Uzbekistan will allow many businesses, including restaurants and cafes, clothing retailers and kindergartens, to reopen on 15 June in the latest easing of its coronavirus restrictions, the government said today.
Bus routes will also start operating on the same date between some provinces in areas deemed low-risk, it said. A ban on mass events such as group prayers and concerts, and the operation of nightclubs, colleges, universities and city public transport, will remain in place.
Ministry of Health officials thank hospital staff who treated coronavirus patients in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in April. Photograph: The Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan/Handout
Uzbekistan, which has been divided into green, yellow and red zones depending on the rates of newly-detected Covid-19 cases, has already allowed the resumption of domestic tourism and football games behind closed doors, and domestic air flights and train services have resumed.
Central Asia’s most populous nation of 34 million has confirmed 3,874 coronavirus cases and 16 deaths.
Russia has reported 8,831 new cases of the novel coronavirus today, taking the total number of infections across the country to 441,108. The country’s coronavirus crisis response centre said 169 people had died from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 5,384.
The Taliban boasted of their readiness to fight coronavirus when it first reached Afghanistan, but now the insurgents are struggling to curb its spread in their strongholds, reports AFP.
For months, Habib Rahman, a resident of a Taliban-controlled area in the south of the country, has been unable to test whether his persistent cough is due to the virus. “I have a cough, fever and chest pain,” said Rahman, 32, who owns a grocery store in Helmand province. “There is neither a centre here to diagnose or treat coronavirus patients, nor is there any effort to create awareness of the disease.
Afghan health workers spray disinfectants at public places in Helmand, Afghanistan, in April. Photograph: Watan Yar/EPA
Official figures show Afghanistan has more than 17,000 confirmed cases, including thousands in Taliban-controlled territories. But a shortage of testing kits and medical supplies and a dilapidated health system were compounding problems in tackling the spread, said Ahmed Saeedi, an independent analyst.
Years of war have left Afghanistan with a crumbling health sector, hampering the government’s fight against Covid-19. In an attempt to bolster their narrative that they can run Afghanistan better than the struggling administration, the Taliban launched a campaign to tackle the virus in March. They posted images online showing insurgents distributing masks and soap to villagers - albeit without any social distancing. In one image, masked militants wearing white protective suits check residents’ temperatures and explain about personal hygiene as a machine gun is seen on a nearby table.
The virus entered Afghanistan as infected migrants returned from neighbouring Iran, the region’s worst-hit country, and the Taliban ordered hundreds of returnees into quarantine.
In some areas they controlled, the insurgents allowed government health officials to monitor the virus’s spread, rare for a group blamed for the deaths of dozens of medics over the years. But in recent weeks, residents from provinces such as Kunduz, Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar - where the Taliban hold sway over large areas - complain they have been abandoned to their fate.
In Kunduz, where the militants fought a fierce night battle before a short nationwide ceasefire last month, insurgents have barred medics.
“They said they would handle the virus on their own,” said Sebghatullah, a doctor from a nearby district, worried about the residents’ lack of awareness when it came to personal hygiene.
Haji Qudratullah, a resident of Helmand, said he recently saw a group of Taliban fighters film a promotional video at a neighbourhood clinic, but they never returned. “I have not seen anybody do anything to raise awareness about the virus here,” he said.
Muhammad Younis, right, an Afghan tailor distributes free masks to the prisoners in Kandahar, Afghanistan, last month. Photograph: Muhammad Sadiq/EPA
Taliban commanders insist they are helping fight the virus. “People who are suffering from high fever, cough and body pain ... are taken to Trinkot,” said Hafez Mohammad, a Taliban commander, referring to the capital of Uruzgan province.
The disease is also sweeping through the Taliban itself, with several high-level militants believed to be sick, according to international media reports. The group deny any of their senior leaders are ill.
