Economies reopen but chaos abounds

A balancing act is playing out the world over, with leaders starting to loosen COVID-19 lockdown restrictions that have left millions unemployed while also warning of the threat of a second wave of infections

Barriers and millions of masks appeared Monday on the streets of Europe's newly reopened cities, as France and Belgium emerged from lockdowns, the Netherlands sent children back to school and Greece and Spain further eased restrictions. All faced a delicate balance of trying to restart battered economies without fuelling a second wave of Coronavirus infections.

With Monday's partial reopening, crowds quickly developed at some metro stations in Paris, one of France's viral hot spots. A last-minute legal challenge emerged to the government's practice of confining people to their own regions, further confusing the post-lockdown landscape.
Roughly half of Spain's 47 million people stepped into a softer version of the strict confinement, beginning to socialise, shop in small stores and enjoy outdoor eating, but its biggest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, are under lockdown.

New clusters worry nations
Fears about new waves of infection have been born out in Germany, where a new cluster was linked to a slaughterhouse; and in South Korea, where a single nightclub customer was linked to 85 new infections. The South Korean government halt school re-openings that had been planned for this week and re-imposed restrictions on nightclubs and bars. It is now trying to track 5,500 people who had visited a Seoul entertainment district. In Germany, gyms re-opened in the most populous state, but authorities there and in France have said any backsliding in the daily infections could lead to new restrictions.

Confusion in the UK
In the UK, which has the second-most COVID-19 deaths in the world, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a modest easing of the country's lockdown but urged citizens not to surrender the progress already made. In the US, Trump administration officials spoke optimistically about a relatively quick rebound from the pandemic — but then announced that Vice President Mike Pence "self-isolating" after one of his aides tested positive.

Wuhan official fired

Zhang Yuxin, a local member of the ruling Communist Party of China, was fired for poor management of the closing-off and control of the residential community in Wuhan after six new COVID-19 cases were found. Five cases were reported on Sunday, while one on Saturday.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!