US governors feel heat to reopen from protesters, president

April 19, 2020

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Stores in Texas can soon begin selling merchandise with curbside service, and hospitals can resume nonessential surgeries. In Florida, people are returning to a few beaches and parks. And protesters are clamoring for more.

Governors eager to rescue their economies and feeling heat from President Donald Trump are moving to ease restrictions meant to control the spread of the coronavirus, even as new hot spots emerge and experts warn that moving too fast could prove disastrous.

Adding to the pressure are protests against stay-at-home orders organized by small-government groups and Trump supporters. They staged demonstrations Saturday in several cities after the president urged them to “liberate” three states led by Democratic governors.

Protests happened in Republican-led states, too, including at the Texas Capitol and in front of the Indiana governor's home. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott already said that restrictions will begin easing next week. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb — who signed an agreement with six other Midwestern states to coordinate reopening — said he would extend his stay-at-home order until May 1.

For the first time in weeks, people were able to visit some Florida beaches, but they were still subject to restrictions on hours and activities. Beaches in big cities stayed closed. Meanwhile, infections kept surging in the Northeast.

Rhode Island, between the hot spots of Massachusetts and New York, has seen a steady daily increase in infections and deaths, with nursing home residents accounting for more than 90 of the state’s 118 deaths. The state’s death rate of around 10 people per 100,000 is among the nation's highest per capita, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project.

Massachusetts had its highest number of deaths in a single day on Friday, with 159. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, citing health experts' advice, said states should wait until infection rates and hospitalizations decline for about two weeks before acting.

Trump, whose administration waited months to bolster stockpiles of key medical supplies and equipment, appeared to back protesters. “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, ” Trump said in a tweet-storm in which he also lashed out at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, for criticizing the federal response. Cuomo “should spend more time ‘doing’ and less time ‘complaining,’” the president said.

At his Saturday briefing with reporters, Cuomo cited more progress. The state's daily increase in deaths fell below 550 for the first time in more than two weeks as hospitalizations continued to decline.

But the crisis is far from over: Hospitals are still reporting nearly 2,000 new COVID-19 patients per day, and nursing homes remain a “feeding frenzy for this virus,” he said. “We are not at a point when we are going to be reopening anything immediately,” Cuomo said.

Several hundred people rallied in Texas' capital, chanting “Let us work!” Many clamored for an immediate lifting of restrictions in a state where more than 1 million have filed for unemployment since the crisis began.

The rally was organized by a host of Infowars, owned by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who joined protesters on the Capitol steps. Jones is being sued in Austin over using his show to promote falsehoods that the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre in Connecticut was a hoax.

In Indianapolis, more than 200 people stood close together outside the governor's mansion, carrying American flags and signs demanding that Gov. Holcomb lift restrictions. Indiana's state health department reported 529 new cases between April 7 and midday Friday, raising the total to more than 10,600. The number of deaths rose by 26, to 545.

Elsewhere, a few hundred demonstrators waved signs outside the Statehouse in New Hampshire, which has had nearly 1,300 cases of the virus and more than three dozen deaths. “Even if the virus were 10 times as dangerous as it is, I still wouldn’t stay inside my home. I’d rather take the risk and be a free person,” said one of the protesters, talk show host Ian Freeman.

Trump is pushing to relax the U.S. lockdown by May 1, a plan that hinges partly on more testing. Public health officials said the ability to test enough people and trace contacts of the infected is crucial before easing restrictions, and that infections could surge anew unless people continue to take precautions.

Vice President Mike Pence delivered a commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, a trip aimed at showing the country is on course to gradually reopen. Major cities in Brazil also saw protests Saturday by hundreds of people denouncing pandemic lockdown measures also opposed by President Jair Bolsonaro, a fierce critic of stay-at-home measures imposed by state governments.

In Asia, some nations that until recently appeared to have the outbreak under control reported fresh flareups. Singapore reported a sharp, one-day spike of 942 infections, the highest in Southeast Asia, mostly among foreign workers staying in crowded dormitories. That brought the total to almost 6,000 in the city-state of 6 million.

Total cases topped 10,000 in Japan, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he's concerned that people are not observing social distancing and announced a 100,000-yen ($930) cash handout to each resident as an incentive to stay home.

There have been tentative signs that measures to curb the outbreak are working, with the rate of new infections slowing across Europe. France and Spain started dismantling some field hospitals, while the number of active cases in Germany has slowly declined over the past week as people recover.

France's national health agency said Saturday that the number of virus patients in intensive care dropped for the 10th straight day, and overall virus hospitalizations have fallen for three consecutive days. The country has seen almost 20,000 virus deaths.

The agency urged the French public to stick to strict confinement measures, which have been extended until at least May 11: “Don’t relax our efforts at the moment when confinement is bearing fruit.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his government will seek to extend the state of emergency to May 9 but begin easing the total confinement of children beginning April 27.

Children are thought to be a major source of transmission even if they rarely fall ill from the virus. They've been confined to their homes for five weeks, prompting parents to ask that they be allowed to at least take a daily walk.

Sánchez announced in a televised news conference late Saturday that kids would be able “to get out of their houses for a period on a daily basis,” but the specifics needed to be ironed out with experts.

The national lockdown would be rolled back only when Spain's embattled health system is ready for a possible rebound of infections, he said. The virus is believed to have infected more than 2.3 million people worldwide. While most recover, the outbreak has killed at least 155,000 people, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally based on figures supplied by health authorities around the globe.

The number almost certainly underestimates the actual toll. Nearly everywhere, thousands have died with COVID-19 symptoms — many in nursing homes — without being tested for the virus, and have thus gone uncounted.

Jordans reported from Berlin. Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to this report.

Russia tries again to win UN approval for virus resolution

April 18, 2020

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia is trying again to win U.N. General Assembly approval for a resolution on the coronavirus pandemic, dropping a call to end unilateral sanctions without U.N. Security Council approval but still calling for an end to protectionist practices.

The 193-member world body has until noon EDT on Wednesday to consider the revised Russian draft resolution, which is called a “Declaration of solidarity of the United Nations in the face of the challenges posed by the coronavirus disease.”

The General Assembly instituted new voting rules because it isn’t holding meetings as a result of the pandemic. Normally, assembly resolutions are adopted by majority votes or by consensus, but now if a single country objects a resolution is defeated.

The original Russian draft resolution, which was co-sponsored by Central African Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, failed to win apporoval on April 2. Diplomats said the European Union, United Kingdom, United States and Ukraine objected to it.

The revised Russian draft resolution, which was sent to member states Friday by General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, significantly increases the number of co-sponsors to about 30, drops a call to end trade wars, and adds a number of new provisions.

One addition expresses grave concern at “the negative impact of the spread of COVID-19 on public health and the global economy,” and makes a commitment to pursue “coordinated and decisive actions aimed at defeating the pandemic, guided by the spirit of solidarity and international cooperation.”

Another welcomes the April 3 statement by the Group of 77 and China — the main group of developing countries at the United Nations which now has 134 member states — on COVID-19, calling it “a strong message of solidarity in the face of the pandemic from the developing world.”

The G-77 statement includes a call on the international community “to adopt urgent and effective measures to eliminate the use of unilateral coercive economic measures against developing countries,” saying that at this juncture they have “a negative impact” on the ability of countries to respond to the pandemic.

The General Assembly adopted a resolution on COVID-19 on April 2 sponsored by Ghana, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Norway, Singapore and Switzerland. It recognizes “the unprecedented effects” of the coronavirus pandemic and calls for “intensified international cooperation to contain, mitigate and defeat” the COVID-19 disease.

Muhammad-Bande, the assembly president, sent a Mexican-drafted resolution to member nations on Thursday calling for global action to rapidly scale up development, manufacturing and access to medicine, vaccines and medical equipment to confront the coronavirus pandemic. Member states have until 5 p.m. EDT on Monday to object.

South African and Egypt are also reportedly preparing draft resolutions on COVID-19 to put before the assembly. Some diplomats believe the world body should draft an omnibus measure instead of considering many separate ones. Its resolutions are not legally binding but are an important gauge of world opinion.

