China’s health commission is reporting a spike in new COVID-19 cases in several provinces, prompting health officials to urge citizens to use personal protection. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.At a Beijing news conference, National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng said 17 new cases were reported Monday, up from 14 the day before. This marked the first double-digit increase in new cases in 10 days.The spokesman said seven of the new cases were listed as “imported” into the inner-Mongolia region from overseas, while five were in the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic, where a strict lockdown was lifted last month.Another five cases were spread across three northeastern provinces, including Jilin, where authorities suspended train service in and out of a county after a cluster was recently detected. China state television reports a team of experts was being sent to the area to investigate the situation.According to the Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus dashboard, China currently has more than 84,000 confirmed infections, and 4,637 deaths.
…
Month: May 2020
France Public Transport Reopens With Precautions in Place
Public transport reopened Monday in France, with still some restrictions in place, especially for travel. Although a number of lockdown measures, enforced since March 17, were lifted, the situation is going to be is reassessed in early June. Meanwhile, people are required to wear masks on public transport and operators must ensure social distancing is observed. However, residents no longer need to fill out special permission slips to leave the house. Some small businesses were also allowed to resume activity on Monday, such as shops, hair salons and some others. According to data collected by John Hopkins University in the United States, France has recorded over 177,000 cases of infection with the coronavirus and more than 26,000 deaths.
…
Read, the Beloved Country: Literature in Locked-Down South Africa
This is a story about books in an unlikely place, and their struggle to get into the hands of people during a national lockdown. South Africa’s eased lockdown means books are finally available for sale again, but in the nation’s biggest city, with its reputation for speed and hustle, do people care? VOA’s Anita Powell takes us on a literary journey through the unlikeliest of literary towns: Johannesburg.
…
Once Thriving Bartender Fears Homelessness
A record number of Americans are unemployed as much of the nation’s economy remains at a standstill. Nearly 29-thousand Virginians lost their jobs in March. Bartender Daniel Arden was one of them. He is grateful that he and his daughter are healthy and have not had the coronavirus. But he was denied unemployment benefits and is now behind on rent. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti has his story.
…
Experts Debate on How Quickly the US Economy Will Rebound
In April, the unemployment rate grew to an unprecedented 14.7% according to a new report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is the highest unemployment rate and largest single-month change since 1948 when the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking the numbers. While White House experts are hopeful the economy will quickly rebound, others are not so optimistic. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details.
…
Coronavirus Reaches White House
The coronavirus has reached the White House as the administration mulls reopening parts of the United States, the country that leads the world in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths from the coronavirus. At least two White House aides have tested positive for the virus: a valet for U.S. President Donald Trump and the press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence. Trump confirmed Friday that Katie Miller, press secretary to Vice President Pence and the wife of Trump aide Stephen Miller, has tested positive. A spokesman for Mike Pence said the vice president has tested negative and will return to the White House on Monday. “Vice President Pence will continue to follow the advice of the White House Medical Unit and is not in quarantine,” spokesman Devin O’Malley said in the statement Sunday. Dr Anthony Fauci – a White House chief expert in the fight against the coronavirus – is self-isolating although he has tested negative. More than 1.3 million people in the U.S. have been infected and more than 80,000 people have died. New York has been the hardest hit U.S. state in the coronavirus outbreak, with 26,670 deaths and 335,395 cases as of Sunday. But parts of New York and neighboring states also are looking into reopening some businesses on May 15, after some states with lower figures have begun relaxing lockdowns. As part of the plan, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered mandatory coronavirus testing twice a week for workers at care homes in his state. In his Sunday briefing, Cuomo said that care facilities, some 600 of them, that fail to meet the new requirements will lose their operating licenses. The rate of new infections in New York is declining, but the death toll is growing, especially in elderly people homes.Vice President Mike Pence, right, and President Donald Trump watch a video of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaking during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, Sunday, April 19, 2020, in Washington.Elderly people account for one fifth of the deaths in the New York, or about 5,300. Cuomo has been criticized for neglecting that age group. He resented the accusation. “This virus uses nursing homes. They are ground zero. They are the vulnerable population in the vulnerable location,” he said. According to the new rules, hospitals can no longer discharge patients back to care homes unless they have tested negative. Elderly people account for most deaths in other parts of the world too, notably Sweden, the country that has not imposed lockdown rules, but has instead relied on people’s own responsibility to act with precaution. As a result, Sweden has had twice as many COVID cases – more than 26,000 than neighboring Norway and Denmark together. The death toll in Sweden alone is three times higher than the combined death toll of its Scandinavian neighbors Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. One third of those who died in Sweden are elderly. The British government on Sunday unveiled its three-step plan for a gradual reopening of the country that takes third place after the United States and Spain in the number of COVID-19 cases. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he plans to move cautiously and that there will be no move to a new step until all the conditions of the previous one are fulfilled. He also announced penalties for people who fail to follow the directives. Some European and other countries have already begun easing restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the virus with mixed results. Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam report few or no new cases, but Germany and South Korea recorded an increase after reopening. Germany, which began easing social restrictions last week, has seen some regional spikes in cases, particularly in nursing homes and slaughterhouses. “It’s not over until it’s over,” South Korean President Moon Jae-in told the nation Sunday reporting the number of new coronavirus infections at a one-month high. Schools in South Korea were scheduled to begin reopening this week, but that may be delayed after the new outbreaks while officials say probes into the new cases would determine the next steps. China reported fourteen new cases Sunday – the first double digit rise in ten days. Worldwide, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed 4 million. The global death tally is more than 280,000, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.
