New Delhi: With more than 1,91,055 deaths and over 27,25,351 people infected, the novel coronavirus continues its surge across the world. Several countries continue strict lockdowns and restrictions to curb the spread of the infection.
ThePrint brings you seven important global stories linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
How will the coronavirus pandemic change Ramadan for Muslims?
Saudi Arabia announced that the Holy Month of Ramadan would begin Friday and Muslims across the world are preparing for a month of fasting under lockdowns and restrictions due to the lethal novel coronavirus. As a result, a large part of the world’s Muslim population will be unable to visit mosques to pray. An explainer by the Al Jazeera looks at how coronavirus is likely to affect Ramadan.
Germany throws weight behind EU recovery fund
After a lot of back and forth, Germany finally decided to put its weight behind a recovery package of 540 billion euros, reports The Financial Times. The purpose of this fund is to help smaller economies with post-coronavirus recovery. Over the past decade German leadership has been highly skeptical of helping other countries out at the expense of its own taxpayer.
1 million masks acquired from China by Canada unfit for coronavirus fight
Canada’s Health Authority announced that over one million K95 respiratory masks delivered by China do not meet the country’s federal Covid-19 standards, reports Politico. “As a result, the federal government did not dispense the noncomplying masks to equipment-hungry provinces and territories, said Eric Morrissette a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada,” notes the report.
As unemployment soars, US states test possible reopening
As the number of jobless claims in the US continue to skyrocket, a handful of states from Texas and Ohio to Montana and Tennessee are preparing to gradually reopen their respective economies, reports Reuters. These plans have “drawn fire from public health experts and other governors who warn a premature easing of stay-at-home orders and business closures imposed over the past five weeks could trigger a renewed surge in coronavirus cases,” it adds.
Japan’s megacities move to control growing crowds in suburbia
After the Japanese government successfully enforced social distancing and serious measures of crowd control across downtowns of all mega cities, now the effort seems to be shifting towards controlling crowds in the suburban parts of these megacities, reports Strait Times. According to the report, “Entertainment hubs from Shibuya and Shinjuku in Tokyo to Umeda in Osaka and Sannomiya in Kobe are now ghosts of their normal selves, with footfall plunging by about 70 per cent, but residential shopping arcades have become more crowded.”
US Financial Aid for Greenland sparks outrage in Denmark
The US government’s decision to provide a $12 million aid to Greenland has sparked major outrage in Denmark, reports the Financial Times. This comes just months after the US President Donald Trump had offered to buy Greenland from Denmark, leading to a diplomatic row between the two countries. Politicians in Denmark, both from the Left and the Right, criticised the aid offered and accused US of undermining Denmark-Greenland relations.
At least 50 per cent of Covid-19 deaths in Europe occurring in nursing homes: WHO
According to a report in the Washington Post, at least half of the coronavirus-related deaths in Europe are occurring in “long-term-care facilities such as nursing homes”, the World Health Organisation said Thursday. The report highlights that “public health authorities may have allowed the pandemic to rage among some of their most vulnerable populations as they focused on hospitals and other aspects of their response”.
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