The more powerful 15-member Security Council, whose resolutions are legally binding, has not adopted a resolution since the pandemic began circling the globe, infecting more than 2.1 million people and killing more than 140,000 worldwide, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Its five permanent members, who have been divided on how to address the pandemic, are discussing a French-drafted resolution while its 10 elected members have their own draft. Diplomats said discussions have started on merging the rival texts.

France finds more than 1,000 virus cases on aircraft carrier

April 17, 2020

PARIS (AP) — The French navy is investigating how the coronavirus infected more than 1,000 sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, amid growing pressure on government leaders to explain how it could have happened.

The ship, France's biggest carrier and the flagship of its navy, is undergoing a lengthy disinfection process since returning to its home base in Toulon five days ago. One person remains in intensive care and some 20 others hospitalized, navy spokesman Cmdr. Eric Lavault told The Associated Press.

Two of four U.S. sailors serving aboard the Charles de Gaulle as part of an exchange program also tested positive, according to a U.S. Navy statement. A British sailor was aboard another vessel, Lavault said, refusing to reveal the sailor’s health status.

Lavault insisted that the aircraft carrier's commander sought to increase the physical distance among the crew on the vessel, where there was no testing equipment and for most of its three months on operations, no masks.

It is “very difficult to apply social distancing measures … on a combat vessel,” Lavault said. But “security of the crew is the first concern. A combat ship, especially an aircraft carrier, is nothing without its crew.”

A similar outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt and a dispute about how the at-sea health crisis was handled led to the firing of its captain and the resignation this month of the acting U.S. Navy secretary.

The French navy has been spared major controversy so far, but the defense minister and the head of the French military's health service arm were questioned Friday about the infections at parliamentary hearings.

Defense Minister Florence Parly told lawmakers that 1,081 of the 2,300 people aboard the Charles de Gaulle and its escort vessels have tested positive so far — nearly half the overall personnel. While the virus has immobilized the immense and important ship, Parly insisted that otherwise “our forces continue to assure the defense of our country at sea, under the sea, on land and in the air.”

An investigation to retrace the paths of the personnel is in progress. Lavault noted that the aircraft carrier made a call in the French port of Brest, on the Atlantic Ocean, had been in the North Sea as part of a “naval diplomacy” mission with NATO partners, and had stopped in Cyprus during an operation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to join in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Journalists had boarded the vessel at one point. “All hypotheses are on the table,” Lavault said. So far, 350 crew members have been grilled about their movements on and off the vessel, according to Lavault.

The defense minister defended the decision to allow the ship to stop in Brest in mid-March, even though France had already ordered all schools closed to fight the virus and the government was preparing confinement measures. Hours after the ship left, President Emmanuel Macron announced a nationwide lockdown, among the strictest in Europe.

With nearly 2,000 sailors on the aircraft carrier alone, there is a constant flow of people frequenting the infirmary. In the North Sea, temperatures sometimes dropped to -5 degrees Celsius (23 F), he said.

The number of infections “rose exponentially” from about April 4-5, and lung scans were taken on suspected cases, Lavault said. “It’s from this date that the commander decided to alert Navy headquarters to propose ending the operation, a decision taken immediately by the (defense) minister,” he said.

The aircraft carrier was back in its home base at the Mediterranean port of Toulon on April 12. “We are and will be transparent” about the health situation, the health director Maryline Gygax Genero told the parliamentary commission.

Lavault said the carrier was being cleaned top to bottom, first with high-pressure water at 60 C (140 F), then with an anti-viral product, a process that could take weeks. He said the goal is to get the carrier back to sea sometime in May.

France has been among the countries hardest hit by the virus, with more than 18,000 deaths confirmed as of Friday and more than 100,000 reported cases. As France heads into a second month of confinement, the head of the national health agency said Friday that the country is seeing "a slow but regular decline" in the virus, with the number of hospitalizations and people in intensive care continuing to drop.

Nicolas Garriga and Angela Charlton contributed to this report.

Poorer countries face big risks in easing virus restrictions

April 17, 2020

BEIRUT (AP) — As some wealthier Western nations begin easing coronavirus restrictions, many developing countries, particularly in the Middle East and Africa, want to do it too, but they cannot afford the luxury of any missteps.

They lack the key tools — a sturdy economy, well-equipped hospitals and large-scale testing — that are needed for finding their way out of the pandemic. Even a spirited public debate about an exit strategy, common now in Europe, seems unthinkable in countries battered by conflict, corruption or poverty.

Consider Lebanon, a tiny country teetering on the abyss of bankruptcy with a fragile health system and a restless population. A monthlong lockdown has thrown tens of thousands more people into poverty, putting pressure on the government to loosen restrictions. But medical resources are limited, prompting doctors to advocate for continuing them, even at the risk of a social explosion.

It’s the same in many developing countries: Easing lockdowns could increase infections and quickly overwhelm hospitals with limited beds and breathing machines. Keeping restrictions in place risks social upheaval and more economic losses.

At the same time, inadequate testing and a lack of transparency could lead to misguided decisions, said Rabah Arezki, chief economist for the Middle East and North Africa at the World Bank and a senior fellow at the Middle East Initiative.

“I worry that a disorderly release of the lockdown would be doing more harm than good in the context that we are navigating without statistics and relevant data,” he said. Even wealthy nations have little room to maneuver.

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, announced a slight easing of restrictions, including reopening most shops next week. But Chancellor Angela Merkel cautioned that restarting the economy too quickly could rapidly overwhelm its comparatively robust health care system.

Western nations also face a severe economic downturn, but the impact is softened by massive government rescue programs for businesses and struggling families, including $2.2 trillion in the United States. EU countries have agreed on a $550 billion package and are working on tax breaks and other measures to cushion the impact.

The global community is offering help to poorer nations. The International Monetary Fund said it's prepared to commit its $1 trillion in lending capacity to needy nations. The world’s richest countries agreed to temporarily freeze poor nations’ debt obligations, mainly in Africa.

Pakistan's prime minister has gone further, appealing to richer countries and international financial institutions to write off the debts of poorer countries. In a sign of growing desperation, a stampede this month at a food distribution center in Punjab province killed one man and injured dozens.

In Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country where one in three people lives in poverty, the government has opted for a partial lockdown that includes a nighttime curfew, fearing a full closure would devastate a fragile economy.

Lebanon has been hesitant to apply for IMF assistance mainly due to reservations by the powerful Hezbollah group that it would come with conditions and encourage political interference. Even before the pandemic, Lebanon was one of the world's most indebted countries and struggled to come up with a reform plan that would unlock billions in international aid.

In early March, the government defaulted on its sovereign debt. The currency has lost up to 60% of its value, inflation has soared, and banks have imposed capital controls on cash withdrawals and transfers, putting more strain on hospitals struggling to pay workers.

Firas Abiad, director of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut, said the financial crisis also disrupted the import of medical supplies, leading to shortages of urgently needed protective equipment.

Lebanon must expand testing, including in rural areas and refugee camps, and trace patients before restrictions can be eased, Abiad said. In Yemen, Libya and Syria, where years of conflict have led to humanitarian disasters, there is fear that the scope of the outbreak is unknown due to a lack of testing, supplies and trained professionals.

In Africa, the virus has been confirmed in 52 of 54 countries, and lockdowns appear to be choking the continent’s already vulnerable food supply. South Africa, with the continent’s most cases, has been able to slow the pace of infections with a strict lockdown that will last at least through April. But Africa’s most industrialized economy was already in recession before the virus, and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said restrictions must remain until the country can be sure to minimize the loss of life.

In Lebanon, there’s no reliable social safety net. It announced plans to give about $120 per needed family three weeks ago, but even that tiny aid has yet to materialize. Meanwhile, prices have more than doubled and its currency hit its highest pound-to-dollar exchange rate ever this week.

Lebanon was among the first countries in the Middle East to close schools in February, followed by restaurants, and a total lockdown on March 16. Those measures are in place until at least April 26. The IMF projected this week that Lebanon’s economy will shrink by 12% in 2020 — the biggest contraction in the region.