…
Three Killed and 79 Wounded in Tribal Clashes in Eastern Sudan
Clashes between two tribes in Sudan’s eastern city of Kassala killed three people and wounded 79 others, the state’s acting governor said on Sunday.Violence between members of the Beni Amer and Nuba ethnic groups, which has flared in the past, reignited on Thursday and escalated on Friday when houses were set ablaze, Brigade Mahmoud Baker Homd said in a statement.It was not immediately clear what caused Thursday’s clash.Violence between the Beni Amer and Nuba was reported in Port Sudan in January by a local doctors’ group that said eight people were killed and dozens injured.The two groups had made peace in September 2019 after Sudan’s top military commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, threatened to expel both tribes from the country if they did not commit to reconciliation.
…
Georgia AG Requests Federal Probe in Handling of Arbery Case
Georgia’s attorney general on Sunday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the handling of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who authorities say died at the hands of two white men as he ran through a neighborhood.Arbery was killed Feb. 23, 2020. No arrests were made until this month. National outrage over the case swelled last week after video surfaced that appeared to show the shooting.”We are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset,” Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement. “The family, the community and the state of Georgia deserve answers, and we will work with others in law enforcement at the state and federal level to find those answers.”Officials in Georgia also say they are investigating an online threat against people protesting the killing of Arbery.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Sunday said that it “has been made aware of a Facebook post that contains a threat to future protests related to Ahmaud Arbery. We are actively investigating this situation and will provide pertinent updates as necessary.”Spokesperson Nelly Miles declined to provide further information.Several hundred people protested the case Friday in Brunswick, near the site where Arbery was fatally shot on Feb. 23. National outrage over the case swelled last week after video surfaced that appeared to show the shooting. The social justice arm of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation entertainment company on Sunday called on Georgia officials to take quick action in the case.Shortly after the video’s leak, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. The arrests came hours after officials asked the GBI to start investigating. The inquiry was previously in the hands of local officials.The father and son said they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before.Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her 25-year-old son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.On Saturday, the GBI confirmed that it has obtained other photos of video that might shed light on the case. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published footage from a surveillance camera at a Brunswick home near where Arbery was shot that shows someone who appears to be Arbery walking into a home under construction. Arbery then came back out and ran down the street. Someone else comes out across the street from the construction site, and then a vehicle drives off farther down the street, near where Travis McMichael lives.Lawyers for Arbery’s family say the video bolsters their position that Arbery did nothing wrong, and shows he did not commit a felony. Under Georgia law, someone who isn’t a sworn police officer can arrest and detain another person only if a felony is committed in the presence of the arresting citizen.”Ahmaud’s actions at this empty home under construction were in no way a felony under Georgia law,” the lawyers wrote in a social media post. “This video confirms that Mr. Arbery’s murder was not justified and the actions of the men who pursued him and ambushed him were unjustified.”
…
Pence Self-isolating After Exposure to Aide With Virus
Vice President Mike Pence was self-isolating Sunday after an aide tested positive for the coronavirus last week, joining three of the nation’s top scientists in taking protective steps after possible exposure.An administration official said Pence was voluntarily keeping his distance from other people in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has repeatedly tested negative for COVID-19 since his exposure but was following the advice of medical officials.Top US Aides Take Coronavirus Precautions Key government health experts to quarantine “Vice President Pence will continue to follow the advice of the White House Medical Unit and is not in quarantine,” spokesman Devin O’Malley said Sunday. “Additionally, Vice President Pence has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow.”Pence has led the White House coronavirus task force for more than two months. Top officials who have gone into quarantine because of exposure to a person at the White House who tested positive for the virus are Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC; and the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Stephen Hahn.Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week.A military service member who acts as a valet to the president tested positive on Thursday, the first known instance where a person in close proximity to the president at the White House had tested positive.After Miller was identified as having tested positive, Trump said he was “not worried” about the virus spreading in the White House. Nonetheless, officials said they were stepping up safety protocols for the complex.The three other task force members have indicated varying plans for dealing with their exposure. None has announced testing positive for the virus and, taking into account what has been described as limited exposure to the infected person, are considered at relatively low risk for infection.Fauci’s institute said he was “taking appropriate precautions” to mitigate the risk to others while still carrying out his duties, teleworking from home but willing to go to the White House if called. Officials said both Redfield and Hahn will be self-quarantining for two weeks.The three officials were expected to testify before a Senate committee on Tuesday, most likely by videoconference.
