New Delhi: The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate several countries across the world — the latest count is 37,29,214 cases and more than 2,58,394 deaths.
The fact that there was a Covid-19 patient in France in December has rattled countries across the world. Meanwhile, UK now has the second highest number of Covid-19 deaths in the world and Milan in Italy emerges from the lockdown as a deeply wounded city.
ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.
Coronavirus may have entered France in December, a month earlier than believed
A sample of a French patient with pneumonia, taken on 27 December 2019, has now tested positive for the novel coronavirus. This is almost a month before the first coronavirus case was detected in France.
The news of a French citizen having coronavirus, even before Chinese authorities acknowledged the outbreak has rattled the World Health Organization and the global community at large, the New York Times reports.
“If confirmed, the case of the fishmonger, Amirouche Hammar, would mean the deadly virus made an appearance on the continent long before officials there began tackling it. Such a discovery would bring a strange new wrinkle to the story of the virus in Europe, one that has the potential of blowing up the previously established chronology,” notes the report.
This case has prompted the WHO to urge other countries to investigate any similar earlier Covid-19 cases. “This gives a whole new picture on everything. The findings help to better understand the potential virus circulation of COVID-19,” said a WHO spokesperson, adding that more earlier cases could emerge by retesting older samples.
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UK has the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in Europe
In a worrying development for UK, the country now accounts for the highest number of coronavirus related deaths in all of Europe, according to the Washington Post.
With 29,427 people dead, UK surpassed Italy, which has 29,315 deaths. It now has the second highest number of deaths in the world after US, which accounts for 71,275 Covid-19 deaths.
“Britain’s growing coronavirus toll comes as the government has been accused of being slow to order a lockdown, of failing to quickly ramp up testing and of not providing adequate protective gear, not only to front-line doctors and nurses in hospitals but also to care workers in nursing homes, which have recorded an exploding number of deaths,” notes the Post.
Milan emerges from lockdown a changed city
Even as lockdown restrictions are being gradually lifted, Milan — the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy — is struggling to emerge from the damage, reports the Financial Times.
“Milan, the capital of the Lombardy region that was the centre of the European outbreak in February, still has 8,500 cases of coronavirus. Italian authorities remain committed to a cautious and phased reopening across the country. While factories and building sites can resume work, shops, beauty salons, schools, gyms and theatres remain shut,” notes FT.
Milan, which is the key financial hub of the country, still hasn’t seen the resumption of any of its financial operations. The smaller business have moved to brink and many of them are now reporting zero revenue.
The city also seems to have changed in other, more fundamental, ways. A new bike lane is being proposed to take pressure off the public transport system, and leading universities of the city have moved to offering their courses online.
“There’s been a huge cultural shift that wouldn’t have taken place without the coronavirus,” said Ferruccio Resta, the dean of the Polytechnic University of Milan.
Also read: For Germany, reopening the economy is proving harder than shutting it down
Coronavirus helping China get ahead in the 5G race
The coronavirus pandemic has created a new opportunity for China — monetising the contentious 5G technology, notes the Nikkei Asian Review. Over the past year or so, the global 5G push by China using its company Huawei Technologies and the backlash by the US has made this a very controversial topic. Since then, several countries have banned Huawei. However, now the pandemic is helping China break the deadlock.
“The COVID-19 crisis has turned out surprisingly to be a big opportunity for China to quickly test a lot of 5G applications — including drones, driverless cars, unmanned stores and even 5G phones— which no one knew how to use effectively last year before the pandemic,” Wallace Hsu, an analyst with Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute told Nikkei.
White House winding down coronavirus task force as cases continue to rise
Even as the number of coronavirus cases continue to spike in the US, the White House could wind down the coronavirus taskforce, led by Vice President Mike Pence, as early as the next month, the Financial Times is reporting.
“The US death toll surpassed 65,000 on Tuesday after the country reported 2,527 fatalities, its third-highest daily tally. There have been nearly 1.2m confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US since the start of the year,” notes the report.
According to The New York Times, “The group was a comforting symbol for people scared about the virus’s spread and looking for a sign the White House was taking it seriously,”
“The decision to phase out the task force has prompted new questions about whether the administration will be adequately organized to address the complex, life-or-death decisions related to the virus and give sufficient voice to scientists and public health experts in making policy,” it adds.
Also read: Trump, Pompeo continue to blame Wuhan lab for virus but US agencies are less convinced
How a Wuhan lab got embroiled in a pandemic
A bat virus specialist and her lab called Wuhan Institute of Virology have become embroiled in the coronavirus pandemic, reports the Financial Times. US President Donald Trump claims that he has evidence proving that the novel coronavirus was actually created in this lab.
However, Trump’s own intelligence agencies seem to be disagreeing with the president’s claims. The report by the Financial Times looks at what the lab actually does and if there is credible evidence to prove Trump’s claims.
How airlines are storing their unused planes during a pandemic
What exactly are the various global airlines — who have been forced to halt their operations due to the pandemic — doing with the unused aircrafts, explores the Globe and Mail.
“Planes and ocean-going vessels have begun migrating from the world’s busiest airports and harbours to remote locations where the workhorses of the global economy go to rest, or die,” notes the report.
“Nowhere is the challenge more acute than in aviation. Reeling from travel bans, many airlines have grounded their entire fleets, while most others have cancelled the majority of flights. Collectively, they have dropped tens of millions of seats from their schedules every week, according to OAG, an aviation data firm,” it adds.
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Sicily to subsidise post-Covid holidays as Italy considers reopening to tourists
As Italy plans to lift lockdown restrictions and reopen its economy, the regional government of Sicily is planning to offer subsidised holidays for tourists in an attempt to kickstart its economy, reports the Guardian.
“A financial pot of €75m of regional government money has been set aside to boost tourism following huge financial losses after the lockdown came into effect across Italy on 10 March. Current plans include subsidising visitors’ accommodation costs, offering one night of a three-night trip for free, or two nights of a six-day trip, as well as vouchers for cultural and heritage activities,” it adds.
What else we are reading:
The Political Consequences of Loneliness and Isolation During the Pandemic: The New Yorker
Pandemic pushes some Iraqis, broken by conflict, into poverty: Reuters
Biden’s edge evaporates as Trump seen as better suited for economy, coronavirus response: Reuters
Reinventing Grief in an Era of Enforced Isolation: The New Yorker