There is concern that anti-corruption protests that began in October might re-ignite with more ferocity as conditions worsen. Small demonstrations already have broken out despite the lockdown. Last month, a Beirut taxi driver set his car ablaze after being fined for violating restrictions. In early April, a Syrian refugee died after setting himself on fire to protest his conditions.

Legislator Assem Araji, who heads parliament’s health committee, urged patience, saying a continued lockdown “is better than an uncontrolled spread of the disease” in a country of 5 million that also hosts about 1 million Syrian refugees.

But Hassan Sharif, a 42-year-old minibus driver from the eastern city of Baalbek, said he lost his income and can barely feed his two children. “We have reached a level of total despair and will return to the street (to protest), because dying of corona is easier than dying of hunger,” he said.

Associated Press writers Kathy Gannon in Islamabad, Pakistan, Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.

UK set to extend lockdown amid signs outbreak nearing peak

April 16, 2020

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government was poised Thursday to extend a nationwide lockdown for several more weeks, as health officials said Britain’s coronavirus outbreak — one of Europe’s worst — is nearing its peak.

Authorities were expected to announce an extension of restrictions on movement and business activity after a meeting of the government’s crisis committee, COBRA. Before the official announcement, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “it is too early to make a change” to the lockdown the government ordered on March 23 to slow the spread of the virus. Schools, pubs, restaurants and most shops are closed, and most people are allowed to leave home only for essential errands or exercise.

“I understand those who are calling for an end to the lockdown or some kind of exit strategy to start now, but I think it’s just too early for that,” Hancock said. As of Wednesday, 12,868 people had died in U.K. hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus. The figure does not include deaths in nursing homes and other settings.

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said the U.K. is “probably reaching the peak overall” but that officials are “not yet at the point where we can say confidently and safely this is now past the peak.”

For now, extending the lockdown has wide public and political support. But as other European countries cautiously ease their restrictions, Britain's Conservative government faces pressure to explain when and how the country will reopen.

“We agree the measures need to remain in place, but to maintain morale and hope, people need a sense of what comes next,” said Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party. “The silent pressures on communities across the country cannot be underestimated.”

The government's response to the pandemic has been complicated by the absence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has not returned to work after spending a week in a London hospital being treated for COVID-19, including three nights in intensive care.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is filling in while Johnson recuperates, but the government is wary of making big decisions until the prime minister can participate. Critics have accused U.K. officials of unnecessary secrecy. The government's decisions on virus measures are based on advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, a panel of scientists whose full membership list has not been made public. The government cited security reasons for not divulging the information.

One of the group’s members, epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, said “significant” social distancing will have to be maintained until there is a vaccine for the coronavirus — a development that could be over a year away.

He said easing restrictions would also require vastly expanded testing for the virus, so that people who are ill, and their contacts, can be isolated or quarantined. Ferguson said that without broad testing, “our estimates show we have relatively little leeway.”

“If we relax measures too much then we’ll see a resurgence of transmission,” he told the BBC. “What we really need is the ability to put something in their place. If we want to open schools, let people get back to work, then we need to keep transmission down in another manner.”

Britain’s government has been criticized over many aspects of its response to the pandemic, including a limited amount of testing and delays in getting protective equipment to medics and care workers.

The government insists it is rectifying those mistakes. It has vowed to conduct 100,000 tests a day by the end of April -- a more than five-fold increase on current rates. The government also is accused of neglecting staff nursing home employees and residents. Virus-related deaths at nursing homes or any setting other than a hospital are not included in the government’s daily tallies, although the total number is released separately once a week.

In the latest release, 10% of all deaths involving COVID-19 occurred outside hospitals, a figure that is expected to grow.

US job losses mount as economic pain deepens worldwide

April 16, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — The ranks of Americans thrown out of work by the coronavirus ballooned Thursday to more than 20 million in just four weeks, an unprecedented collapse fueling widening protests and propelling President Donald Trump’s push to relax the nation’s social distancing guidelines.

Trump planned to announce new recommendations later in the day, despite warnings from business leaders and governors that more testing and protective gear are needed first. The government said 5.2 million more people applied for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the running total to about 22 million out of a U.S. work force of roughly 159 million — easily the worst stretch of U.S. job losses on record.

Some economists say the unemployment rate could reach 20% in April, the highest since the Great Depression of the 1930s. While some leaders and citizens have called on government to reopen stores, factories and schools, health authorities and many politicians warned that returning to normal is a distant goal and that easing up on restrictions too soon could allow the virus to come storming back.

The decision of when and how to ease up rests with state and local leaders, who imposed the mandatory lockdowns and other restrictions put in place over the past month. The outbreak has infected more than 2 million people worldwide and killed more than 137,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, though the true numbers are believed to be much higher. The death toll in the U.S. reached about 31,000, with over 600,000 confirmed infections.

Fallout from the virus spread in ways both predictable and devastating, from police torching an illicit food market in Zimbabwe, to emergency flights carrying foreign farm workers to Britain and Germany, and protests at U.S. state capitols against job losses.

In France, Amazon suspended operations after a court ruled it wasn’t doing enough to protect its workers in the country. The online retailer has six warehouses in France. In Britain, a government survey found that a quarter of companies had suspended business. Cargo traffic at Europe's massive port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands sank 9.3% in the first quarter from the same period a year ago, and its CEO warned of worse to come.

The World Health Organization's European chief said optimism that the spread of the virus is declining in Italy, Spain and France has been tempered by the knowledge that it is rising or remaining at a high level in Britain, Russia and Turkey.

“The storm clouds of this pandemic still hang heavily over the European region,” Dr. Hans Kluge said. On Wednesday, the U.S. reported that American industrial output shriveled in March, registering its biggest decline since the nation demobilized in 1946 at the end of World War II. Retail sales fell by an unprecedented 8.7%, with April expected to be far worse.

The International Monetary Fund said fallout from what it calls the “Great Lockdown” will be the most devastating since the Depression. That has made leaders all the more anxious to send people back to work and school and to rebuild devastated economies.

Italy’s hardest-hit region of Lombardy is pushing to relaunch manufacturing on May 4, the day that the national lockdown is set to lift. Regional officials are considering ordering companies to stagger opening hours to avoid cramming public transportation.

But Italy’s deputy economic development minister, Stefan Buffagni, called the plan premature: “Going in a random order risks fueling confusion among citizens and businesses.” In the U.S., thousands came out in Michigan and Oklahoma to protest the lockdowns they say have destroyed livelihoods.

In Michigan, some were masked and armed with rifles, but many unmasked people defied stay-at-home orders and jammed nearly shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the Capitol building in Lansing. In Oklahoma, cars plastered with protest signs drove past the Statehouse in Oklahoma City: “All jobs are essential,” read one sign on the back of a pickup truck.

"This arbitrary blanket spread of shutting down businesses, about putting all of these workers out of business, is just a disaster. It’s an economic disaster for Michigan,” said protester Meshawn Maddock.

In Michigan's northern Leelanau County, Sheriff Mike Borkovich said enforcing the restrictions is taking a toll. “People are frantic to get back to work. They have been very edgy,” he said. Troubling data indicate the worst may still be to come in many parts of the world.

Japan’s prime minister announced he would expand a state of emergency to the entire country, rather than just urban areas, as the virus continued to spread. Japan has the world's oldest population, and the elderly are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus.

The British government was set Thursday to extend a nationwide lockdown for several more weeks, as health officials say the coronavirus outbreak in the country is peaking. Britain awaited its first flight of Romanian farm workers, and more than 30,000 other workers registered for flights to Germany to help plant and harvest.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged stepped-up efforts to prepare Africa for the virus, warning that the continent “could end up suffering the greatest impacts.” In Zimbabwe, where food was scarce even before the outbreak, police raided a market, torching 3 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables and scattering farmers who had broken travel restrictions to try to sell their crops.

Perry reported from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed.

Ex-NY Senate leader to leave prison after getting COVID-19

April 16, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York state Senate leader Dean Skelos was expected to be released soon from prison to home confinement after testing positive for the coronavirus, prosecutors told a judge Wednesday.

