territories to decide when to begin implementing
each stage. Each step will likely be separated by a four-week
transition.
"You can stay under the doona forever. You'll never face any
danger," Morrison told reporters, using an Australian word for
quilt.
"But we've got to get out from under the doona at some time."
Safe haven for business
After proclaiming success in containing the coronavirus, Vietnam is
positioning itself as a safe place to do business, capitalising on
demand from international manufacturers looking to diversify supply
chains away from China.
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Advisers who help foreign firms relocate internationally said Vietnam's success
in dealing with the pandemic had already boosted the confidence of foreign
investors in the country.
Vietnam is targeting annual gross domestic product growth of more than 5% this
year, a rare pocket of progress in a global economy facing a deep recession.
Suntanning with plexiglass screens
Santorini beach bar owner Charlie Chahine is not a fan of the plexiglass screens
that have been added around the lounge chairs at his establishment, but if that
is the way it has to be for tourists to return, then that is what he is doing.
Businesses on Greece's most popular holiday island are adopting all kinds of
hygiene measures, anxious for the season to start.
"We don't want this, but if this is necessary, and if this is what people's
safety depends on, such a construction or any such construction - we want to
work, we want to get going," said Chahine.
Bookings in June last year were at 70%, while now they hover at 30% at most,
vice president of the Santorini Hotel Association Andreas Patiniotis said.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh)
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