…
Hong Kong: Small Protests Renew Calls for Autonomy
Police pursued pro-democracy protesters in shopping malls in Hong Kong Sunday, after permission for a Mother’s Day march was denied.As the coronavirus outbreak subsides in Hong Kong, more protesters, demonstrating against Beijing’s power in the semi-autonomous city, are answering online calls to action.Sunday’s protests were comprised of smaller groups in multiple shopping malls in Hong Kong, singing, chanting, and holding signs while evading police officers.At least one person was arrested, according to local media.Smaller protests have been noted around Hong Kong in recent weeks, indicating the potential for renewed calls for autonomy seen in massive protests last year.Political tensions have escalated in Hong Kong after Beijing’s top representative office in the city said it was not bound by a law that restricts interference by other mainland Chinese agencies in the former British colony.In recent weeks, Hong Kong’s law enforcement authorities arrested 15 pro-democracy activists, including Martin Lee, 81, a move the U.S. condemned.Before the COVID-19 outbreak, Hong Kong was engulfed by several months of massive anti-government protests last year, initially sparked by a controversial extradition bill. The protests evolved into a demand for greater democracy.Although the bill was later withdrawn, the demonstrations continued for months.
…
Britain Enters Post-coronavirus Period Monday
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson emphasized that Britain is not ending the lockdown but only modifying tough measures that had been imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In a televised address Sunday from his official London residence, Johnson announced three tentative steps toward reopening of the country. In Step 1, which starts Monday, people who cannot work from home, like construction workers or manufacturers, should be actively encouraged to go to work, but in a safe manner. That means, he said, that people should avoid public transportation and go to work by car, by bicycle or on foot.Johnson said the government has issued guidance to employers on how to make workplaces secure, including for public transport workers. Those measures will limit the capacity of the public transport.As of Wednesday, Johnson said people will be encouraged to go out and sit in the sun or exercise. They can drive out of town and even play group sports, but only with members of their own family.“You must obey the rules on social distancing and to enforce those rules we will increase the fines for the small minority who break them,” he said.People cycle through Westminster area of London, Sunday, May 10, 2020 during the nation-wide coronavirus lockdown.Johnson is the only world leader to have been hospitalized and treated for COVID, including having to spend a few days in intensive care. Late Sunday, Bloomberg News reported that U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is self-isolating after one of his aides was diagnosed with the coronavirus. So far, the vice president has tested negative for the virus.An increase in infectionsSome countries that have relaxed their coronavirus measures, such as Germany and South Korea, have seen an increase in new infections after reopening.The British prime minister said the government will be monitoring the number of new infections and the progress made in containing the virus.He said if the conditions the government has set out are fulfilled, then in the next few weeks or months the country may be able to move to Step 2 on or around June 1.“We believe we may be in a position to begin the phased reopening of shops and to get primary pupils back into schools in stages, beginning with reception, Year 1 and Year 6.” A man looks at the menu of a closed Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, in London, May 9, 2020.Johnson said the goal is to get the secondary school students facing exams next year to have at least some time with their teachers before the holidays. He said a detailed guidance for this phase is upcoming.Step 3 of Johnson’s blueprint is planned for July at the earliest and is subject to the fulfillment of the conditions from the first two steps, as well as scientific recommendations. The British leader said in that phase some of the hospitality industry and public places would reopen “if and only if the numbers support it.” Social distancing and other protective measures will still apply, he stressed, in order to avoid a new wave of infections. Mixed reactionsJohnson’s decision to modify the “stay at home” message to “stay alert” message has met with approval as well as criticism, notably from trade unions and regional leaders of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, said the message on recreation is too vague and she ordered the Scottish people to refrain from sunbathing, picnicking or barbecuing in public spaces until further notice. But walking and outdoor exercising will be allowed more than once a day starting Monday.With more than 220,000 COVID-19 cases, Britain is the world’s third most affected country after the United States and Spain. Britain’s coronavirus-linked death toll is close to 32,000 and is second only to the United States, which has more than 80,000 deaths. Britain has reported nearly 4,000 new cases in the past 24 hours.
…
Poland to Announce New Election Date Within 2 Weeks
The head of Poland’s electoral commission said on Sunday that the parliament speaker had 14 days to declare the date of a new presidential election in place of a Sunday vote that while never officially canceled did not take place due to the coronavirus.The declaration appeared to draw a line under a tumultuous debate in recent weeks over when the vote should be held that has sown division within the ruling alliance and prompted the opposition to accuse the government of neglecting public health.The nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government had insisted the election take place as scheduled, but was forced to admit in the past week that it could not organize it during the pandemic.”In the … election scheduled for May 10, 2010, there was no possibility of voting for candidates,” the electoral commission said in a statement.Its chief, Sylwester Marciniak, told private broadcaster TVN24 that he expected a new election to be held within 60 days of the parliamentary speaker’s announcement of a new date. That would mean a vote would be held in late July at the latest.On Saturday, speculation was rife in the Polish media that PiS would seek to press ahead with a vote on May 23, turning its back on an agreement with junior coalition partner Accord, which had called for the vote to be delayed for a more substantial amount of time.Incumbent President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, is well ahead in opinion polls, but the party had been concerned that the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could hurt his popularity and damage his chances of re-election if the vote was delayed.As of Sunday, Poland had reported 15,996 cases of the coronavirus and 800 deaths.