The government notified a Manhattan federal judge Wednesday that it was informed earlier in the day that Dean Skelos, 72, was in quarantine after testing positive at the federal prison at Otisville, New York. It said he has been symptom-free since April 8.

Prosecutors say the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said Skelos will be approved for furlough and home confinement once his proposed residence has been approved by U.S. Probation Department authorities. Medical authorities at the prison have already cleared his release.

Judge Kimba Wood said in an order Tuesday that Skelos was scheduled for release on June 4, 2021, but that he might be eligible for release to a halfway house as early as June 4. His lawyers had requested compassionate release for Skelos. In a March 27 letter recently made public, they told the judge that guards had just told Skelos and other inmates that another inmate had tested positive for the coronavirus.

The lawyers cited his age and his medical condition, saying he needs “the chance to quarantine at home and escape the glaring risk this virus presents." Skelos has been serving a four-year and three-month prison term after he was convicted of extortion, wire fraud and bribery.

Evidence at a trial of Skelos and his son in 2018 convinced a jury that he pressured wealthy businessmen to give his son roughly $300,000 for no-show jobs. His son Adam is serving a four-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors said the payments from the businessmen were bribes designed to win support from the powerful Republican for legislation favored by the businesses.

China, Europe show restarting virus-hit economies not easy

April 16, 2020

BEIJING (AP) — As countries consider how to restart economies that have been halted by the coronavirus, the early experiences in China and parts of Europe show it will be no easy task. Workers back on the job are wary of spending much or going out. Shoppers are staying away from the few stores reopening. Masks and social distancing measures are not fading. And pervasive is the fear the virus could return if lockdowns meant to stop its spread are eased too much, too quickly.

Still, leaders are anxious to reopen factories, schools and shops and to repair the economic damage from the pandemic that has infected more than 2 million people and claimed more than 137,000 lives. Some Chinese cities tried reassuring consumers by showing officials eating in restaurants. In the U.S., people have begun getting relief checks to help them pay the bills.

Rome's streets were largely deserted despite some stores reopening. In Vienna, clothing store owner Marie Froehlich said her staff was happy to be back after weeks cooped up at home. But dependent largely on tourism, she expects the business will take months to return to normal.

“Until then, we are in crisis mode,” she said. Truck salesman Zhang Hu in Zhengzhou, China, is back at work but his income plummeted because few people are buying 20-ton rigs. “I have no idea when the situation will turn better.”

In the U.S., with many factories shut down, American industrial output shriveled in March, registering its biggest decline since the nation demobilized in 1946 at the end of World War II. Retail sales fell by an unprecedented 8.7%, with April expected to be far worse.

President Donald Trump said he’s prepared new guidelines for easing social distancing, even as business leaders told him more testing and personal protective equipment were essential first. Troubling data indicate the worst may still be to come in many parts of the world.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging stepped-up efforts to prepare Africa, warning that the continent “could end up suffering the greatest impacts.” Singapore's outbreak has jumped more than 1,100 cases since Monday. It had looked to be successful in containing a first wave of infections, but the new cases are occurring among workers from poorer Asian countries who live in crowded dormitories and work in the tiny city-state's trade-dependent economy.

In Brazil, a war of words has broken out over President Jair Bolsonaro's lackadaisical approach to the virus. “We’re fighting against the coronavirus and against the ‘Bolsonaro-virus,’” Sao Paulo state Gov. João Doria told The Associated Press in an interview, adding that he believes the president has adopted “incorrect, irresponsible positions.”

The U.S. began issuing one-time payments this week to tens of millions of people as part of its $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package. But another part of the relief package, a $350 billion paycheck protection program aimed at small businesses, is running dry after being open for only a matter of days. Negotiations were accelerating in Washington over a $250 billion emergency request to help.

The U.S. has recorded more than 30,000 deaths — the most in the world — and over 600,000 confirmed infections, by a Johns Hopkins University count. Still, the nightmare scenarios projecting a far greater number of deaths and hospitalizations have not come to pass, raising hopes from coast to coast and prompting stronger calls for easing of restrictions.

Foreign leaders, meanwhile, rushed to the defense of the World Health Organization after Trump vowed to halt U.S. payments to the U.N. agency for not sounding the alarm over the virus sooner. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the WHO is needed now more than ever: “Only by joining forces can we overcome this crisis that knows no borders.”

In other developments:

— An investigation by The Associated Press found that six days of delays by China in alerting the public to the growing danger in mid-January set the stage for the global disaster.

— The death toll in Iran is probably almost twice the official figure of about 4,800 as a result of undercounting and because some patients were not tested, a parliamentary report said. The explosive allegation was buried in a footnote in the 46-page document.

— New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said people must wear face coverings when they are near others, such as on the street or subway platforms.

Perry reported from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

UK, EU hold Brexit trade talks by video amid virus outbreak

April 15, 2020

LONDON (AP) — The European Union and Britain said Wednesday they had held “constructive” talks on their future relationship despite the coronavirus pandemic scuttling face-to-face negotiations. But the two sides remain far apart on whether a deal can be sealed by the end of the year.

Chief negotiators Michel Barnier, for the EU, and David Frost for the U.K. met by video conference to set dates for further week-long rounds of talks in late April, mid-May and early June. The two sides said in a joint statement that the goal was “to make real, tangible progress” by June, when a high-level summit is scheduled to decide whether there is a chance of success by the end of the year.

Britain officially left the 27-nation bloc on Jan. 31, but remains within the EU’s economic orbit, including its single market for trade in goods and services, until the end of the year. The two sides have until then to work out a new relationship covering trade, security and a host of other issues.

The EU already considered that a tight deadline — most trade deals take years to negotiate. Under the terms of the U.K.-EU divorce agreement, the transition period can be extended for two more years. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted he would not ask for that extension, before the coronavirus pandemic upended life and consumed the energies of governments around the globe.

Plans for talks in London and Brussels were scrapped and both Barnier and Frost fell sick with COVID-19, though both have recovered. Both sides see the June summit as the last opportunity to postpone the deadline past Dec. 31. EU nations and the bloc’s top officials are overwhelmingly against hemming themselves into a tight deadline as set by London.

But even as Johnson recovers from a case of COVID-19 that put him in intensive care, the U.K. government says it will not ask for more time. “The government’s policy on this is unchanged, and it’s also written in law that the transition period will end on Dec. 31,” Johnson’s spokesman, James Slack, said Wednesday.

Germany plans cautious 1st steps to restart public life

April 15, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — Germany plans to let smaller shops reopen next week after a weeks-long coronavirus shutdown and to start reopening schools in early May, but Europe’s biggest economy is keeping strict social distancing rules in place for now.

After much-anticipated talks Wednesday with Germany’s 16 state governors, Chancellor Angela Merkel set out a plan for the first steps of a cautious restart of public life — following neighboring Austria and Denmark and other countries in launching a slow loosening of restrictions.

New infections in Germany have slowed in recent weeks, but Merkel cautioned that the country has achieved only “a fragile intermediate success” so far and doesn't have “much room for maneuver.” She said a ban on gatherings of more than two people in public and an obligation to keep at a 1.5-meter (five-foot) distance from others, which has been in place since March 23, will remain in place beyond Sunday when it was previously set to expire.

Nonessential shops, which have also have been closed for nearly four weeks, will be allowed to start reopening, with hygiene precautions, if they are up to 800 square meters (8,600 square feet) in area. So will auto showrooms, bike shops and bookshops, irrespective of their size.

Merkel said the decisions apply to the period from Monday though May 3, and officials will review the situation again on April 30. She said authorities also will recommend that people wear face masks on public transport and when shopping, but are stopping short of making their use obligatory for now.

Schools have been closed since mid-March. Merkel said preparations will be made for them to reopen step by step from May 4, with the oldest students returning first. Hairdressing salons also should prepare to reopen starting May 4, officials said.

State governors and Germany's interior minister will hold talks this week with religious communities on what to do about religious gatherings, which haven't been allowed in recent weeks, Merkel said. It remains unclear when bars, cafes and restaurants — which also are closed, apart from for takeouts — will be allowed to reopen.

