{"id":23532,"date":"2020-04-20T15:10:48","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T13:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/?p=23532"},"modified":"2020-05-15T15:16:11","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T13:16:11","slug":"cultureteca-19-04-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/cultureteca-19-04-20\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultureteca 19.04.20"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The new phase of life under coronavirus<\/strong> no longer sees rapid societal shifts and exponential spread, but rather stolid perseverance under creeping restrictions as deaths and rates of infection stabilise while exacting a hefty toll. At the start of the week cases in China climbed beyond 100 for the first time since early March<\/a>, as the country reported 108 new infections including 98 from abroad, and the virus was stretching its limbs across Russia, where cases sprung by 2,558 while Vladimir Putin warned of worse to come<\/a>. Elsewhere though the story was grimly predictable, with declining cases and hospitalisations in Spain<\/a>, France<\/a>, and Italy<\/a> but a persistently large number of deaths. The 566 deaths reported in Italy on Monday were fairly typical, with the exception that given the country’s head start and status as the former epicentre of the crisis in Europe, the toll took total fatalities in the country beyond 20,000<\/a>. Meanwhile the United Kingdom was firmly established as Europe’s latest hotspot as deaths remained high at 717<\/a>. In France, Emmanuel Macron extended the country’s lockdown until 11 May<\/a>, and Britain was also to stay pent-up at home, but measures were eased slightly in Italy and Spain, where some people in the manufacturing and construction sectors returned to work after a two-week ‘hibernation’ of the economy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amid political upheaval<\/a>, North Korea continued to insist that it had contracted no cases of the coronavirus<\/a>, while Australia and New Zealand appeared largely successful in halting its spread<\/a>. Thais celebrated a subdued Songkran festival<\/a>, ringing in the New Year sans water guns and alcohol from the cloisters of home. Deaths across the state of New York exceeded 10,000<\/a>, but Governor Andrew Cuomo indicated that the worst was over as long as residents continued to adhere to social distancing measures, while fellow governors on the east and west coasts formed collectives to consider strategies for reopening<\/a>. Signs of progress were threatened in characteristic fashion by Donald Trump, who at a fiery press conference on Monday evening attacked the media while asserting his ‘total’ authority to lift lockdown measures regardless of the wishes of the various states<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the week progressed there were suggestions that numerous countries, including Brazil<\/a> and the United Kingdom<\/a>, were grossly understating the true scope of the virus. Cases in France surpassed 100,000 with more than 15,000 deaths<\/a>, and the death tally in Britain surged past 12,000<\/a>, with one in five deaths over the country now linked to COVID-19<\/a>. Lockdowns were extended in India<\/a>, which designated ‘red zone’ hotspots as cases passed 12,000<\/a>, Malawi<\/a>, Belgium<\/a>, Germany<\/a>, Britain<\/a>, the United States<\/a>, and Japan, which stretched its state of emergency nationwide<\/a>. At least infection rates and intensive care admissions in Italy<\/a> and Spain<\/a> remained on a downward trajectory, while China reported zero deaths<\/a> and Taiwan no new cases for the first time in more than a month<\/a>. Meanwhile more European countries began to ease some restrictions, as non-essential businesses were allowed to reopen in Italy and Austria<\/a>, Finland reversed the lockdown of its largest region Uusimaa<\/a>, home to the capital Helsinki, and Denmark became the first European nation to reopen some schools<\/a>. Poland<\/a>, Switzerland<\/a>, and Germany<\/a> also unveiled plans towards the lifting of restrictions later in the month.<\/p>\n

