Selasa, 14 April 2020

Coronavirus in Russia: Month after Putin declared COVID-19 "under control," Moscow hospitals are running out of beds - CBS News

Medical specialists push a stretcher in a hospital for patients infected with the coronavirus disease on the outskirts of Moscow
Medical specialists push a stretcher likely carrying a human body outside a hospital for patients infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, April 12, 2020. TATYANA MAKEYEVA/REUTERS

Moscow – Less than a month ago Russia's state-controlled media showed President Vladimir Putin talking about how the country had managed to contain the new coronavirus and keep the situation "under control." 

Russia had only a few dozen officially reported cases then. A week later, Russia even sent planes loaded with medical aid to struggling Italy, and then to the United States and Serbia.

But Russia has now seen a surge in COVID-19 infections, and Putin's tone has become much less optimistic.

"We are seeing that the situation is changing every single day and regrettably not for the better," he said Monday during a video conference with senior health care officials. "The number of sick people is increasing along with the number of serious cases."

He acknowledged that Russia has not yet hit the peak of its epidemic, not even in hard-hit Moscow, where two thirds of the cases have been diagnosed.

Ambulances queue before driving onto the adjacent territory of a local hospital in Khimki
Ambulances queue before driving onto the adjacent territory of a local hospital amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia, April 11, 2020. TATYANA MAKEYEVA/REUTERS

On Tuesday, the country's virus task force reported a total of 21,102 infections and warned that Moscow will soon face a shortage of hospital beds.

The city has been reorganizing more and more of its hospitals to expand the number of beds for coronavirus patients, and a new hospital is rapidly being built, but it's unclear if that will be enough.

Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova said last week that Moscow's hospitals and ambulances were already stretched to the limit. Videos and photos emerged on social media last week showing lines of dozens of ambulances waiting for hours outside the hospitals. The video was even picked up by state-run media.

Сегодня работаю на скорой в ночную смену. Из Митино привезли пациента в больницу, в Новогорск, видимо в Москве некуда. Я ещё такого не видел за 6 лет! Стоим в очереди

Posted by Oleg Pyhtin on Friday, April 10, 2020

"In six years I haven't seen anything like that," one ambulance driver wrote in a Facebook post Friday, under pictures of a long line near the hospital outside Moscow.

The task force put out a statement this week warning that despite the growing number of state, federal and private clinics joining the effort, there could be a shortage of hospital beds in the next two to three weeks in the capital.

In interviews on Russian media, doctors and nurses from across the country have complained, often anonymously, about shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), and a lack of guidance.

Due to the growth of the outbreak, Moscow and the surrounding region will introduce a digital permit system from Wednesday, aimed at limiting residents' movement and enforcing the lockdown.

Residents now have to request permits for all journeys by public or personal transport. The system has been criticized by some opposition activists as another way for the government to breach privacy rights. Moscow's tracking policies have often been compared to China's, as the city's law enforcement has been using facial recognition technology and a large network of cameras to track people's movements and catch quarantine violators.

Meanwhile, China has said nearly half of newly detected COVID-19 cases in that country are now coming across the border from Russia - mostly Chinese nationals returning home.

Chinese cities along the border with Russia have tightened border controls and imposed stricter quarantine measures amid fears of a possible second wave of the virus in the country.

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2020-04-14 17:18:36Z
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For our coronavirus future, we look to Europe - Los Angeles Times

Spain began easing parts of its coronavirus lockdown Monday, and other Western European countries such as Italy and Austria appeared poised to follow suit with fewer restrictions on public activities.

But will the easing of constraints, however limited, prove to be a beacon of hope or a cautionary tale?

To onlookers in the United States, where many people are staying at home to help curb the spread of the virus, events in hard-hit European nations have been like dispatches from the future. Before COVID-19 fully established itself in hot spots such as New York, it devastated vulnerable Spanish nursing homes, filled the obituary pages of Italian provincial newspapers, and unnerved French villagers with a wave of urban refugees.

Now, the death rate across much of Western Europe apparently is beginning to level off. With President Trump musing about at least a partial reopening of the U.S. economy in May, these European countries — often grouped with the United States as advanced democracies with modern medical systems — might by then be experiencing a glimmer of normality, or showing signs of a new cycle of infection, illness and death.