…
Turkey Threatens Retaliation Against Haftar’s Forces in Libya
Turkey is threatening tough retaliation if forces loyal to Libyan general Khalifa Haftar strike Turkish interests or its diplomatic missions in Tripoli or elsewhere.Haftar, who has set up a rival government in eastern Libya, has been fighting to topple the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. “If our missions and our interests in Libya are targeted, we will deem Haftar’s forces legitimate targets,” The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Sunday.Turkey says the area near its embassy in Tripoli was shelled late last week. Haftar’s forces deny responsibility.But Turkey is strongly criticizing the United Nations for what it says is the U.N.’s failure to move against Haftar.“It is unacceptable for the United Nations to remain silent against this carnage any longer. Countries providing military, financial and political aid to Haftar are responsible for the suffering that the people of Libya are enduring and the chaos and instability the country is being dragged into,” the foreign ministry statement said.Turkey supports the Tripoli-based government as it tries to defend itself from a year-long offensive from Haftar to seize the capital.Weekend shelling in and around Tripoli has killed as many as six and wounded several dozen, reports say. Residents in Tripoli say the fighting has been some the worst in recent months. The country’s only functioning airport has been badly damaged and parts of northern Libya are at risk of going dry after armed men stormed a power station belonging to the government’s water authority.Al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord, has been able to push back Haftar’s forces which have the support of Egypt, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates. Appeals from the European Union to all foreign countries earlier this year to stop supplying arms and interfering in Libya and let peace talks proceed have gone nowhere.
…
Three UN Troops Killed in Northern Mali Mine Blast
Three U.N. troops were killed early Sunday and three wounded when their convoy hit a roadside bomb, an official said, in the latest violence to hit the war-torn West African state. Chadian peacekeepers were on a routine patrol in Aguelhok commune in the north of the country, according to a U.N. official stationed in the area. “There are three dead and three seriously wounded,” said the official, who declined to be named.Olivier Salgado, the spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, confirmed the account to AFP, adding that reinforcements had been sent into the area.Known as MINUSMA, the U.N. mission has some 13,000 troops drawn from several states deployed across the vast semi-arid country. Mali is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in 2012 and which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives since.Despite the presence of thousands of French and U.N. troops, the conflict has engulfed the center of the country and spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. Laying roadside bombs is a favored tactic of jihadists active in the Sahel.Also known as improvised explosive devices, they kill and maim scores of victims every year in Mali.
…
Bundesliga Could Provide Blueprint for NFL
The National Football League has time on its side as the sports world prepares to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and will use some it to observe German soccer’s Bundesliga as a potential blueprint on how to deal with the outbreak.The NFL, which is due to kick off on Sept. 10 and has not yet seen its schedule affected by the novel coronavirus, is paying close attention to protocols other leagues, particularly the Bundesliga, are putting in place in a bid to restart play, according to a report in Newsday.The top-flight Bundesliga season will restart on May 16, making it the first European league to resume amid the pandemic that has infected more than 3.95 million people globally and killed more than 270,000.”We’ve been in contact with all domestic leagues, but also sports organizations around the world,” Brian McCarthy, the NFL’s vice president of communications, told Newsday.“We have a number of protocols, see what works, see what can translate into our sport.”We’re all in the sports business, but every sport has its own matters to attend to.”Germany’s top flight will resume under strict health protocols, with no fans allowed in stadiums.All teams have had to go into a seven-day training camp in complete isolation with players tested before their inclusion in the camps to reduce the risk of any infection.About 300 people, including players, staff and officials, will be in and around the stadiums during matchdays.The NFL unveiled its 2020 schedule on Thursday with the expectation of playing games with fans in the stadiums but is approaching the season with some caution.League commissioner Roger Goodell has informed teams they will be required to have a ticket refund policy in place for canceled or disrupted games.McCarthy told Newsday: “We’re looking at what we can adopt, what we can modify that is working in other sports, sharing best practices.”
…
Kidnapped Italian Aid Worker Held in Somalia Returns Home
A kidnapped Italian aid worker who had been held in an al-Shabab-controlled area of Somalia has been freed. Silvia Romano arrived in Rome on Sunday after being freed outside Mogadishu on Saturday. She spent overnight in a safe location in Mogadishu before being flown home. Security officials told VOA Somali that Romano was recovered from a forest near the town of Afgoye, 30 kilometers west of Mogadishu. The terms of her release are not known.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the release in a tweet.Silvia Romano è stata liberata! Ringrazio le donne e gli uomini dei servizi di intelligence esterna. Silvia, ti aspettiamo in Italia!— Giuseppe Conte (@GiuseppeConteIT) May 9, 2020Romano, who was working for an Italian charity was abducted by gunmen in November 2018 in Kilifi County, Kenya. It’s not clear how the gunmen managed to transport her into Somalia. Somali security sources say they believe she was kidnapped by al-Shabab militants who previously abducted aid workers and demanded ransom. The abduction of two Spanish aid workers working for Doctors Without Borders in October 2011 was one of reasons Kenya government gave for its subsequent military intervention into Somalia that year. Al-Shabab also harbors bandits including pirates who abduct foreign sailors, and aid workers. Three Iranian sailors, two Cuban doctors, two Kenyans and a German nurse working for the ICRC are still being held in areas controlled by al-Shabab.
