Nations shake off fears, prioritize economic reboot
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday made his first major foray out of the White House since the coronavirus lockdown began, pushing for the US economy to reopen as Britain became the country with the second most deaths.
The growing US death toll is already more than 72,000 – by far the highest globally – while Britain’s rose to 29,000, putting it above Italy in the grim ranking of national fatalities.
Elsewhere in Europe, hard-hit Italy, Spain and France have reported a levelling off of figures, offering hope that life could slowly start returning to normal.
With experts warning of a severe global recession, many governments have been easing stay-at-home measures in a bid to revive badly hammered economies.
Financial markets hinted at some light at the end of the tunnel, with stocks and oil prices rallying Tuesday.
Trump urged US states to ease restrictions as he attempts to fire up the world’s biggest economy before the November presidential election, when the high death toll and millions of lost jobs could cost him dearly.
Countries are balancing the need to revive stalled economies against the risk of a new wave of deadly infections.
Authorities also unveiled plans to hand out reusable face masks to all 7.5 million city residents.
“It’s better now that I’m waking up and doing something,” South African mechanic Milton Nkosi, 40, told AFP as he checked a new set of tyres at a garage in Johannesburg.
“I’m used to working,” he added. “It’s the first time in my life to stay home so many days.”
But the garage only called back four of its eight employees after being closed for five weeks and is only partially open – underlining the huge challenge to rebuild the global economy.
Russia cemented its place as the European country reporting the highest number of new infections as its total cases soared past 155,000.
Despite increases of infected cases, the Russian government has indicated it could gradually lift confinement measures from Tuesday.
The economic casualties have also piled up from the impact of the pandemic.
Spain added 280,000 people to its jobless ranks, while the Virgin Atlantic airline said it would have to fire one in three staff as the virus grounds planes worldwide.
Walt Disney said it expected an impact of some $1.4 billion in the current fiscal quarter as a result of a massive hit to its theme parks and other operations.
And home-sharing platform Airbnb announced it would slash one fourth of its workforce due to the collapse of the travel industry.
A woman walks past people queueing as she carries a food portion package, distributed by the local Muslim organization Ghous-e-aazam Welfare, in the Kwa Mai Mai area of the Johannesburg CBD, South Africa on Tuesday as the country fights against the spread of COVID-19. Photo: AFP