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Within Europe, as in the U.S., governments are wrestling with the same decisions, with varying local circumstances. How best to protect essential workers. How to balance considerations of public health and economic harm. How to shield the elderly and other vulnerable individuals, while allowing those who are healthy to venture out.

As health officials constantly admonish, actions taken a few weeks ago have a crucial bearing on what will happen today or tomorrow. And that will in turn affect the epidemiological picture weeks from now.

“We think it is going to be a virus that stalks the human race for quite a long time to come, until we can all have a vaccine that will protect us,” World Health Organization special envoy David Nabarro said in a weekend interview on NBC. And the United Nations agency believes “there will be small outbreaks that will emerge sporadically, and they will break through our defenses.”

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The WHO on Monday warned countries against easing lockdowns too fast.

“Control measures can only be lifted if the right public-health measures are in place,” the organization’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned in a briefing by video link from Geneva.

With fresh decision-making expected in coming days, here is a look at the state of restrictions in some Western European countries:

Spain

Starting Monday, workers were allowed to return to some manufacturing and construction jobs — work that cannot be done remotely — operating under strict safety guidelines. In a country of about 47 million, coronavirus-related deaths have exceeded 17,000, but new infections are dropping off somewhat, the government said.

Weathering some criticism over moves to ease restrictions, officials are pledging to proceed cautiously. The health minister, Salvador Illa, told reporters in Madrid on Monday that there were no projected dates for ending the strict isolation orders that most Spaniards have faced since March 27. And he promised any further steps will be science-based.

Stores remain shuttered and most services halted, and Spanish officials are distributing millions of masks, handing them out on the limited numbers of trains and buses that are running.

Italy

The country has been under lockdown for five weeks, and most restrictions will continue until at least May 3. The death toll now exceeds 20,000, but with the rate of new coronavirus cases slowing, a narrow range of businesses — bookstores, stationers’ and children’s clothing shops — will be allowed to open on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said last week that manufacturing might be the next sector to resume, depending on trends.

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Regional leaders have some discretion; in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy, for example, open-air markets will be allowed to operate beginning Tuesday, with social distancing urged. And residents will be allowed to take exercise outside what had been a strict 200-yard radius of their homes, but those out in public must wear masks.

Austria

A lockdown that began on March 16 shut down everything except supermarkets and medical facilities. But nonessential businesses including clothiers, hardware stores and plant nurseries will be able to open starting Tuesday, based on size. Others will follow on a staggered basis: shopping malls, beauty salons and barbershops are to open May 1; hotels and restaurants, tentatively in mid-May. No large public gatherings are envisioned until at least June.

Masks became mandatory this month in Austrian food stores and pharmacies; starting Tuesday, they will be required in other shops and on public transportation.

Britain

A shutdown is now in its fourth week, and Britain’s death toll stands at more than 11,000. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, after what he has described as a life-threatening brush with COVID-19 that landed him in the intensive-care unit last week, is out of the hospital and recuperating at the prime minister’s official country retreat, Chequers.

Johnson was criticized for a slow start on the shutdown, which is expected to be extended for at least three more weeks pending a formal review Thursday. There are rising concerns about a coronavirus recession, but British officials on Monday acknowledged that the outbreak’s peak had probably not yet arrived, and credited social distancing and other measures with slowing the virus’ spread.

Germany

While Spain, Italy, Britain and France have all topped 10,000 deaths, Germany’s fatality toll is relatively low, less than a third of that. The reasons why — including a younger population, widespread testing, and an ample supply of hospital beds and medical equipment — are still being studied.

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Restaurants and most shops have been closed in Germany since March 22. But Reuters news agency last week said Germany tentatively planned to begin a phased resumption of public life later this month, coupled with measures including making masks mandatory in public, limits on gatherings, and rapid tracing of contacts of infected individuals.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel startled compatriots when she warned more than a month ago that up to 70% of the population was likely to contract the virus eventually, but she said restrictions aimed at controlling the spread should prevent the healthcare system from being overtaxed.

France

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday extended a strict lockdown until May 11. In a speech to the nation from Elysee Palace, he sought to walk a fine line — warning that relaxing the nearly month-old lockdown too soon could be catastrophic but proffering hopes of a not-too-distant return to normality.

“We have made difficult decisions,” Macron said. Under the now-extended orders, people are only supposed to leave their homes for shopping and other essential tasks. Schools could reopen after mid-May, he said.