…
Iran Waiting to Hear from US About Prisoner Exchange
Iranian officials said Sunday they are ready for a prisoner exchange with the U.S. but that they have yet to hear from U.S. officials. “Iran has already stated our readiness to discuss the release of all prisoners without preconditions . . . but Americans have not responded,” Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiel said, according to the Iranian government website Dolat.ir. Both countries have called for the swap because of concerns about COVID-19. Iran has been hard hit by the virus, while the U.S. leads the world in the number of infections. The exact number of prisoners held by either side is not immediately clear. The last, rare prisoner exchange between the two longtime foes happened December 7, when Iran freed Chinese American academic Xiyue Wang in return for the U.S. releasing Iranian scientist Masoud Soleimani. The swap happened in Zurich through Swiss mediation. Iran Silent on 12 Iranians Detained by US Despite Pledge to Swap Prisoners Again Iran has said nothing publicly about 12 Iranian citizens under prosecution or convicted of crimes in US since December prisoner swap and appears to have done little to help them In the four months since then, the U.S. has said it’s worked continuously for the release of four Americans whom Washington has accused Tehran of unjustly jailing on trumped up charges, including Navy veteran Michael R. White. As Iran’s coronavirus pandemic worsened and spread to its prison system in March, U.S. officials added urgency to their calls for the Americans to be released to safeguard their health. Iranian authorities granted White a prison furlough on March 19 after he exhibited coronavirus symptoms, but they have refused to let him leave the country or free the other Americans.
…
Mother’s Day This Year Means Getting Creative from Afar
Treats made and delivered by neighbors. Fresh garden plantings dug from a safe 6 feet away. Trips around the world set up room-to-room at home.Mother’s Day this year is a mix of love and extra imagination as families do without their usual brunches and huggy meet-ups.As the pandemic persists in keeping families indoors or a safe social distance apart, online searches have increased for creative ways to still make moms feel special.Absent help from schools and babysitters, uninitiated dads are on homemade craft duty with the kids. Other loved ones are navigating around no-visitor rules at hospitals and senior-living facilities.Some medical facilities are pitching in by collecting voice and video recordings from locked-out relatives when patients are unable to manage the technology on their own.In suburban St. Louis, Steve Turner and his family hope to FaceTime with his 96-year-old mother, Beverly, but they plan something more, too. Her birthday coincides with Mother’s Day this year.”We’re going to create a big Mother’s Day-birthday banner signed by the kids and grandkids who live here,” Turner said. “She loves butterflies and we’ll draw some on. We’re working with the home to find a place where we can stand outside a window so she can see us.”Anna Francese Gass in New Canaan, Connecticut, is hunkered down with her husband and three children and will enjoy her usual Mother’s Day breakfast in bed of rubbery eggs, slightly burnt toast and VERY milky coffee. But the day won’t include her own mom, who lives nearby.”I ordered a bunch of daffodil and tulip bulbs online, and me and the kids are planning to plant them in her flowerbed. She can supervise from the window. I just know it will put a huge smile on her face,” Francese Gass said.In Alameda, California, 23-year-old Zaria Zinn is sheltering at home with her parents and younger sister. Knowing how much their mother loves and misses traveling, they’re turning their house and neighborhood into a trip around the world with help from decorations and virtual tours online.”We made a DIY passport for her and we’re creating stamps for each location,” she said.Their itinerary: Machu Picchu, Paris and Iceland, with some DIY spa time and a Hollywood-style movie night.Making the most of Mother’s Day in isolation is top of mind for Google search users. The company said the term “Mother’s Day gifts during quarantine” recently spiked by 600% in the U.S. Among Pinterest’s 335 million users, searches for “Mother’s Day at home” have jumped by 2,971%, the company said.In Rochester, New York, Melissa Mueller-Douglas and her 7-year-old daughter, Nurah, had planned to get together with mom and daughter friends at a hotel for a Mother’s Day sleepover. When it was canceled because of the pandemic, they got busy on Pinterest searching for ideas to bring the party home, just the two of them.They have eye masks with rhinestones to decorate, thread for mother-daughter bracelets, instant film for a photo shoot and a chocolate fountain purchased at Walmart. Dad and Nurah’s 3-year-old brother will paint together downstairs after a mom-son bike ride earlier in the day.”We’ve repurposed a shimmery tablecloth and made giant flowers out of tissue paper for a photo shoot backdrop. We’ll be creating a secret handshake and writing in top secret journals to each other,” Mueller-Douglas said. “We’re calling it The Best Day Ever Slumber Party.”Kayla Hockman, 26, in Los Angeles has been worried about her 77-year-old grandmother in Fontana, California, about 50 miles away. Usually, she and her sister treat her and their mom to brunch or an adventure out.”My grandma’s been quite depressed lately since she hasn’t left her house in two months, and she’s slowly losing hope,” Hockman said. “She and my grandpa have a lot of problems with walking now. This whole thing of not being able to see anyone has been really taking a hard toll on them.”To cheer her up, they’re planning a party on her lawn.”It’s going to be a surprise pop-up Mother’s Day brunch with momosas' and painting," Hockman said. "We're going to set it up for all of us to paint a sunflower, her absolute favorite. She'll paint on her porch and we'll be on the lawn, all 6 feet apart."Willie Greer in Memphis thought food, enlisting the help of a neighbor to make his mom's recipe for pecan pie and deliver it to her in Dallas to brighten her isolation Mother's Day. He said the neighbor was happy to do it after he sent her the recipe."My siblings and I will also create athank you’ video for mom. Since we can’t all be together, each of us will record a short message and at the end we’ll all sing `A Mother’s Love’ by Gena Hill,” he said. “I’m pretty sure this is the part where my mom cries her eyes out.”These days, virtual experiences are all we have, so Lisa Hill in Portland, Oregon, decided to embrace that notion for her 79-year-old mom in Stuart, Florida, after she met a cooking instructor while volunteering to prepare meals at a shelter.Hill has been cooking alongside Lauren Chandler, who has taken her usual in-home cooking sessions online with a twist: She’s throwing in a free 45-minute session for clients to donate.”I feel so far away from her. I can’t cook for her. I can’t visit,” Hill said. “She’s nervous about everything going on right now and it will be a good social interaction.”