“We are moving forward in small steps and must see what effect they have,” Merkel said. Major gatherings won’t be allowed through Aug. 31. Germany’s federal structure gives individual states significant leeway to make decisions, and some may diverge slightly on details of how to restart public life.

Germany has confirmed more than 130,000 coronavirus infections, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. It has recorded over 3,500 deaths, but that is a lower number than in countries with comparable case figures and Germany's health system hasn't been overwhelmed.

The coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness.

States map out reopening of economies, say crisis not over

April 15, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — Governors around the U.S. began sketching out plans Tuesday to reopen their economies in a slow and methodical process to prevent the coronavirus from rebounding with tragic consequences, as President Donald Trump appeared to back off his claim of absolute authority to determine when to end social distancing guidelines.

In Italy, Spain and other places around Europe where infections and deaths have begun stabilizing, the process is already underway, with certain businesses and industries allowed to start back up in a calibrated effort by politicians to balance public health against their countries' economic well-being.

Trump announced a halt to U.S. payments to the World Health Organization pending a review of its warnings about the coronavirus and China. Trump, whose own response to the virus has been called into question, criticized the WHO for not sounding the alarm sooner. He asserted that the virus could have been contained at its source and lives could have been spared had the U.N. health agency done a better job investigating reports coming out of China.

While the crisis is far from over in the U.S., with more than 25,000 dead and approximately 600,000 confirmed infections by Johns Hopkins University's count, the doomsday scenarios that were predicted just two weeks ago have not come to pass, raising hopes from coast to coast.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has joined a coalition with his counterparts in Oregon and Washington on how to emerge from the crisis, outlined a set of conditions for lifting restrictions in America's most populous state. Among other things, he said hospitalizations will have to decline and more testing will have to become available.

And when the state does reopen, he warned, things will not look the same. Waiters will probably be wearing masks and gloves, schools may stagger students' arrival times to reduce crowding, and large gatherings such as sporting events and concerts are "not in the cards,” the Democrat said.

A similar coalition has taken shape in the Northeast, encompassing Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. “The house is still on fire,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said. “We still have to put the fire out" but also "make sure this doesn’t reignite.”

Politicians and public health authorities alike warned that easing restrictions in the U.S. and Europe will have to be accompanied by widespread antibody testing to see who might be immune and ramped-up tracing of infected people’s contacts with others. That could well entail the use of smartphone technology.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to see the U.S. reopened for business quickly, and at one point wanted to see churches packed on Easter. On Monday he insisted he has “total” authority over the loosening of restrictions, even though the Constitution largely delegates such powers to the states.

He seemed to reverse course Tuesday, saying he would speak with all 50 governors soon to provide guidance on how and when to reopen but it would be up to them to determine the right time and manner to revive activity in their states.

While the president has issued national social-distancing guidelines advising people to stay home, it has been governors and local leaders who have instituted the tough, mandatory restrictions, such as lockdowns and the closing of schools and nonessential businesses.

The effects of such measures around the globe were made plain by the International Monetary Fund, which projected that the world economy will suffer its worst year since the Great Depression in the 1930s, shrinking by an estimated 3%.

Still, there were glimmers of hope, even in New York, where the death toll topped 10,800. Cuomo reported 778 deaths over the previous 24 hours but said fatalities were leveling off, and hospitalizations and the number of new patients put on ventilators were continuing to drop, showing that social distancing is working.

At the same time, he warned against complacency: “We could lose all the progress we made in one week if we do it wrong." Governors across the country echoed that sentiment. Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer said, “We’ve got to make sure that we avoid a second wave at all costs.”

“We’re going to make decisions based on science and having a real strategic phase-in of our economy when it’s appropriate and safe to do so," the Democrat said. Adding a dose of caution from the White House, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the U.S. does not yet have the testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the economy.

“We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we’re not there yet,” Fauci said. Any relaxation of social-distancing would have to occur on a “rolling” basis, not all at once, he said, reflecting the ways COVID-19 struck different areas at different times.

Fauci also said a vaccine might be possible by mid- to late winter, a slightly more optimistic outlook than his previous estimate of 12 to 18 months. “Please, let me say this caveat: That is assuming that it’s effective. See, that’s the big ‘if,’” he said. "It’s got to be effective and it’s got to be safe.”

Dr. Anne Schuchat who oversees coronoavirus response at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said it has been working with federal officials to develop a detailed reopening plan, including determining what measures will need to be tracked and what conditions must be met. The plans, which remain under review, include separate steps for schools, businesses and other entities, Schuchat said.

In New York, Queens social worker Brandy Robinson said deaths would have to come down “for me to feel safe to get back on the train or do anything.” “It’s very hard to come out of the house at all,” said Robinson, 34. “I just try to keep the faith and hope that this will pass soon.”

Millions of South Koreans flocked to polling stations Wednesday for national parliamentary elections considered a referendum for President Moon Jae-in, who enters the final years of his term grappling with the historic public health crisis. Long, snaking lines appeared to defy expectations of a low turnout, and poll workers checked temperatures and whisked away people exhibiting fever or arriving without masks to separate areas to vote.

In Britain, with a death toll put at over 12,000, new data showed that the true number is hundreds higher. And China faced a new flare-up along its remote northern border with Russia. In Italy, which has seen more than 21,000 deaths but on Tuesday reported the smallest number of new infections in a month, bookstores, stationery stores and shops selling baby supplies were allowed to open in many places. Forestry workers, needed to clear dead trees ahead of the summer fire season, also went back.

In Spain, with more than 18,000 dead, workers returned to some factory and construction jobs this week, while stores and offices remained closed. Hardware and gardening stores reopened in Austria, but Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he stands ready to “pull the emergency brake” if there's a resurgence.

Worldwide, about 2 million confirmed infections have been reported and over 120,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The figures understate the true size of the pandemic, because of limited testing, uneven counting of the dead and concealment by some governments.

Hinnant reported from Paris. Chris Blake contributed from Bangkok. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

Poland defends large government ceremony during lockdown

April 14, 2020

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s government on Tuesday defended officials' attendance at commemorations for a fatal plane crash, despite its own ban on public gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic.

More than a dozen government members, without protective masks, joined ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski in open-air ceremonies in Warsaw Friday for the 10th anniversary of the crash that killed Kaczynski’s twin, then-President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other prominent Poles.

An opposition party leader, Adam Szlapka, has notified prosecutors that attendance greatly exceeded the maximum permissible five people. Media and ordinary Poles have also been critical, saying the government showed contempt for its own restrictions imposed to fight COVID-19.

Several cyclists, walkers and at least one church have been fined the equivalent of almost 3,000 euros ($3,300) for infringing social distancing rules. Government spokesman Piotr Mueller argued Tuesday the ceremonies were part of government members' duties and were “not banned” under regulations permitting people to go to work. He added these members of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's cabinet met face-to-face quite often.

However, weekly government sessions and news conferences are held remotely by video. Kaczynski also came under strong public criticism for taking a limousine Friday to his mother's grave in Warsaw's Powazki cemetery, which is closed to the public.

State-run TVP INFO said Kaczynski had sought and obtained special permission to enter the cemetery, and made the required payment for using the car. TVP INFO said Kaczynski also visited graves of the crash victims there.

Russian foreign minister calls for unity in fighting virus

April 14, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's foreign minister on Tuesday angrily rejected Western claims that Moscow has used the coronavirus crisis to expand its political influence, saying the world needs unity to surmount the pandemic.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that suggestions from some in the West that Russia had opaque motives for helping Italy respond to the virus resulted from “Russophobia.” Russia sent military medics and disinfection experts to Italy as virus infections and deaths surged there last month. A similar Russian team was later dispatched to Serbia.

During a conference call with reporters, Lavrov dismissed Western claims that the Kremlin provided the assistance hoping it would help persuade the European Union to lift sanctions against Russia. The U.S. and EU sanctions, imposed in response to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and support for a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, have limited Russia’s access to global financial markets and blocked transfers of Western technologies. Russia responded by banning imports of most Western agricultural products.