Global infections surpassed two million<\/a>. Russia raced beyond the 20,000 mark<\/a>, and issued travel passes<\/a> and cancelled victory parades<\/a> as cases continued to surge. As deaths exceeded 1,000 in Sweden<\/a>, internal soul-searching<\/a> and external criticism<\/a> owing to the lack of hard lockdown measures was somewhat curtailed when parliament agreed to hand additional powers to the executive<\/a>, with Prime Minister Stefan L\u00f6fven calling it ‘much too early’ to ease the restrictions in place<\/a>. Revised counts saw an upsurge in recorded fatalities in France<\/a> and New York City<\/a>, which had now registered more than 10,000 deaths. And an overnight tally saw the United States record its most deadly day yet, with 2,405 fatalities in one twenty-four hour period, while President Trump responded by cutting funding to the WHO<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Iran reported fewer than 100 deaths for the first time in a month<\/a>, amid some concern over the figures as the country made haste to open up<\/a>, cases remained stubborn in Singapore where face masks became mandatory<\/a>, Kenyans were forced to get innovative amid a crackdown over face coverings<\/a>, and masks also became compulsory in the state of New York<\/a>. A makeshift hospital in Wuhan waved goodbye to its final patients<\/a>, and Greece began a programme to relocate unaccompanied migrant children<\/a>, as the country received widespread praise for its coronavirus response<\/a>. Alarm bells rang among economists, as Spain dealt with a surge in jobless claims<\/a>, the economy in Canada shrank by nine percent<\/a>, the IMF predicted the worst downturn since the Great Depression<\/a>, and retail sales tumbled in America<\/a> before the country announced another 5.245 million jobless claims<\/a>, making a monthly loss of more than 22 million jobs. The G20 group of major economies generously agreed to freeze debt service payments for some of the poorest countries in the world<\/a>. And after a practise run last week in the name of early voting, South Korea headed to the polls<\/a> for a national election under strict distancing measures<\/a>, with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea clinching victory in a landslide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the world prepared to swap working from home for weekend idling, unrecorded deaths in Wuhan saw the overall tally rise by half<\/a>, the Chinese economy shrank for the first time in decades<\/a>, Singapore began to see a second wave of cases centred around migrant worker dormitories<\/a>, and Indonesia overtook the Philippines as the title for worst-hit country in Southeast Asia changed hands<\/a>. Israel outlined an exit strategy<\/a>, Iran unveiled a magic pointing device said to detect coronavirus at 100 metres<\/a>, and India saw cases on the rise<\/a>. Coronavirus brought political strife too, amid reports in Kenya of heavy-handed<\/a> and extortionate<\/a> policing, while Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil fired his popular health minister<\/a> and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines threatened martial law<\/a>. Donald Trump backed down in his argument with state governors<\/a>, while daily deaths across the United States hit a record high of 4,591<\/a>.<\/p>\n

President Trump’s acceptance after picking a fight that the states would ‘call the shots’ did little to defuse growing protests in places like Michigan and Minnesota<\/a>, where demonstrators hurled slogans and called for stay-at-home restrictions to cease. Meanwhile deaths hit 3,840 in New Jersey<\/a>, almost doubling in the space of a week, while in Connecticut<\/a> and California<\/a> fatalities passed 1,000. The ups and downs continued across Europe, with Russia reporting record cases<\/a>, deaths exceeding 5,000 in Belgium<\/a>, and restrictions tightening in Greece<\/a> and Bulgaria<\/a> as Eastern Europe prepared for Orthodox Easter<\/a>, but Denmark initiated the reopening of personal care businesses from hairdressers to dentists<\/a>, and the infection rate in Germany dropped below 1<\/a>. In Italy<\/a>, Spain<\/a>, and France<\/a>, deaths remained resolutely high set against falling hospitalisations, while the United Kingdom recorded another 847 deaths<\/a> and announced a vaccine task force<\/a>. Fears grew for the situation in Ecuador<\/a>, a petition by human rights groups over the lack of protection for the poor halted the lockdown in Malawi<\/a>, the WHO offered a warning on testing and immunity<\/a>, and the focus in Canada shifted to long-term care home deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, as Japan entered its first weekend under the state of emergency, infections topped 10,000<\/a> and the health system risked being overwhelmed<\/a>. Cases in Singapore shot up to a new high of 942<\/a>, the number of hospital patients in Thailand kept falling<\/a>, and thousands defied lockdown to attend an imam’s funeral in Bangladesh<\/a>. Hong Kong continued to arrest protesters in the midst of the pandemic<\/a>. Cases across Russia proceeded to grow and grow<\/a>. Deaths began to fall in Italy<\/a>, Spain<\/a>, and the Netherlands<\/a>, but the tally in Spain still topped 20,000<\/a>, a figure France was fast approaching<\/a>, while with more than 15,000 fatalities the United Kingdom lagged just a little way behind<\/a>. By Sunday the death toll across all of Europe had surpassed 100,000<\/a>, with cases in excess of one million<\/a>. Europe remained the epicentre of the crisis as the outbreak rocked America and took hold in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n

The United States and Canada agreed to extend their border closure<\/a>, and in New York Governor Cuomo suggested the state may be ‘past the plateau’<\/a>, while beaches in Florida began reopening<\/a> amid a broader easing of restrictions in some predominantly southern states<\/a>. Taiwan became the latest<\/a> country<\/a> to experience a naval outbreak<\/a>. Forty members of staff in the presidential palace of Afghanistan reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus<\/a>. Zimbabwe extended its lockdown by two weeks<\/a>, while the extension of lockdown in Spain came with some provision for children het up indoors<\/a>. On Sunday, as Orthodox Christians celebrated Easter as though Jesus resurrected but remained in his cave<\/a>, religious bodies across the Middle East authorised exceptions for the month of Ramadan, with the Council of Senior Scholars and Grand Mufti in Saudi Arabia urging Muslims to pray from home<\/a>, while in Iran the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei placed fasting second to health<\/a>. Iran still eased restrictions in and around Tehran<\/a>, even as the death toll in the country topped 5,000<\/a>. In Latin America, as Bolsonaro attended anti-lockdown protests<\/a>, cases in Chile rose beyond 10,000, the highest tally in the region after Brazil and Peru<\/a>.<\/p>\n