Sweden

An outlier among its European neighbors, Sweden has allowed restaurants and most businesses to remain open amid the pandemic, and critics inside and outside the country have been irked by the sight of Swedes chatting in cafes and strolling city streets. Elementary schools are open and domestic flights continue. The government has taken some steps, banning gatherings of more than 50 people, closing high schools and universities, and urging the elderly and otherwise vulnerable to sequester themselves.

But while Sweden’s death toll is relatively low — fewer than 1,000 as of Monday — its fatality rate among confirmed COVID-19 cases is worryingly high, and some public health experts are sounding the alarm over a potentially large reservoir of undiagnosed cases. Lawmakers are to meet this week to discuss stricter measures, including bringing the country into line with World Health Organization recommendations on self-isolation and contact-tracing plans.

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2020-04-14 16:16:16Z
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IMF says the world will 'very likely' experience worst recession since the 1930s - CNBC

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Bronze statues that depict the Great Depression, Waiting in a bread line by George Segal, Washington D.C, United States.

UniversalImagesGroup | Getty Images

The global economy will this year likely suffer the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday, as governments worldwide grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Washington-based organization now expects the global economy to contract by 3% in 2020. By contrast, in January it had forecast a global GDP (gross domestic product) expansion of 3.3% for this year.

"It is very likely that this year the global economy will experience its worst recession since the Great Depression, surpassing that seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago," Gita Gopinath, the IMF's chief economist, said in the latest World Economic Outlook report.

In January, the IMF had estimated 3.4% growth for global GDP in 2021; this has now been revised up to 5.8% (although growth is expected to be coming from a lower base following 2020's projected contraction).

"A partial recovery is projected for 2021, with above trend growth rates, but the level of GDP will remain below the pre-virus trend, with considerable uncertainty about the strength of the rebound," Gopinath said.

The dramatic downgrade in this year's growth expectations comes as other institutions also warn that the coronavirus outbreak is bringing massive economic challenges. The World Trade Organization said last week that global trade will contract by between 13% and 32% this year. The Organization for Economic Coordination and Development has also warned the economic hit from the virus will be felt "for a long time to come."

To contain the spread of the virus, many governments have implemented lockdown measures, only allowing people to leave their houses to purchase groceries, medicines and, in some cases, to exercise. As a result, business activity has stalled in many countries.

The magnitude and speed of collapse in activity that has followed (the lockdown) is unlike anything we’ve experienced in our lifetimes.

Gita Gopinath

IMF chief economist

The IMF, which dubbed the current crisis "the Great Lockdown," said "this is a crisis like no other." Speaking at a press conference, Tuesday, Gopinath explained "the magnitude and speed of collapse in activity that has followed (the lockdown) is unlike anything we've experienced in our lifetimes."

There's severe uncertainty about the duration and intensity of the economic shock, it added, and stimulating economic activity is more challenging given the required social distancing and isolation policies. 

The IMF said it had received "an unprecedented number of calls for emergency funding." Out of its 189 members, more than 90 of them have asked for financial support.

The fund, which provides financing to members which are struggling economically, has $1 trillion in lending capacity. 

Euro zone to be hit the hardest

The latest forecasts from the IMF suggest that the U.S. economy will contract by 5.9% this year. In comparison, the euro zone is expected to shrink by 7.5%, but China is seen growing by 1.2% in 2020.

The economic situation will be particularly difficult in Italy and Spain, where GDP is set to contract by 9.1% and 8%, respectively. These two countries are the worst hit in Europe by Covid-19. Both have higher numbers of infections and deaths than China, where the virus first emerged in late 2019.

How should governments react?

The IMF is advising countries to focus on the health crisis first, by spending on testing, medical equipment and other health care related costs.

It also said that governments should provide tax deferrals, wage subsidies and cash transfers to the most-affected citizens and firms; as well as to prepare for the lifting of lockdown measures.

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2020-04-14 15:02:12Z
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IMF says the world will 'very likely' experience worst recession since the 1930s - CNBC

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Bronze statues that depict the Great Depression, Waiting in a bread line by George Segal, Washington D.C, United States.

UniversalImagesGroup | Getty Images

The global economy will this year likely suffer the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday, as governments worldwide grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Washington-based organization now expects the global economy to contract by 3% in 2020. By contrast, in January it had forecast a global GDP (gross domestic product) expansion of 3.3% for this year.

