The traditional Festival of Lotus Lanterns is held in South Korea. In South Korea, for the first time during the pandemic, no new Covid-19 infections were recorded in one day. The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has no intention of extending the quarantine, and the tourism industry is suffering billions of dollars in losses. All the latest news about the situation in the world amid the pandemic can be found in the daily selection of the Russian service of the BBC.
For the first time since the outbreak began, no new cases were reported in South Korea. The positive trend in the country has been evident for some time, and last week the authorities significantly eased quarantine measures. Social distancing rules have also been relaxed. On Thursday, a traditional festival of lotus lanterns dedicated to Buddha’s birthday is held in South Korea, and many people have gathered in the parks of Seoul. The BBC’s Laura Bicker in Seoul says the announcement that no new cases of the disease have been recorded in South Korea is an important stage in the fight against the epidemic. In February, the country was one of the main centers for the spread of the disease. “I saw exhausted doctors and nurses in the city of Daegu, which was hardest hit by Covid-19. They told me they were doing everything they could to contain the infection rate, while ambulances lined up near the hospital,” says our correspondent. According to her, thousands of South Koreans are enjoying the spring sun today. The parks are full of people gathering for picnics, and the airports are full of tourists heading to the southern island of Jeju for the weekend.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said that reduced energy consumption could cut carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 8% this year – a level unprecedented in history.
The number of cars on the world’s roads has plummeted. The IEA predicts that global energy demand will decline by 6% by the end of 2020, roughly equivalent to the total energy demand of India, the world’s largest consumer. Demand for coal is expected to decline the most, while demand for renewable energy sources will only increase. In cities around the world, the air has also become much cleaner as quarantine measures have greatly reduced the number of cars on the road. Bicycles are increasingly taking their place, and the authorities in various countries are helping. The French government has earmarked 20 million euros for the development of cycling infrastructure: these funds will be used to build cycle lanes, and the country’s residents will also be able to receive 50 euro vouchers for bicycle repairs. In the center of the Belgian capital, Brussels, 40 kilometers of new bike lanes are being built.
US President Donald Trump has said he will not extend the social distancing recommendations, which expire on Thursday. Under the rules, which were initially approved for 15 days but extended for a 30-day period, Americans are advised to work from home whenever possible and avoid large gatherings of people. In addition, people with chronic illnesses are advised to isolate themselves.
The number of deaths from coronavirus in the USA has exceeded 60 thousand people. However, according to the president, at this stage it is extremely important to start returning the economy to its previous course. Donald Trump plans to resume traveling across the country next week: after spending more than a month in the White House, the president intends to visit the state of Arizona. Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the American economy is experiencing its worst times in decades. The ranks of the unemployed have grown to over 30 million, and the U.S. GDP has fallen by 4.8% since the beginning of the year. Economists predict that this is not the end of the collapse. After yesterday, when the official British statistics decided to include the number of deaths from Covid-19 outside of hospitals, the United Kingdom rose to third place in the world in terms of the number of deaths, surpassing Spain.
Previously, those who died at home, in care homes and in other institutions were counted separately. Now the total number of coronavirus deaths in the UK is 26,166. The top ten countries with the highest number of deaths are as follows: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold his first briefing on the coronavirus situation since leaving hospital on Thursday. Johnson was admitted to hospital in early March with symptoms of the coronavirus and spent three nights in intensive care. He returned to work this week but has not yet held any press conferences. According to BBC political observer Laura Kuenssberg, Johnson intends to talk about the virus reproduction index. This particular indicator will be the basis for the decisions of the British authorities to extend, ease or even tighten the quarantine measures. Representatives of the German tourism industry are calling for help from the authorities after it was announced that the ban on international tourism has been extended until June 14.
Tourism workers in Germany demand government support. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next. эпизоды – Episodes End of story: Podcast Advertising. In addition, there are restrictions on movement within the country. Authorities have warned that Germans may not be able to take the vacations they are accustomed to this year. The Association of Tour Operators in Germany says the industry has already lost 4.8 billion euros from the beginning of the year to the end of April. Overall, the German economy is forecast to shrink by a record 6.3 percent this year. Quarantine measures in Germany began to be eased early last week. The number of Covid-19-related deaths in the country is one of the lowest in Western Europe. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 6228 people have died in Germany. But does the R0 indicator, the number of people a carrier can infect, go down? In Germany, as in many other countries, public health officials aim to keep this indicator below one. This means that an infected person transmits the virus to less than one other person on average. In such a situation, one can wait until the spread of the virus stops on its own. At the beginning of March, the R0 indicator for Germany was 3, and in mid-April it dropped below one. By Monday evening it had risen slightly, then dropped again, and is now at 0.76. This week, the average number of daily infections in Germany was between 1000 and 1500.