Countries around the world have began to ease the coronavirus lockdown in a bid to return to normalcy.
In Europe, Italy is leading in easing the coronavirus lockdown measures after two months since the epidemic hit the continent. More than 4.4 million Italians went back to work on Monday after seven weeks of extraordinary restrictive measures.
In the Middle East, several Gulf states have relaxed their restrictions, including reopening malls with limited capacity. Precautionary measures, such as wearing face masks and gloves while maintaining social distancing remains in place.
South Korea students are expected to go back to school starting from May 13 as schools will reopen in stages. The country’s daily number of domestic cases has fallen close to zero over recent days.
In a televised briefing, Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said “We’re now preparing for the opening of schools while managing the daily risks of the disease. If a student turns out to be infected with the virus, health authorities will take the necessary action, and the school will switch to online classes.”
Other countries extend virus lockdown measures
As some countries are beginning to return to normalcy, others are extending lockdown measures. The government of Japan has extended a state of emergency over the pandemic until the end of May. It says that it is too soon to lift restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: “I will extend the period of the state of emergency I declared on April 7 until May 31. The area covered is all prefectures in the nation.
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In Mauritius, the coronavirus lockdown is in place until June 1st with select activities to reopen from May 25. Schools, however, will not be reopened till August and malls and beaches remain inaccessible.
African Countries return to normalcy
Meanwhile in Africa, several countries have also eased the coronavirus lockdown measures. Ghana became the first country to ease the virus lockdown last week. The decision to ease the lockdown earned the government a lot of criticism from its citizens.
Today, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Cameroon eased the virus lockdown. Easing the lockdown has been wildly criticised in Nigeria as the country has recorded over 2,000 cases of the virus.
The government in these countries say easing the lockdown is essential to enable the nation economy function.
Amid all the several happenings, officials in the US believe China covered up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak. They also believe China how contagious the disease was in order to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it.
The revelation comes as the Donald Trump administration intensifies its criticism of China over the pandemic.