"It is very likely that this year the global economy will experience its worst recession since the Great Depression, surpassing that seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago," Gita Gopinath, the IMF's chief economist, said in the latest World Economic Outlook report.

In January, the IMF had estimated 3.4% growth for global GDP in 2021; this has now been revised up to 5.8% (although growth is expected to be coming from a lower base following 2020's projected contraction).

"A partial recovery is projected for 2021, with above trend growth rates, but the level of GDP will remain below the pre-virus trend, with considerable uncertainty about the strength of the rebound," Gopinath said.

The dramatic downgrade in this year's growth expectations comes as other institutions also warn that the coronavirus outbreak is bringing massive economic challenges. The World Trade Organization said last week that global trade will contract by between 13% and 32% this year. The Organization for Economic Coordination and Development has also warned the economic hit from the virus will be felt "for a long time to come."

To contain the spread of the virus, many governments have implemented lockdown measures, only allowing people to leave their houses to purchase groceries, medicines and, in some cases, to exercise. As a result, business activity has stalled in many countries.

The magnitude and speed of collapse in activity that has followed (the lockdown) is unlike anything we’ve experienced in our lifetimes.

Gita Gopinath

IMF chief economist

The IMF, which dubbed the current crisis "the Great Lockdown," said "this is a crisis like no other." Speaking at a press conference, Tuesday, Gopinath explained "the magnitude and speed of collapse in activity that has followed (the lockdown) is unlike anything we've experienced in our lifetimes."

There's severe uncertainty about the duration and intensity of the economic shock, it added, and stimulating economic activity is more challenging given the required social distancing and isolation policies. 

The IMF said it had received "an unprecedented number of calls for emergency funding." Out of its 189 members, more than 90 of them have asked for financial support.

The fund, which provides financing to members which are struggling economically, has $1 trillion in lending capacity. 

Euro zone to be hit the hardest

The latest forecasts from the IMF suggest that the U.S. economy will contract by 5.9% this year. In comparison, the euro zone is expected to shrink by 7.5%, but China is seen growing by 1.2% in 2020.

The economic situation will be particularly difficult in Italy and Spain, where GDP is set to contract by 9.1% and 8%, respectively. These two countries are the worst hit in Europe by Covid-19. Both have higher numbers of infections and deaths than China, where the virus first emerged in late 2019.

How should governments react?

The IMF is advising countries to focus on the health crisis first, by spending on testing, medical equipment and other health care related costs.

It also said that governments should provide tax deferrals, wage subsidies and cash transfers to the most-affected citizens and firms; as well as to prepare for the lifting of lockdown measures.

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2020-04-14 13:41:38Z
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IMF Says Great Lockdown Recession Likely Worst Since Depression - Bloomberg

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  1. IMF Says Great Lockdown Recession Likely Worst Since Depression  Bloomberg
  2. IMF slashes growth forecasts, says world will 'very likely' experience worst recession since the 1930s  CNBC
  3. IMF has no experience of recession arriving with such ferocity  The Guardian
  4. Coronavirus Chaos Is the IMF’s Biggest Test Ever  Bloomberg
  5. Coronavirus 'Great Lockdown' to shrink global economy by 3% in 2020: IMF  Reuters
  6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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2020-04-14 13:22:29Z
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India extends world's biggest lockdown as coronavirus cases cross 10,000 - Reuters

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India extended a lockdown for its 1.3 billion people until at least May 3 on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned of economic sacrifices to save lives as the number of coronavirus cases crossed 10,000.

Sharp downward revisions to economic growth forecasts in the wake of the pandemic point towards sickening levels of unemployment, but Modi urged Indians to maintain the discipline shown in the first three weeks of the lockdown.

“That means until May 3, each and every one of us will have to remain in the lockdown,” Modi said in a televised address to the nation.

“From an economic only point of view, it undoubtedly looks costly right now; but measured against the lives of Indian citizens, there is no comparison itself.”

India’s neighbour, Pakistan, with a population of 205 million, extended its lockdown, due to end on Wednesday, by two weeks. Nepal extended the lockdown of its 30 million people until April 27. Nepal has 16 cases of the virus and no deaths but worries about a spillover from India.