…
South Korea Warns of Possible ‘Second Wave’ of COVID
South Korea warned Sunday of the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 infections. “It’s not over until it’s over,” President Moon Jae-in told the nation Sunday as it reported new coronavirus infections at a one-month high. The spike in cases comes as South Korea had begun easing some pandemic restrictions, including reopening bars and nightclubs. A man waring a face mask passes by the entrance of a temporary closed dance club in Seoul, South Korea, May 10, 2020.South Korea since shut down more than 2,100 bars and other establishments in Seoul after the new cases were linked to people who frequented nightclubs last weekend. Many of the infections were traced to a 29-year-old man who went to three nightclubs before testing positive. Schools in South Korea were scheduled to begin reopening this week, but that may be delayed after the new outbreaks while officials say probes into the new cases would determine the next steps. China also reported fourteen new cases Sunday — the first double digit rise in ten days. Germany, which began easing social restrictions last week, has seen some regional spikes in cases, particularly in nursing homes and slaughterhouses. Spain, France, and the United States are among the countries that are slowly reopening parts of their economies. Worldwide, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed 4 million. The global death tally is nearly 280,000, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics. The U.S. leads the world in the number of cases and deaths from the virus. More than 1.3 million people in the U.S. have been infected and nearly 80,000 people have died. Former U.S. President Barack Obama says current U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been “an absolute chaotic disaster.” In a conference call with former staff members, Obama said, “It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ — when that mindset is operationalized in our government.”
…
Thousands Forced to Flee Violent Interethnic Attacks in Eastern DRC
In the last two months, the U.N. Refugee Agency reports more than 200,000 people have been forced to flee surging violence between the Lendu and Hema groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri Province.The U.N. Refugee Agency says 5 million people have been uprooted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including 1.2 million in Ituri province. It reports the number of interethnic attacks and counterattacks between Lendu farmers and Hema herders continues to multiply, adding to the already intolerable misery of what is Africa’s largest displacement crisis.U.N. monitors have recorded more than 3,000 serious human rights violations in Djugu territory, mainly occupied by the Hema, in the last 60 days. UNHCR spokesman, Charlie Yaxley says nearly 50 attacks are taking place on average every day against the local community.“Displaced people have reported acts of extreme violence with at least 274 civilians killed with weapons such as machetes. More than 140 women were raped and almost 8,000 houses set on fire. The vast majority of those displaced are women and children, many of whom are now living under crowded circumstances with host families from the community,” he said.Yaxley told VOA many others are forced to sleep in the open or in public buildings under very insecure conditions.“That, in turn, is also making the social distancing required to prevent the spread of COVID-19 extremely difficult as we see many people living inside shelters … and, this again places them vulnerable to possible further attacks, vulnerable to the elements and with little protection in terms of preventing the spread of COVID-19,” he said.The Lendu and Hema have been fighting sporadically for decades over valuable resources in their gold- and oil-rich province. Tensions in the region have been rising since December, following a government-led military operation against various armed groups.U.N. and private agencies report access to Djugu and Mahagi territories is heavily restricted, making it difficult to reach those in dire need of assistance. The UNHCR reports it is working with other agencies to provide relief and to build more shelters for the displaced.The agency reports only 18% of its $154 million appeal for the DRC has been received to date. It says this lack of funding, as well as the prevailing insecurity, is affecting its ability to provide essential relief to the thousands of displaced.
