India reopens local stores as nations try easing of virus shutdowns

India is among countries with stricter shutdowns than Australia’s that have begun a limited easing.

An Indian fruit vendor wearing a face mask as a precaution against the new coronavirus waits for customers in Bangalore, India. Picture: AP

A tentative easing around the world of coronavirus shutdowns gathered pace on Saturday with the reopening in India of neighbourhood stores that many of the country’s 1.3 billion people rely on for everything from cold drinks to mobile-phone data cards.

The relaxation of the super-strict Indian shutdown came with major caveats.

It did not apply to hundreds of quarantined towns and other hotspots that have been hit hardest by the outbreak that has killed at least 775 people in India and terrified its multitudes of poor who live hand-to-mouth in slum conditions too crowded for social distancing.

Shopping malls also remained closed across the country.

Still, for families that run small stores, being able to reopen and earn again brought relief. “This is a good decision,” said Amit Sharma, an architect.

“We have to open a few things and let the economy start moving. The poor people should have some source of income. This virus is going to be a long-term problem.”

Last week, India also allowed manufacturing and farming activities to resume in rural areas to ease the economic plight of millions of daily wage-earners left without work by the country’s stringent shutdown imposed on March 24.

Police block a street after a suspected case for coronavirus has been discovered in the Teliarganj area of India’s Allahabad on Friday. Picture: AP

India’s stay-home restrictions have allowed people out of their homes only to buy food, medicine or other essentials.

Elsewhere in Asia, authorities on Saturday reported no new deaths for the 10th straight day in China, where the virus originated.

South Korea reported just 10 fresh cases, the eighth day in a row its daily jump came below 20. There were no new deaths for the second straight day.

In Sri Lanka, however, the shutdown was tightened, not eased, confirming a pattern of one-step-forward, one-step-back also seen elsewhere as countries battle the pandemic, trying to juggle public health against the health of shut- down economies.

Sri Lanka had partially lifted a month-long curfew during daytime hours in more than two thirds of the country.

But it reimposed a 24-hour shutdown countrywide after a surge on Friday of 46 new infections, the highest increase in a day on the Indian Ocean island.

The new curfew remains in effect until Monday. The US states of Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska also began loosening shutdown orders on their pandemic-wounded businesses, even as the confirmed US death toll from the coronavirus soared past 50,000 and despite warnings from health experts that such steps may be coming too early.

In Europe, Belgium announced that after May 3, hospitals would progressively open to some non-essential tasks. In France, the government is preparing to gingerly ease one of Europe’s strictest shutdowns from May 11.

Denmark has reopened schools for the youngest grades. Children in Spain will get their first fresh air in weeks on Sunday when a total ban on letting them outside is relaxed.

Without a tried-and-tested action plan for how to pull countries out of coronavirus shutdown, the world is seeing a patchwork of approaches. Schools reopen in one country, stay closed in others; face masks are mandatory in some places, but only a recommendation elsewhere, if that.

Britain was still holding off on changes to its shutdown as the coronavirus-related death toll in hospitals was on target to surge past 20,000. It is the fourth highest in Europe, behind Italy, Spain and France, each of which has reported more than 20,000 deaths.

The Spanish government has released guidelines allowing children to go outside after six weeks living under one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns. Official figures on Saturday showed a daily coronavirus death toll of 378 – up slightly on Friday’s 367, the lowest in the past month.

The total number of fatalities rose to 22,902 and Spain’s Health Ministry said the overall number of coronavirus cases rose to 223,759 from 219,764 the day before.

But Spanish authorities see enough evidence of the virus being under control to start easing the country’s lockdown.

Children were trying out their masks in anticipation of their first taste of fresh air since Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared a state of emergency on March 14.

The government said under-14s would from Sunday be allowed up to one hour of supervised outdoor activity per day between 9am and 9pm, staying within one kilometre of their home.

Adults can accompany up to three children, who will not be allowed to use playparks and must adhere to social distancing guidelines, remaining at least two metres from other people.

The government has not yet said when confinement measures will be eased for older children.

In Pineda de Mar, northeast Spain, volunteer seamstresses were hard at work making face masks for children ahead of the deconfinement measure. “More than 100 people are making protective equipment,” the town’s mayor Xavier Amor told Reuters.

The Health Ministry on Friday changed the methodology for logging cases of the virus. It will no longer count antibody tests and will only include positive results from PCR tests.

Discounting antibody tests puts Saturday’s total number of cases at 205,905 and Friday’s at 202,990.

In the US, Republican governors in Georgia and Oklahoma allowed salons, spas and barbershops to reopen, while Alaska opened the way for restaurants to resume dine-in service and retail shops and other businesses to open their doors, all with limitations. Some Alaska municipalities chose to maintain stricter rules.

Though limited in scope, and subject to social-distancing restrictions, the reopenings marked a symbolic milestone in the debate raging in the US and beyond as to how quickly political leaders should lift economically devastating lockdown orders.

In Michigan, Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer lengthened her stay-at-home order through to May 15, while lifting restrictions so some businesses can reopen and the public can participate in outdoor activities such as golf and motorised boating. Michigan has nearly 3000 deaths related to COVID-19, behind only New York and New Jersey.

During a White House press briefing on Friday, President Donald Trump spoke optimistically of the economy but also asked people to continue social distancing and using face coverings. The same day, Mr Trump signed a $US484 billion ($757bn) bill to aid employers and hospitals under stress from the pandemic. Over the past five weeks, roughly 26 million people have filed for jobless aid, or about 1 in 6 US workers.

Mr Trump also said his widely criticised comments suggesting people can ingest or inject disinfectant to fight COVID-19 were an attempt at sarcasm. The coronavirus has killed more than 190,000 people worldwide, including – as of Friday – more than 50,000 in the US, according to a tally compiled by John Hopkins University from government figures. The actual death toll is believed to be far higher.

Amy Pembrook and her husband, Mike, reopened their hair salon in the northwest Oklahoma town of Fairview after it had been shuttered for about a month. “We’re super excited about going back, but we have caught a little flak from people who say it’s too early,” Amy Pembrook said.

“We just said we can live in fear for a long time or we can trust that everything is going to be OK.”

AP/Reuters