Asked if Moscow would push the EU to lift the restrictions, Lavrov said that Russia wouldn’t ask for it. “If the EU realizes that this method has exhausted itself and renounces the decisions that were made in 2014, we will be ready to respond in kind,” he added.

Lavrov also criticized those in the West who suggested that China should pay compensation for allegedly failing to provide early enough warnings about the country's virus cases, which were reported in December.

“The claims that China must pay everyone for the outbreak and the alleged failure to give timely information about it cross all limits and go beyond any norms of decency,” Lavrov said, emphasizing that China has offered assistance to many nations. "My hair stands on end when I hear that.”

Without mentioning the United States by name, Russia's top diplomat also countered Washington's criticism of the World Health Organization. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump accused the U.N. health agency of being “China-centric” and alleged that WHO officials had “criticized” his ban of travel from China as the new virus spread from the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

“I would warn against attempts to politicize the coronavirus outbreak, and that refers not only to the WHO's role, but also to accusations aired against certain countries," Lavrov said, adding that international response efforts should be pooled.

“It’s important to refrain from finger-pointing and realize that we face a common peril and we can only fight it together,” he added. Lavrov pointed to Russia's shipment of medical supplies to the United States earlier this month and said Moscow was ready to send more, if needed.

He noted that Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a recent phone call that the U.S. could provide medical equipment to Russia once stocks are built up, praising the offer as a “partner-like approach.”

Figures show hundreds of COVID-19 deaths in UK care homes

April 14, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Leading British charities said the new coronavirus is causing “devastation” in the country’s nursing homes, as official statistics showed Tuesday that hundreds more people with COVID-19 have died than were recorded in the U.K. government’s daily tally.

The Office for National Statistics said 5,979 deaths that occurred in England up to April 3 involved COVID-19, 15% more than the 5,186 deaths announced by the National Health Service for the same period.

As of Tuesday, the government reported a total of 12,107 virus-related deaths across the U.K. The mortality figure, which is updated daily, only includes people infected with the coronavirus who died in hospitals. The higher number, published weekly by the statistics office, includes deaths that took place in nursing homes or any other setting, as well as cases in which the virus was suspected but not tested for.

Caroline Abrahams, director of the charity Age U.K., said the government’s daily updates “are airbrushing older people out like they don’t matter.” Age U.K. and other charities have written to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, calling social care “the neglected front line” in the virus pandemic.

“We are appalled by the devastation which coronavirus is causing in the care system and we have all been inundated with desperate calls from the people we support, so we are demanding a comprehensive care package to support social care through the pandemic,” said the charities, which include Care England and the Alzheimer’s Society.

The Office for National Statistics said that up to April 3, just under 10% of deaths involving COVID-19 occurred outside hospitals. It said there were 217 deaths involving the virus in care homes in the week to April 3, a ten-fold increase from the previous week.

The true toll in nursing homes may not be clear for weeks. France, which has approximately the same population as Britain, has included nursing home deaths in its virus reporting since early this month. Of the country's official tally of 14,000 coronavirus deaths, more than 5,000 were in nursing homes or long-term care facilities for the disabled.

Yvonne Doyle, medical director of Public Health England, said the U.K. was trying to report nursing home deaths more promptly. “We would like to have much quicker data, preferably on a daily basis, and that’s what we are working towards," she said at a news conference.

The U.K. government says outbreaks of COVID-19 have been reported at one in eight U.K. care homes. But care home operators and staff say that figure likely underestimates the true toll in facilities that house some of the country’s oldest and most vulnerable people, cared for by often overworked and poorly paid staff.

David Behan, chairman of home operator HC-One, said cases of the new coronavirus had been reported in 232 of the firm’s homes — two-thirds of the total. He said 311 residents and one staff member have died with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.

“COVID-19 deaths are representative of about ... just under about a third of all deaths that we’ve had over the past three weeks,” he told the BBC. Anita Astle, manager of the Wren Hall Care Home in central England, said the toll on her staff was “horrendous.”

“We’re seeing people die prematurely, and that’s really hard to watch,” she told ITV. “We’ve had nine deaths, and (with) each death it’s getting harder to do what we’re doing. "This is not good death," she said. “People are away from their loved ones. Normally care homes around the country are places that are buzzing with joy and excitement and at the moment they’re empty — visitors, families, aren’t coming in.”

Like many care homes across the country, Astle said hers had struggled to get adequate protective equipment for staff. Many homes also are seeing staff shortages as many workers fall ill or have to self-isolate.

Britain’s Conservative government is facing criticism for many aspects of its response to the pandemic, including the limited amount of testing being done for the virus and delays in getting protective equipment to medics and care workers.

The government insists it is rectifying those mistakes. It has vowed to conduct 100,000 tests a day by the end of April -- a more than five-fold increase on current rates -- and has begun testing health care workers so that those who have been self-isolating but are free of the disease can return to work.

Care-home workers are now also being offered tests, but only 505 have been tested so far, compared to 47,000 health care staff, the government said. “We are constantly trying to get more support to the social care sector, and we do acknowledge that more needs to be done,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman, James Slack.

Worldwide, more than 1.9 million infection s have been reported and over 119,000 people have died. Liz Kendall, social care spokeswoman for the main opposition Labour Party, said the real number of U.K. deaths would “sadly be even worse” than the figures up to April 3 and called on the government to publish the statistics daily.

Ros Altmann, a former government minister who campaigns for older people, said frail elderly people were being overlooked in the pandemic. “We must not forget that the mark of a civilized society must reflect how it treats its most vulnerable and oldest citizens,” she said.

Meanwhile, the U.K. government’s independent economic watchdog said the economy could shrink by a third between April and June if the country’s lockdown, imposed March 23, lasts for three months. The Office for Budget Responsibility said 3.4 million people, or 10% of the workforce, could become unemployed, while public sector net borrowing could reach 4% of gross domestic product, the biggest deficit since World War II.

U.K. treasury chief Rishi Sunak acknowledged that “the scale of what we are facing will have serious implications for our economy.” “These are tough times, and there are more to come,” he said.

Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this story.

British PM's praise for health service could boost its cause

April 14, 2020

LONDON (AP) — His skin pale and his eyes hooded from a week in the hospital with the coronavirus, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looked into the camera and paid tribute to the two nurses who never left his bedside for 48 hours, a time when his fight to survive "could have gone either way.″

Jenny McGee from New Zealand and Luis Pitarma from Portugal, he said, embodied the caring and sacrifice of National Health Service staff on the front lines of the pandemic, which has already killed 11,329 people in Britain.

“The reason, in the end, my body did start to get enough oxygen was because, for every second of the night, they were watching and they were thinking and they were caring and making the interventions I needed,” he said in an address to the nation Sunday. “So that is also how I know, that across this country, 24 hours a day, for every second, for every hour, there are hundreds of thousands of NHS staff who are acting with the same care and thought and precision as Jenny and Luis.’’

Johnson's statement could mean the NHS has a powerful new advocate as it seeks to reverse a decade of austerity that has left Britain's doctors and nurses struggling to treat the flood of coronavirus patients with inadequate supplies of protective gear. At least 19 NHS workers have died in the outbreak.

It also was notable for Johnson’s unabashed praise of two immigrants. He has staked his career on Brexit, a cause closely bound up with the desire of many in Britain to control immigration, and his words could mean a change in his government's tone.

“I will never, ever be able to repay you and I will never stop thanking you,’’ added Johnson, who spent three nights in intensive care at St. Thomas’ Hospital. Johnson called the NHS “unconquerable” and “the beating heart of this country” after seeing its response to the outbreak first-hand. He lauded the courage of everyone from doctors to cooks.

As the 55-year-old Johnson recuperated at his country estate, the video continued to be shared on social media, sweeping across a nation in the fourth week of a lockdown. The direct and highly personal message could make it harder for him to stonewall the doctors and nurses who saved his life when the NHS asks for more resources in the future, said Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government in London.