…
Singapore’s Coronavirus Outbreak Sends Malaysia Scrambling to Test Migrant Workers
Malaysia is scrambling to test millions of migrants for the coronavirus to avoid a repeat of the outbreak that has hit neighboring Singapore, where foreign workers crammed into teeming dormitories now account for most of its confirmed COVID-19 cases. Weeks into the pandemic, Singapore was lauded for its efforts to keep the highly contagious virus in check by acting early, leveling with its citizens about the risks and practicing a meticulous contact tracing regime. By mid-April, though, outbreaks in the largely neglected dormitories housing the country’s hundreds of thousands of migrant workers were sending its coronavirus caseload soaring. The tiny city-state now has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia by far at over 21,000. Malaysia by contrast has confirmed 6,535 cases, less than 1,000 of them among migrants. Like Singapore, though, the country leans heavily on cheap labor from nearby countries to fill its factories and raise its skyline. Many also work its rubber and palm plantations. The government says some 2.5 million migrants are in the country legally, though just as many may be here illegally. Also like Singapore, many of Malaysia’s migrant workers are packed into large dorms or hostels sleeping 10 to 20 people to a room — sometimes more — with one bathroom among them. “It’s a very risky situation,” said migrant labor rights advocate Andy Hall. “These hostels are not designed with a decent way of living in mind, and they’re incredibly congested,” he said. Clearly worried that Malaysia’s coronavirus count might also spiral out of control, the Health Ministry on April 20 said it was learning from Singapore by placing Kuala Lumpur neighborhoods with cases of COVID-19 among migrant workers under tight lockdown and ramping up testing of residents in those areas. “We learnt from our neighbor country to accelerate the action so that we can control the virality of positive cases and in dealing with the COVID-19 infection from the noncitizen group,” the ministry’s director-general, Noor Hisham Abdullah, said at the time. On May 4, following a spike in coronavirus cases traced mostly to noncitizens, the government decided on a much more muscular response. It ordered that all migrant workers be tested across the country. The effort will take months. Malaysia is currently testing about 15,000 people a day. At that rate it will take more than five months to test every registered migrant worker in the country, assuming all test kits are used on them alone, which they are not. Moreover, that’s not counting the millions of migrants here illegally. The day after the order to test all migrants, the Malaysian Medical Association warned that a sudden push would overwhelm the country’s laboratories and turn into a “logistical nightmare.” It suggested more targeted testing and putting greater effort into enforcing social distancing rules where migrants work and live. Sumitha Shaanthinni Kishna, director of Malaysian migrant worker rights group Our Journey, said she was “very, very concerned” that the brimming dorms and hostels may yet prove the seedbed for a new wave of coronavirus cases, as they did in Singapore. Besides the congestion, she said, “these places that they live [don’t] have proper running water sometimes. The hygiene level is quite low, so that is why we are really concerned about the housing places of these people.” Ironically, much of the fear of an outbreak among Malaysia’s migrants stems from the country’s dominant rubber glove industry, which makes nearly 2 in every 3 pairs of the gloves in the world, including those protecting front-line health care workers. The factories run mostly on migrant labor. In a Labor Day video to employees, industry heavyweight Top Glove said it was checking workers’ temperatures daily, keeping them supplied with masks and gloves, disinfecting work sites and enforcing social distancing “to ensure you are always safe and well protected.” Health experts, rights advocates and workers themselves are just as worried about where they sleep. “We feel scared because we stay with 25 people in the same room,” a Top Glove worker from Nepal told VOA on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from the company. “We work in different departments and have contact with different people. Sometimes we work with locals who come from outside. And sometimes on the days off the people in the hostel go outside and meet other people. So I definitely feel scared about getting COVID-19. I don’t feel protected,” the worker said. Six days a week, after every 12-hour shift, he takes a crowded company bus back to a company-owned hostel on the outskirts of the capital. Inside, reams of laundry hang limp from the metal frames of a dozen or so bunk beds lining the bare walls. Without a kitchen, the workers cook their meals on the floor, and share a single bathroom. A few wall-mounted fans do a poor job of keeping the room cool. Social distancing, the man said, was “impossible.” He said the room had not been disinfected and that Top Glove has told them nothing about getting the workers tested. At work, the company gives them gloves and masks and sanitizer, but keeps them lined up in tight lines at the factory entrance for the temperature checks at the start of every shift, and does a checkered job of maintaining social distancing rules once they’re inside. Videos shared by workers bear the account out. Top Glove and the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association, which represents Top Glove and the rest of the industry, both refused requests for an interview. Rights groups have long called for better work and living conditions for the country’s army of migrant labor. Now that the coronavirus has exposed the risks that neglecting them can pose to the population at large, authorities, employers and their customers should start to take them more seriously, said Hall, the migrant labor rights advocate. “Everyone’s learning that … in the day and age of these contagious diseases these kind of dormitories and the conditions in which workers are working in are a risk to the public health of the whole population,” he said. “So I think that’s the longer-term issue … that these workers need to be in conditions which are more hygienic and they have more space,” he said.
