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 The
World Health Organization (WHO) warned that infections had
"certainly" not yet peaked.
Nearly 2 million people globally have been infected and more than
124,000 have died in the most serious pandemic in a century,
according to a Reuters tally. The epicentre has shifted from China,
where the virus emerged in December, to the United States, which has
now recorded the most deaths.
World leaders, in considering easing curbs, have to balance risks to
health and to the economy as the lockdowns have strangled supply
lines, especially in China, and brought economic activity to a
virtual halt.
The shutdown is costing the U.S. economy perhaps $25 billion a day
in lost output, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard
said, calling for widespread testing and risk-management strategies
so the economy can restart.
President Donald Trump, who has declared he will decide when to lift
lockdowns, suggested some Democratic state governors were
"mutineers" after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he would
refuse any order that risked reigniting the outbreak.
Trump also said he was halting U.S. funding to the WHO, which he
criticized for not sharing information in a timely manner to prevent
the outbreak.
The White House said Trump would hold a video teleconference with
leaders from the Group of Seven nations on Thursday to coordinate
responses.
The global economy is expected to shrink by 3% this year, the
International Monetary Fund said, marking the steepest downturn
since the Great Depression.
The WHO said the number of new cases was tailing off in some parts
of Europe, including Italy and Spain, but outbreaks were growing in
Britain and Turkey.
"The overall world outbreak - 90% of cases are coming from Europe
and the United States of America. So we are certainly not seeing the
peak yet," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a briefing in
Geneva.
But world stocks gained after Chinese trade data came in better than
expected and as some countries partly lifted restrictions.
Some Spanish businesses, including construction and manufacturing,
were allowed to resume. Shops, bars and public spaces are to stay
closed until at least April 26.
Spain was flattening the curve on the graph representing the rate of
growth of the outbreak, Health Minister Salvador Illa said on
Tuesday. The overnight death toll from the coronavirus rose to 567
on Tuesday from 517 a day earlier, but the country reported its
lowest increase in new cases since March 18. Total deaths climbed to
18,056.
Some Spanish workers expressed concern that the relaxation of
restrictions could trigger a new surge of infections. But for
Roberto Aguayo, a 50-year-old Barcelona construction worker, the
restart came just in time.
"We really needed it. Just when we were going to run out of food, we
returned to work," he told Reuters.
Italy, which has the world's second-highest death toll at 21,067,
maintained some tight restrictions on movement, while Denmark, one
of the first European countries to shut down, will reopen daycare
centres and schools for children in first to fifth grades on
Wednesday.
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The Czech government will gradually reopen stores and restaurants from next
Monday, although people will continue to be required to wear masks.
Thousands of shops across Austria reopened on Tuesday, but the government
cautioned that the country was "not out of the woods".
Austria acted early to shut schools, bars, theatres, restaurants, non-essential
shops and other gathering places about four weeks ago. It has told the public to
stay home.
The Alpine republic has reported 384 deaths in total, fewer than some larger
European countries have been suffering each day. Hospitalisations have
stabilised.
LOCKDOWNS EXTENDED
Britain, where the government has come under criticism for its slow approach to
testing and for not getting protective equipment to the frontlines of health
care, has the fifth-highest death toll globally.
The toll in British hospitals rose to 12,107 as of Monday but is expected to be
much higher when deaths in the community are included. Foreign Secretary Dominic
Raab has said there would be no easing of lockdown measures when they come up
for review this week.
The Times newspaper said on Tuesday that Raab, deputising for Prime Minister
Boris Johnson, who is recuperating from a COVID-19 infection, would extend the
curbs until at least May 7.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron on Monday extended a virtual lockdown to
May 11.
India, the world's second-most populous country after China, extended its
nationwide lockdown until May 3 as the number of coronavirus cases crossed
10,000. Neighbours Pakistan and Nepal also extended their curbs.
Russia might need to call in the army to help tackle the crisis, President
Vladimir Putin said on Monday. Moscow warned the capital might run out of
hospital beds in coming weeks.
China's northeastern border province of Heilongjiang saw 79 new cases on Monday
- all Chinese citizens travelling back from Russia, state media said.
As of Tuesday, China had reported 82,249 coronavirus cases and 3,341 deaths.
There were no deaths in the past 24 hours.
Health ministers from the Group of 20 major economies will speak by
videoconference on Sunday to address the outbreak's impact.
(Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in a separate browser for an interactive graphic
to track the global spread.)
(Reporting from Reuters bureaux across the world; Writing by Nick Macfie,
Philippa Fletcher and Lisa Shumaker; Editing by William Maclean, Mark Heinrich
Mark Potter and Peter Cooney)
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