In his annual message marking the Eid holiday, the Taliban’s top leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, urged people to seek medical help for the disease. But he also insisted the virus was caused by mankind’s “transgression against Allah’s religion”. To stop the virus, people should “seek forgiveness from Allah and stop violating his commands”, Akhundzada said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militants had distributed booklets explaining how to prevent infections. “Our mobile teams, using motorcycles, are taking people with symptoms to the hospitals,” Mujahid told AFP.
Experts, however, said the insurgents faced an uphill task. “There is no ambulance or a professional team that can take their samples or treat these suspected patients,” health official Hamid Ahmadi said.
Residents, meanwhile, say they have little information on what to do. “Many people are complaining from flu-like symptoms ... we don’t know why,” said Haji Abdul Bari in Helmand. “Nobody has told us about the symptoms of corona. We don’t know anything about it.”
The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, has said today it may be necessary to a stage a “simplified” Olympics next year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and that organisers were already discussing possible changes.
The Olympic rings in front of the Japan Olympic Committee headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Photograph: Franck Robichon/EPA
Koike’s comments come after the Yomiuri newspaper reported that various options, such as mandatory coronavirus testing and having fewer spectators, were being considered by organisers.
John Coates, the head of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) inspectorate for Tokyo, has said a lack of a defence against the new coronavirus threatened the Games and organisers had to start planning for what could be a “very different” Olympics if there were no signs of Covid-19 being eradicated.
Koike did not go into details but said such discussions were necessary.
“Holding the Olympic and Paralympic Games calls for sympathy and understanding of Tokyoites and the Japanese people,” Koike told reporters. “For that, we need to rationalise what needs to be rationalised and simplify what needs to be simplified.”
The Yomiuri, citing government and organising committee sources, said making tests mandatory for all spectators — in addition to athletes and staff — and limiting movement in and out of the athletes village were among the options Japan would discuss with the IOC.
The IOC and Japanese government in March took the unprecedented decision to delay the Games, which had been due to start in July, for a year due to the coronavirus outbreak. A further delay beyond 2021 has been ruled out.
Around 700 workers at Israel’s legislative body, the Knesset, were told not to come to work on Thursday after a member of parliament announced he had contracted the coronavirus, according to local media.
Sami Abu Shehadeh, 44, a lawmaker for the majority-Arab Joint List alliance, said he had entered isolation after his driver tested positive for Covid-19.
“I appeal to anyone who was in my immediate area to go in isolation and do a test. I ask everyone to follow the instructions of the Ministry of Health,” Abu Shehadeh said on Twitter.
“We must all internalise that the campaign is not over yet. The virus still exists between us and the supposed return to a routine helps the virus spread in a big and fast way.”
Israeli schools, such as this one in Modiin, reopened last month but it has been reported that as many as 42 have been forced to close over fresh coronavirus outbreaks. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock
Following an early and stringent lockdown, Israel was able to reduce the numbers of new daily virus cases into the low double digits. However, the country of 9 million has seen a resurgence in recent days.
Dozens of schools have been closed over the past week, with several thousand students and staff told to isolate at home.
Israel, which has a population of 9 million, has reported 17,343 coronavirus cases and 290 deaths. More than 593,000 people in the country have been tested for the virus, the Health Ministry said.
The Associated Press have reported this morning about the crews of merchant ships, some of whom have been stranded at sea since the start of the coronavirus crisis:
Anchored ships off the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, last month. Photograph: Petros Giannakouris/AP
About 150,000 seafarers are stranded at sea in need of crew changes, according to the International Chamber of Shipping. Roughly another 150,000 are stuck on shore, waiting to get back to work.
“In some ways, they’ve been the forgotten army of people,” said Guy Platten, secretary general of the ICS. “It’s not a tenable position to keep on indefinitely. You can’t just keep extending people,” said Platten.
With more than 80% of global trade by volume transported by sea, the world’s more than 2 million merchant seafarers play a vital role.
“They’re out of sight and out of mind, and yet they’re absolutely essential for moving the fuel, the food, the medical supplies and all the other vital goods to feed world trade,” Platten said.
International shipping organizations, trade unions and shipping companies are urging countries to recognize merchant crews as essential workers and allow them to travel and carry out crew changes.