“That video yesterday — everyone says that is Boris like they’ve never seen him before championing the NHS,’’ Rutter said. “He would pay a massive political price for hypocrisy if he appeared to be doing anything that suggests skepticism about the NHS or its performance after that speech.’’

But Johnson’s praise for the nurses from New Zealand and Portugal also underscored that it is immigrants who have helped hold up Britain’s NHS. Up to a quarter of the U.K.'s hospital staff were born overseas.

Dr. Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the council of the British Medical Association, urged Johnson's government to grant permanent residence to the families of overseas medical staff who die in the pandemic and highlighted that many international doctors and health professional pay a surcharge for their own care because of their immigration status.

“It is unfair to expect doctors currently outside of the U.K. who are willing to come to help in the crisis and other international doctors and health care workers already in the U.K., who are prepared to risk their lives while providing care in the NHS, to pay for that care should they themselves need it,” Nagpaul said.

Though the NHS hasn’t yet been overwhelmed by the outbreak, experts said austerity-fueled cuts have hurt its ability to respond. “The infectious diseases specialty has been decimated in the last 10 years,” said Allyson Pollock, director of the Newcastle University Centre for Excellence in Regulatory Science. “Our local health authorities have had a 50% cut in their budgets and no longer have responsibility for infectious disease control, so we have no good data on what’s happening at the community level.”

Pollock said the structural changes in the health service have reduced the number of available beds, harmed its ability to chart the epidemic and drained it of expertise. Other experts noted that pandemic preparedness has taken a back seat to other problems in recent years, such as the effects of Brexit.

Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine noted that in the lead-up to Brexit, the department of health was deploying about 80% of its staff to working on potential problems linked to an exit from the European Union without a deal.

Supply chains were clearly not ready. Chronic problems with getting personal protection gear have alarmed doctors and nurses, threatening to cripple the response. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers in England, which represents hospital trusts, told the BBC that the supply of gowns was precarious because of delays in shipments and because some of the products failed safety tests.

“This is all really hand-to-mouth in terms of gown delivery, and we need to get to a more sustainable supply,″ he said. There were other problems, too. The government has been criticized for its slow start in increasing coronavirus tests, especially compared with Germany, which has tested far more widely and recorded fewer deaths.

The U.K. government has promised to increase capacity to 100,000 tests a day by the end of April. That figure is now 18,000, and the government says it is quickly increasing the number of testing sites – including 23 drive-thru centers for health care staff and their families.

As it considers easing the lockdown this week, government ministers will be mindful of relaxing measures too soon, despite the economic risks. Treasury chief Rishi Sunak warned last month that the U.K. could fall into recession due to the disruption caused by the outbreak.

There was a sense though, that the end of Johnson’s hospitalization boosted morale. “Today I’m feeling incredibly lucky,” Johnson said.

Associated Press Medical Writer Maria Cheng contributed.

With no new virus hotspots, debate rages on when to reopen

April 14, 2020

BANGKOK (AP) — A lack of new hotspots in the coronavirus pandemic appeared to be holding Tuesday, fueling a debate about how soon authorities could start scaling back social restrictions and reopen economies.

While concerns remained over the virus' fresh spread in places like Japan and Indonesia, nowhere was currently undergoing the explosion in hospitalizations and deaths that were seen earlier in China, southern Europe and parts of the United States.

Even in New York — where deaths passed 10,000 on Monday — Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared the “worst is over if we can continue to be smart." "I believe we can now start on the path to normalcy,” he said. The number of people hospitalized with the virus in New York has almost flattened at just under 19,000, once discharges and deaths are taken into account. That’s a relief after weeks of increases raised fears New York City hospitals would be overwhelmed.

Dr. Sebastian Johnston, a professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London, said it appeared that COVID-19 illnesses had peaked in much of Europe, including France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Britain.

While the death toll in Britain climbed past 11,300, the 717 deaths reported were the third daily decline in row, though it was unclear if that might in part be because of delays in reporting over the Easter holiday.

With social distancing and lockdowns in place across a large portion of the world, grim projections that the virus that would spread with equal ferocity to other corners the world have yet to materialize. But questions remain about what could happen once those measures are eased.

Health authorities have warned that easing up too soon could undo the hard-earned progress and lead to new outbreaks. Still, there were signs countries were looking in that direction. Spain permitted some workers to return to their jobs, while a hard-hit region of Italy loosened its lockdown restrictions.

Governors on both coasts of the U.S. announced that they would join forces to come up with a coordinated reopening at some point, setting the stage for potential conflict with President Donald Trump, who asserted that he is the ultimate decision-maker for determining how and when to reopen.

Trump continued those assertions during an afternoon White House briefing, pushing back against reporters’ questions about whether the president or governors have the authority to ease the restrictions. He said “the federal government has absolute power” in that decision-making process if it chooses to exercise it.

The Constitution largely gives states the authority to regulate their own affairs. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would announce a detailed plan Tuesday for lifting virus restrictions. He cautioned people can expect an “incremental release of the stay-at-home orders” that will use “science to guide our decision-making and not political pressure.”

In some European countries, officials pointed to positive signs as they began prepping for the reopening of largely shuttered economies and industries. Italy’s day-to-day increase in infections was one of the lowest in weeks, bolstering a generally downward trend. Slightly eased restrictions were about to take effect in some sectors of the country, such as allowing stores selling necessities for newborns to reopen.

In hard-hit Spain, workers were permitted to return to some factory and construction jobs as the government looked to restart manufacturing. Retail stores and services were still required to stay closed, and the government required office workers to keep working from home.

Some health experts and politicians argue that it’s premature to ease the lockdown in a nation that has suffered more than 17,750 deaths and reported more than 170,000 infections, second only to the United States’ more than 582,000 cases.

Health Minister Salvador Illa said he would proceed with “the utmost caution and prudence ... and always based on scientific evidence.” Johnston, the Imperial College professor, said he worried the virus might take off across Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. He also expressed concern about Russia.

The infection rate remains relatively low in areas of the developing world that have poor or nonexistent health care infrastructure. The rapid spread of the coronavirus beyond cities to more rural areas often depends on travel and social connections, said Dr. Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization’s emergencies chief.

But he noted that rural areas often have less sophisticated health surveillance systems to pick up potential disease clusters, prompting the question, “Is it that it’s not there, or is it that we’re not detecting the disease when it is there?”

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, has seen a worrying increase in cases in the past few weeks even though it has conducted fewer than 30,000 tests among its 270 million people. It has confirmed 4,557 cases with 399 deaths, the highest number of recorded fatalities in Asia after China.

After weeks of delays, the capital, Jakarta, finally put in place legally enforceable social distancing regulations last Friday. President Joko Widodo, meanwhile, pledged to be more transparent after admitting he deliberately withheld some information on COVID-19 cases to prevent panic.

Japan, with the world's oldest population, has also seen a worrying growth in cases since the decision was made to postpone this summer's Tokyo Olympics until next year. It reported another 390 new cases Tuesday.

And tiny Singapore, which had been lauded for its early success in containing the virus, reported its biggest daily jump in new coronavirus infections Tuesday, most of them linked to foreign workers living in crowded dormitories.

More than 200,000 migrant workers live in 43 registered dormitories that house up to 20 men per room, with shared toilets, cooking and other facilities. More than 1.9 million infections have been reported and over 119,000 people have died worldwide, according to count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The figures certainly understate the true size and toll of the pandemic, due to limited testing, uneven counting of the dead and some governments’ desire to play down the extent of outbreaks.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older people and the infirm, it can cause severe symptoms and lead to death.

Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

Turkish president rejects minister's resignation over virus

April 13, 2020

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s president has rejected the resignation of the country's interior minister who took responsibility for a poorly timed announcement of a weekend lockdown that prompted thousands of people to rush into the streets to stock up on supplies.

The 48-hour lockdowns across 31 cities — which were aimed to contain the spread of the coronavirus — were announced just two hours before taking effect on Friday night. Thousands of people rushed into the streets to stock up on goods, many without wearing mandatory face masks.

