Shanghai announced on Sunday further steps towards return to normal life and lifting a two-month Covid lockdown this week, while Beijing reopened parts of its public transport, some malls, gyms and other venues as infections stabilised. Meanwhile in North Korea, officials observed that “the situation is improving” in the country, hinting at a softening of its “stringent” curbs. The isolated country has been fighting an unprecedented Covid wave since declaring a state of emergency and imposing a nationwide lockdown this month, fuelling concerns about lack of vaccines, medical supplies and food.
Here are top 8 updates on Global Covid-19 situation
1. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other top officials discussed “revising stringent anti-epidemic restrictions” during a meeting Sunday, the state media reported as per Reuters. Kim and other bureau members during the meeting “made a positive evaluation of the pandemic situation being controlled and improved across the country,” the official Korean Central News Agency said. The meeting suggests that the residents of the country may soon see a softening in Covid curbs, KCNA added.
2. North Korea reported no new deaths among fever patients for a second consecutive day, and said 89,500 more people showed fever symptoms on Sunday, Reuter reported. That is down from nearly 400,000 about 11 days ago.
3. Authorities in the Chinese financial hub of 25 million – Shanghai – have been slowly relaxing curbs as the number of daily cases continues to dip in the city, Reuters reported. More people have been allowed to leave their flats, and more businesses have been permitted to reopen. However, for now, many residents remain largely confined to their housing compounds, and most shops are limited to deliveries.
4. Shanghai will also ease its strict Covid-19 testing rules for people who want to enter public areas or use public transport from June 1. In a bid to encourage work resumption and a return to normal life, people entering public venues or taking public transportation will need to show a negative PCR test “taken within 72 hours, versus 48 hours previously,” officials told media.
5. Shanghai reported 122 new local Covid cases for Saturday, a decline from the 170 for Friday as per data in Bloomberg report. Only one positive case was found outside government quarantine.
6. In the Chinese capital Beijing, mobility curbs in several districts have been relaxed from Sunday after authorities said its outbreak was under control. The city reported 21 new cases on Sunday, declining for the seventh straight day, reported Reuters.
7. Japan will double the maximum number of people allowed every day to enter at border crossings to 20,000 from June 1 as part of a phased easing of coronavirus restrictions, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday.
8. Elsewhere in Europe, Switzerland said that it will destroy more than 6,20,000 expired doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine as demand for the shots drops dramatically. This as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been continuously emphasising the importance of vaccine equity to end the pandemic. “Only a tiny proportion of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in developing countries, leading to a widening gap between rich and poor,” the United Nations highlighted in its report earlier in March.
(With inputs from Reuters, Bloomberg)