Modi spoke as latest government data showed the number of people infected with coronavirus in India had reached 10,363, with 339 deaths.

Although the numbers are small compared with hard-hit Western nations, health experts fear that is because of India’s low levels of testing and that actual infection levels could be far higher.

Lacking testing kits and protective gear for medical workers, India has only tested 137 per million of its population, compared with 15,935 per million in Italy, and 8,138 in the United States.

Health experts have warned that widespread contagion could be disastrous in a country where millions live in dense slums and the health care system is overstretched.

According to the government, India has about one doctor per 1,500 citizens. The World Health Organization recommends one doctor per 1,000. In rural areas, where two-thirds of Indians live and rely almost solely on government hospitals, the ratio is one doctor to more than 10,000 people.

So far, more than three-quarters of India’s cases are concentrated in about 80 of the country’s more than 700 districts, including the two big cities, New Delhi and Mumbai.

“It is my request and prayer to all fellow citizens, that we must not let coronavirus spread to new areas at any cost,” Modi said. But the shutdown of the $2.9 trillion economy is exacting a heavy toll.

Since Modi first imposed the lockdown in late March, the unemployment rate has almost doubled to around 14.5%, according data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a Mumbai based private think-tank.

Members of Rapid Action Force (RAF) patrol an empty street after India extended a nationwide lockdown to slow the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ahmedabad, India, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amit Dave

The shutdown sparked an exodus of millions of workers from small industries like textiles and leather, and service industries like retail, tourism, construction and other sectors from cities to the villages.

“I am well aware of the problems you have faced - some for food, some for movement from place to place, and others for staying away from homes and families,” Modi said.

For them, he offered hope of a slight easing of some curbs in parts of the country which are not hotspots next week.

Former finance minister P. Chidambaram said while the country stood behind Modi in fighting the pandemic, he could have done more for the millions of poor by opening its coffers.

“There is money, there is food, but the government will not release either money or food,” he said.

Most private economists and the World Bank have revised down India’s growth forecasts for the current year to between 1.5% to 2.8% as a result of the pandemic. Barclays Bank, in a note to clients on Tuesday, forecast zero growth in 2020.

Official government figures on the spread of the coronavirus in South Asia are as follows:

* India has 10,363 confirmed cases, including 339 deaths

* Pakistan has 5,374 cases, including 93 deaths

* Bangladesh has 803 cases, including 39 deaths

* Afghanistan has 714 cases, including 23 deaths

* Sri Lanka has 219 cases, including 7 deaths

* Maldives has 20 cases and no deaths

Slideshow (11 Images)

* Nepal has 14 cases and no deaths

* Bhutan has five cases and no deaths

Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser

Additional reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad, Waruna Karunatilake in Colombo, Ruma Paul in Dhaka; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Nick Macfie

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2020-04-14 12:47:11Z
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Putin Warns That Russia's COVID-19 Pandemic Is Getting Worse - NPR

Russian police officers, wearing face masks to guard against the coronavirus, descend into a pedestrian underpass as they patrol to enforce a self-isolation regime in Moscow. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP hide caption

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Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

After insisting less than a month ago that COVID-19 in Russia was "under control," President Vladimir Putin on Monday squarely acknowledged the opposite, with the largest day-to-day increase in cases to date and the head of the coronavirus task force warning that the country is "nowhere near" peak infections.

"We see that the situation is changing almost daily and, unfortunately, not for the better," Putin said in a video conference with health officials, according to The Moscow Times. "The number of people who are getting sick is increasing, with more cases of severe illness."

Today, Russia's coronavirus response center reported more than 2,700 new cases and 22 new deaths, bringing the total number of infections to more than 21,000 and 170 deaths. The capital, Moscow, has been hardest-hit, with more than 11,500 cases.

During the video conference with Putin on Monday, Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow and the head of Russia's coronavirus task force, said Russia is "nowhere near" its peak number of cases and his deputy acknowledged that Moscow's hospitals and ambulances were already stretched to the limit, the Times reports.

In mid-March, Putin told a government meeting that authorities were able to control the spread of the disease and that "the situation is generally under control despite high risk level."

However, by the end of the month, the country was seeing a spike in cases and had implemented a no-work order in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

In early April, the government extended the no-work directive, and by last week the number of cases in Russia had topped 10,000.

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2020-04-14 09:20:49Z
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