INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
By Enda Curran, Frank Connelly and Suzi RingOfficials from Rome to Washington are urgently mapping out plans to loosen lockdowns and begin
juggling act for policy makers will be to reopen without triggering a second wave of infections that leads to a fresh round of lockdowns and
finally being contained.
The city of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the outbreak, provides a test case after China this week lifted its
Austria, Denmark and Norway are also on course to gradually open up
Even Italy, which has the highest death toll from the disease, has been weighing its exit strategy after a moderating trend in new
And in the U.S., President Donald Trump is again talking about getting people back to work.
As leaders prepare to tackle Phase Two of the
With planes grounded, supply chains ruptured and factories idled, the $90 trillion global economy is enduring one of its worst shocks since
professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis
to survive infection -- to get back to everyday life and allow many of them to develop immunity.
Reopening economies safely would require
antibody tests to identify communities that were least affected
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
health care systems under severe strain, and at least 88,000 have died
ReopeningAll eyes are on Wuhan, a center for steel-making and car manufacturing, as it begins opening up
While trains, planes and cars are allowed to leave again, the transition back to normality is expected to be gradual as some restrictions
remain in place.
Authorities say the coronavirus is under control but they remain wary of another wave, either through a domestic outbreak
or through imported cases
At least 10 Chinese provinces and cities also require travelers from Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, to enter quarantine for two
weeks on arrival.
The experience of a car parts maker in Wuhan is one indication of just how onerous rebooting the global economy is going
The company had to apply for approval from the government, commit to disinfecting the factory daily and prove it had enough protective gear
for workers.
The risk of a second round has already become real in Asia
reported 125 imported cases and another 111 imported asymptomatic cases this month
All but one of the imported cases are from Russia.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned this week that hospitals were reaching capacity
as he declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and its surrounding regions
Abe called for international coordination on anti-viral drugs and for all G20 governments to spend more to support their economies in a
video call between the leaders late last month.
Singapore and Hong Kong have also been forced to implement new restrictions as the virus
persists, underscoring that even those with early success in containing the outbreak have little room for complacency
Singapore reported a record 142 new infections Wednesday, and at least 40 of those were linked to clusters at foreign worker dormitories
that house low-wage workers.
$5 Trillion EffortThe global emergency has forced unprecedented spending and interest rate cuts as governments
unleash more than $5 trillion in fiscal measures and central banks dive deeper into crisis policy settings to cushion their economies from
Morgan Stanley estimates that the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan and Bank of England will expand their balance sheets
precipitous fall this quarter
discussion hosted by the Brookings Institution on Tuesday.
While some parts of the economy will rebound faster than others as employees
transition back to the workplace, others will take longer
Consumers are also likely to be wary about rushing to the mall, hanging out with friends at a pub, or hopping onto an airplane.
Deutsche
years before the worldwide demand for air travel returns to pre-crisis levels
The company will slash its fleet of planes and shut a low-cost carrier.
Peter Williams, chairman of British clothing chain Superdry Plc,
to data scientists for guidance
Ayse and Tolga Akcura, a husband and wife duo who run eBrandValue, a data analytics company headquartered in New York, devised a model to
peak.
The concern among health experts and the public is that no matter how much you slow the rate of infection, in the absence of a vaccine
the virus will return in force once lockdowns are lifted
you have to have an alternative method to suppress the virus -- active case finding, testing, isolation, tracking of contacts and strong
exceptions in countries like South Korea, Singapore and Germany, testing for the coronavirus has been beset by flaws in technology, delays
in delivery and shortages in materials
encountered yet another testing disappointment recently when Oxford University researchers found that kits the nation was counting on to
health specialists including former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb calls for an intermediate stage in which
schools and businesses would reopen but gatherings would still be limited
People would be encouraged to keep at a distance from one another, and those at high risk would be told to limit their time in public
If cases begin to rise again, restrictions would be tightened.
Austria plans such an incremental approach
Small shops, hardware and gardening stores will be allowed to open after Easter, to be followed by all retailers starting May 1, the
chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said Monday
Denmark and Norway also plan to ease restrictions gradually, starting with the reopening of schools
countries on the scale of the U.S., or even Italy.
In Italy, where the pandemic has claimed more than 17,600 lives, selected firms could
open in mid-April after the level of new cases flattened out, an official familiar with the discussions said earlier this week
If the situation continues to improve, early May could bring fewer social restrictions, the official said, with some shops reopening but
bars and restaurants remaining closed
Social-distancing rules will remain.
The plans that the White House is developing to get the economy back in action depend on testing far
more Americans for the coronavirus than has been possible to date, people familiar with the matter have said
founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California
YorkA reopening might begin within four to eight weeks, said Lawrence Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council.
New York Governor
virus has been stamped out to start getting the economy going again
He suggested younger workers, who are less at risk from the virus, or those who have already survived and thus developed immunity, might be
the world economy has never faced before and there are probably no good answers
For all the rhetoric from politicians about getting back to work, they need to prepare their people for a long, hard slog, said Bruce
