Why Europe is easing lockdowns, US replaces meat with substitutes & other global Covid news

As the Covid-19 pandemic shows no signs of letting up, ThePrint highlights the most important stories on the crisis from across the globe.

A man plays with his cellphone during lockdown in Rome, Italy. | Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images | Bloomberg

New Delhi: With over 2,06,997 deaths and over 29,94,958 people infected, the novel coronavirus continues its surge across the world.

The US has now emerged as the worst hit with 9,87,322 cases and 55,415 deaths as of Monday.

But hearteningly, other countries that were the hardest hit such as Spain and Italy are now seeing a decline and are pondering over ways to ease their lockdowns.

ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.

Italy, France, Spain & a few US states plan to lift lockdowns 

The hardest hit European countries — Italy, Spain and France — are now outlining their plans to gradually lift restrictions.

Plans to gradually reopen economies marks a new phase in the global response to the coronavirus pandemic. This marks a shift towards how countries are increasingly trying to balance their economic needs and the ability to contain the pandemic.

According to the BBC, Italy, which is the third worst hit country in the world, and has seen the longest lockdown in Europe, has announced plans to relax curbs from 4 May.

The country will now allow people to visit their relatives in masks, parks would reopen, but schools are likely to remain shut until September, reported the BBC.

Similarly, the French and Spanish governments are expected to outline their plans, according to a report in the Financial Times. Spain for instance, gradually began lifting the lockdown Sunday by allowing children on the streets.

Several states in the US such as “Georgia, Oklahoma, Alaska and South Carolina have already allowed some businesses to reopen”, reported the BBC.

Other states such as Colorado, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Montana are now also planning to gradually reopen the economy.

Even the worst hit US state of New York could see lifting of the lockdown in its northern parts after 15 May, according to its governor Andrew M. Cuomo.

Pandemic accelerates shift to meat substitutes

As the coronavirus pandemic is forcing people to adapt to new eating habits, there is an increasing shift towards meat substitutes, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Especially in the US, there is an increase in sale of plant-based substitutes as slaughterhouses and processing plants are closing down due to diminishing sales.

“US sales of plant-based meat substitutes jumped 200 per cent in the week ending April 18, compared with the same period last year, and surged by 265 per cent over an eight-week period, according to consumer data group Nielsen,” notes the report. “This compares with jumps of 30 per cent and 39 per cent respectively over the same periods for fresh meat.”

Spain records the lowest daily death toll in a month 

The worst-hit European country, Spain, finally seems to have turned a corner, with the country reporting its lowest death toll in over a month, reported the BBC.

On Sunday, 288 people died in Spain — the lowest since 20 March — and a steep fall from 378 on Saturday, said the country’s health ministry.

BBC reports that this marks a drastic fall in fatalities — at one point, Spain was seeing over 1,000 deaths on a daily basis. And it is this fall in the number of deaths that is allowing the Spanish leadership to now deliberate a gradual lifting of the lockdown.

Boris Johnson returns to work after recovering from Covid-19 

After nearly a fortnight of having contracted Covid-19, UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally returned to work Monday.

Bloomberg says that as Johnson returns to work, he faces a divided cabinet over when and how the country can gradually lift restrictions and still manage to keep the coronavirus spread in check.

How Covid-29 helped South Korea’s Moon Jae win polls 

After Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in has become another global leader to have gained politically due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to an analysis in the World Politics Review, just six months ago, Jae-in’s regime was grappling with a corruption scandal, a deteriorating economy, hostile relations with Japan, and failure of its outreach towards North Korea.

Now, given that he has been widely applauded for providing one of the most effective responses to the coronavirus outbreak, his left-leaning Democratic Party has been rewarded with a handsome victory at the legislative elections last week.

The Democratic Party now controls 180 out of the 300 seats at the country’s unicameral legislature. Analysts consider this an unprecedented victory in South Korea’s electoral history.

Taliban ramps up attacks amid crisis

As coronavirus continues to spread across Afghanistan and the US tries to keep a bleak peace deal alive, the Taliban has launched an all-out offensive against the Afghan security forces, reports The New York Times.

Afghanistan now has over 1,500 reported cases of coronavirus. There have been several attacks conducted by the Taliban over the past few weeks.

“The insurgents have ignored appeals for a cease-fire on humanitarian grounds as the fast-spreading coronavirus threatens to overwhelm the country’s feeble health system and wreck an economy already dependent on foreign donations,” noted the report.

The Taliban is justifying its offensive by accusing the US of not holding up its end of the deal, which entailed releasing 5,000 of its prisoners held by Afghan forces.

A pandemic of corruption

A report by the Washington Post shows how the crisis has led to a pandemic of corruption across a series of developing states around the world such as Colombia, Bangladesh, and many African countries.

“As governments race to source everything from food aid to face masks, they are prioritising speed over transparency, dropping competitive bidding and other safeguards to keep pace with the pandemic,” the report says.

But in these emergency efforts, “corrupt bureaucrats, crony contractors and crime syndicates” are indulging in corrupt practices and making money out of the rescue efforts, reads the Washington Post report.

What else we are reading: 

The South China Morning Post is doing a series on the “global backlash that China may face as a result of its actions and rhetoric during the coronavirus pandemic”. Here is the second part of that series.

New Yorker’s leading columnist John Cassidy looks at the feasibility of the US President Donald Trump basing his re-election campaign entirely on an anti-China platform.