“Our challenge now is to get a very strong message to governments. You can’t expect people to move (personal protective equipment), drugs and all the issues that we need to respond to COVID, and keep cities and countries that are in lockdown fed, if you don’t move cargo on ships,” said Steve Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, or ITF. “They’ve got to recognize the sacrifice seafarers are making for our global society.
Capt. Andrei Kogankov is seven months into a four-month contract and was supposed to be replaced in mid-March in Qatar. But a few days before he arrived, Qatar imposed a lockdown and banned international flights. From there to South Korea, Japan, South Korea again and on to Singapore and Thailand, each time the same story: Lockdown. No flights. No going home.
The open-ended extension of his contract — and with it the responsibility for his 21-man crew and a ship carrying flammable cargo — is taking its toll.
“When you are seven months on board, you are becoming physically and mentally exhausted,” Kogankov said by satellite phone from Thailand. “We are working 24/7. We don’t have, let’s say, Friday night or Saturday night or weekends. No, the vessel is running all the time.”
Officers sign on for three to four months, the rest of the crew for around seven months. But they always have an end date. Take that away, and suddenly the prospect of endless workdays becomes a strain.
“We’re gravely worried that there could be a higher increase of incidents and accidents. But we also are seeing a high level of what I would describe as anxiety and frustration,” Cotton said. “If you don’t know when you’re going to get off a ship, that adds to a high level of anxiety that really is quite demoralizing.”
Unless governments facilitate crew changes, Cotton warned, “it’s difficult for us to convince the seafarers not to take more dramatic action, and ... stop working.”
Morning/evening/whatever-it-is-where-you-are everyone. This is Simon Burnton taking on the live blog for the next few hours. If you have seen any stories that deserve our attention, or if you have any tips, comments or suggestions for our coverage then please let me know by sending me a message either to @Simon_Burnton on Twitter or via email. Thanks!
That’s all from me - I’m now handing over to my colleague in London, Simon Burnton, who will bring you all the latest developments over the next few hours.
Associated Press is exploring questions relating to the coronavirus pandemic, including: “Can I get Covid-19 through my eyes or ears?”.
Here is the verdict:
It’s possible through the eyes, but not likely through the ears. As with the nose and mouth, doctors say the eyes may be a route of infection if someone with the virus coughs or sneezes nearby. Infection is also possible when rubbing your eyes with hands that have been exposed to the virus. Tears from an infected person could also spread the virus. Frequent hand washing, social distancing and the use of facial coverings in public are ways to keep the virus from spreading, including through the eyes. Glasses may also offer added protection, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Health care workers are advised to use safety goggles when treating potentially infected patients. Ears, on the other hand, are not believed to be a route of COVID-19 infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The skin in the outer ear canal is more like regular skin, unlike the tissue in the mouth, nose and sinuses. That creates a barrier that makes it difficult for the virus to enter, according to Dr. Benjamin Bleier at Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston.
China on Thursday said foreign airlines blocked from operating in the country over virus fears would be allowed to resume limited flights, lifting a de facto ban on US carriers, Agence France-Presse reports. This comes a day after Washington ordered the suspension of all Chinese travel into and out of the US.
The apparent decision to step back by Beijing follows rising tensions between the world’s two superpowers over a series of issues including Donald Trump’s accusations over China’s handling of the pandemic, Hong Kong and Huawei.
The latest spat was rooted in the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) deciding to impose a limit on foreign airlines based on their activity as of March 12. Because US carriers had suspended all flights by that date their cap was set at zero, while Chinese carriers’ flights to the US continued.
On Wednesday the US said it would block Chinese passenger flights from June 16, raising concerns of another front being opened up in the standoff between the two countries.
But the CAAC on Thursday said all foreign airlines not listed in the March 12 schedule would now be able to operate one international route into China each week.
Restrictions on entry to both the US and China remain in place.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have become increasingly strained in recent months after Trump accused China of causing the virus intentionally, while a plan to impose a strict security law on Hong Kong has increased tensions substantially.