…
Obama: Trump’s Handling of Pandemic Is ‘Absolute Chaotic Disaster’
Former U.S. President Barack Obama says current U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been “an absolute chaotic disaster.” In a conference call with former staff members, Obama said, “It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ — when that mindset is operationalized in our government.” The U.S. leads the world in the number of cases and deaths from the virus. More than 1.3 million people in the U.S. have been infected and nearly 80,000 people have died. In this April 18, 2020 photo provided by the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Gov. Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany.In New York, the U.S. epicenter of the outbreak, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that three children have died and more than 70 other children have fallen ill from a syndrome associated with the virus. Children were initially thought not to be as susceptible to the virus, but reports are beginning to emerge challenging that. Like other countries, the U.S. does not have adequate supplies of test kits, meaning the sickest people get tested before those with mild symptoms, raising the possibility those with mild or no symptoms may not get tested at all and go uncounted. Pushing to reopen the U.S. from measures meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus, President Donald Trump has recently touted the U.S. testing system. But the system has been criticized for failures in the critical early weeks of the outbreak and its ongoing underperformance compared to some other countries. During a recent meeting with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Trump said Germany has a “very low mortality rate like we do.” In fact, the U.S. has reported COVID-19 deaths at a rate of 234 per 1 million people, compared to Germany’s reported rate of 90 fatalities per million. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting about the coronavirus response in the Oval Office of the White House, May 7, 2020, in Washington.On Friday, Trump insisted “testing isn’t necessary,” an indication of his increasing tendency to reject the advice of health experts. The Trump administration continues to defend its decision not to release a detailed coronavirus reopening plan for the U.S., maintaining it would have been too narrowly focused for the country’s 50 states. Germany is grappling with new outbreaks since it began easing restrictions. The Robert Koch Institute said Sunday the infection rate had gone up to 1.1. The infection rate, known as the reproduction rate, is growing when the rate exceeds 1.1. There have also been outbreaks at three slaughterhouses in Germany. South Korea has shut down more than 2,100 bars and other establishments in Seoul after new coronavirus outbreaks were linked to people who frequented nightclubs last weekend after the government relaxed social distancing guidelines. Many of the infections were traced to a 29-year-old man who went to three nightclubs before testing positive. Schools in South Korea were scheduled to begin reopening this week, but that may be delayed after the new outbreaks while officials say probes into the new cases would determine the next steps. Worldwide, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed 4 million. The global death tally is nearly 280,000, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics. In central Afghanistan Saturday, clashes between aid-seeking protesters and police have claimed the lives of at least four civilians, including a journalist, and injured 14 others, officials said.
The violence erupted as a coronavirus-induced shutdown and partial border closures with neighboring countries disrupted food deliveries into landlocked Afghanistan.
Saturday’s clashes broke out after dozens of people gathered outside the governor’s office in impoverished Ghor province to protest what they said was a lack of official assistance for their poverty-stricken families.
…
Australian Children to Gradually Return to School As COVID-19 Controls Ease
In Australia, schools have been one of the most controversial parts of COVID-19 lockdowns. The vast majority of students have stayed home. Only a small number of children whose parents cannot care for them during the day have been allowed to attend. However, as Australia begins to wind back some of its coronavirus restrictions, Prime Minister Scott Morrison is again insisting all students should return to class. This has put him at odds with state governments, which have control over schools.Home-schooling has become a monumental challenge for parents across Australia.There is confusion about mixed messages from politicians. The federal government has said Australian children should go to school, while many state authorities have urged that they stay home.Many parents, like Seonaid Thomas in Sydney, are frustrated at the lack of clarity.“I do think there have been quite confusing, mixed messages from the government regarding school closures and the situation surrounding children,” Thomas said. “So it really depends on the individual’s own outlook and assessment of the situation rather than there being a clear or concise guideline.”Prime Minister Scott Morrison has argued it is safe for children to return to class, although he concedes that teachers might be worried.“It is so important that children are able to keep physically going to school,” Morrison said. “The expert medical advice throughout the coronavirus to date has not changed when it comes to the safety of children going to school. They have consistently advised the risk remains very low. The issue in our schools relates to the safety, principally, of teachers.”In the state of Victoria, though, Education Minister James Merlino wants children to stay home, and at the start of the new term, the vast majority have.“The message from Victoria has been clear and consistent,” he said. “If you can learn from home, you must learn from home, and that message has been understood and heeded.”In New South Wales, there is a different approach. Children will initially head back to school for just one day a week starting this week, after schools were closed to most students.State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said safety measures will be in place.“Schools will also have capacity for temperatures checks where they think it is appropriate,” she said. “There will also be extra cleaning of playground equipment and other things during the day, and this is really to ensure not only are our school communities safe, but everybody feels safe within them whether you are a parent, a student and, of course, our teachers.”Queensland also has a phased approach to bringing all students back to school. If the state continues to record very low cases of COVID-19, all pupils will be back starting May 25.In Tasmania, officials say the return to schools would be “cautious, measured and sensible.” Under current plans, some students would not go back to class until early next month.Australia has had almost 7,000 confirmed coronavirus cases. More than 6,000 patients have recovered, but almost 100 people have died from the virus.
…
Teachers, Students Find Online Education Can be Tough
Most American schools are closed until the start of the next school year in the fall in a bid to contain the coronavirus. But many teachers and students are pushing ahead with studies online — though this method has posed some unexpected difficulties for students, teachers and parents. For VOA, Alexey Gorbachev has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
…