Images of large, closely-bunched crowds sparked criticism of the government’s planning for to top the coronavirus. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, one of the most senior figures in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, announced late Sunday that he was stepping down, saying: “responsibility for implementing the weekend curfew decision ... belongs entirely to me.”

Erdogan’s office said however that the president is not accepting the resignation and Soylu "will continue in his duty.” Soylu, 50, was appointed interior minister in August 2016. He joined Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party in 2012, having switched from the center-right Democrat Party. Since then, he has risen to be viewed by some as a potential successor to Erdogan and a rival of the president’s son-in-law, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak.

New virus hot spots sprout; World marks Easter at a distance

April 12, 2020

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The world celebrated Easter at a distance on Sunday, with most churches closed and family gatherings canceled amid wide-ranging coronavirus shutdowns. Huge uncertainties loomed about not just the next few weeks but the months ahead as a top European Union official suggested people hold off on making any summer vacation plans.

Southern Europe and the United States, whose death toll of over 20,600 is now the world's highest, have been the recent focal points of the pandemic. But coronavirus hot spots have been shifting constantly and new concerns are rising in Japan, Turkey, the U.S. Midwest and Britain, where the death toll on Sunday was expected to surpass 10,000.

St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, where tens of thousands would normally gather to hear Pope Francis deliver his "Urbi et Orbi” speech and blessing “to the city and the world,” was empty of crowds and flowers Sunday, ringed by police barricades. Pope Francis celebrated Easter Mass inside the largely empty basilica, with the faithful watching on TV at home.

Similar scenes played out around the world. Some South Korean churches held Easter services online while Catholic bishops in New Zealand wrote a special pastoral letter to worshippers stuck at home. In Europe, countries used roadblocks, fines and other tactics to keep people from travelling over an Easter weekend with beautiful spring weather. As hard-hit countries like Italy and Spain see reduced daily infections with and deaths from the virus, economic pressures are mounting to loosen the tight restrictions on daily life put in to fight off the pandemic.

Germany's president told his compatriots in a rare televised address: “Every one of you has changed his life radically; every one of you has saved human lives in doing so and is saving more every day.”

When and how weeks-old restrictions are loosened is something that “all of us have ... in our hands, with our patience and our discipline,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. Some European nations are starting tentative moves to ease their shutdowns. Spain, which on Sunday reported its lowest daily growth in infections in three weeks, will allow workers in some nonessential industries to return Monday to factories and construction sites.

But much uncertainty remains. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in an open letter to Austrians that the virus will “be with us for months yet.” And asked by Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper whether people should book summer holidays now, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen replied: “I would advise waiting with such plans.”

“No one can make reliable forecasts for July and August at the moment,” she said. Restaurants and bars already are missing out on holiday business. “Sales are zero and we have a series of expenses: rent, stock, and we have even had to increase spending with security personnel to prevent robberies,” said Pablo Gonzalo, a bar manager in the southern Spanish city of Malaga.

In his Easter address, the pope called for solidarity across Europe and the world to confront the “epochal challenge” posed by the pandemic. Pope Francis urged political leaders in particular to give hope and opportunity to those laid-off by the millions.

“This is not a time for self-centeredness, because the challenge we are facing is shared by all, without distinguishing between persons,” he said. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older people and the infirm, it can cause severe symptoms and lead to death.

More than 1.78 million infections have been reported and 109,000 people have died worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has the highest numbers, with over 530,000 confirmed cases. The figures certainly understate the true size and toll of the pandemic, due to limited testing, uneven counting of the dead and some governments' desire to downplay the extent of outbreaks.

While some nations think about a pandemic exit strategy, others were dealing with alarming rises in infections or deaths. Turkey took many by surprise in imposing a partial weekend lockdown after previously taking a more relaxed approach than others. A sudden Friday evening announcement of a 48-hour curfew in 31 cities, including Ankara and Istanbul, prompted crowds to rush to grocery stores for panic buys.

The country had previously imposed a curfew on those under 20 and over 65, exempting most of the workforce as Turkey sought to keep its beleaguered economy on track. In Japan, emergency medical groups warned that Japanese health care facilities are getting stretched thin and masks and surgical gowns were running short amid a surge in coronavirus patients.

The Israeli government approved a tight quarantine of several areas of Jerusalem, including the historic Old City, to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the city’s most susceptible neighborhoods. Britain's virus death toll neared the 10,000 mark. Reported deaths surged by 980 on Friday — exceeding even the peaks seen in Italy and Spain — and were still high at 917 on Saturday, although the number of hospital admissions is leveling off.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the first major world leader to have COVID-19, gave an emotional tribute to the National Health Service workers who treated him. “I can’t thank them enough. I owe them my life,” Johnson, 55, said in his first public statement since he was moved out of intensive care Thursday evening at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, where he is now recovering in a regular ward.

In the United States, about half the deaths are in the New York metropolitan area, but hospitalizations are slowing in the state and other indicators suggest that lockdowns and social distancing are “flattening the curve” of infections.

New York state reported 783 more deaths, for a total of over 8,600. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the daily number of deaths is stabilizing, “but stabilizing at a horrific rate.” “What do we do now? We stay the course,” said Cuomo, who like other leaders has warned that relaxing restrictions too soon could enable the virus to come back with a vengeance.

In the Midwest, pockets of contagion have alarmed state and city leaders and led to stricter enforcement. Nearly 300 inmates at the Cook County Jail in Chicago have tested positive for the virus, and two have died. Cook County has set up a temporary morgue that can take more than 2,000 bodies.

In Wisconsin, health officials expect to see an increase in virus cases after thousands of people went to the polls Tuesday to vote in the state’s presidential primary. Twenty-four residents of an Indiana nursing home hit by COVID-19 have died, while a nursing home in Iowa saw 14 deaths.

The U.S. government has not released a count of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes, vut an AP tally indicates at least 2,500 people linked to the virus have died in U.S. nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

Moulson reported from Berlin. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

Italy begins to grapple with how to ease virus restrictions

April 11, 2020

SOAVE, Italy (AP) — With warmer weather beckoning, Italians are straining against a strict lockdown to halt the coronavirus that is just now showing signs of ebbing at the end of five weeks of mass isolation.

Italy was the first Western democracy to be hit by the virus, and it has suffered the most deaths of any nation: nearly 19,000. Now it is likely to set an example of how to lift broad restrictions that have imposed the harshest peacetime limits on personal freedom and shut down all nonessential industry.

Right now, schools are closed and children are not permitted to play in parks. Walks outdoors are limited to a distance of 200 meters (yards) and any excursion not strictly a matter of necessity risks hefty fines.

The official line is patience with measures that have shown success in slowing the virus spread, until there is a clear decline in the number of new cases. Still, officials have begun grappling with the question of how to manage social distancing on mass transit, re-open ordinary commerce and relaunch manufacturing without risking another peak.

The so-called Phase II is being described as a cautious reopening, as society continues to live alongside the virus until a vaccine can be developed, perhaps in 12 to 18 months. ‘’We obviously don’t want to delude ourselves that everything will change,’’ Premier Giuseppe Conte told Italians this week.

On Friday, Conte extended the nationwide lockdown through May 3. That includes all nonessential industry, after which, ‘’I hope we can start again with caution and gradually — but restart,'' he said. A technical committee advising the government is working to expand testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. to get a better picture of how widespread it is in Italy before measures can be eased. Preparations are also underway to launch a mobile app that will allow people to know if they have been near anyone who is positive, something that is expected to take at least a month.

‘’With this you can allow people to have more freedom of movement,’’ said Walter Ricciardi, a public health expert and member of the World Health Organization board advising the Italian government. The technology for the app already exists but authorities were working on technical details on how to deploy it.

Experts in Italy are coordinating with their European partners so the tracking can be applied across borders, which have been de facto closed by the virus. The goal is to establish a common technology, which could help in re-establishing freedom of movement between EU nations.

Using the app would be voluntary for anyone wanting to know whether they have come into contact with an infected person that they would have no other way of identifying. Any contacts would be tested, and if positive treated, according to the WHO initiative: trace, test and treat.

Advocates insist that anonymity would be protected and that no personal data would be at risk, likening the app to other widely used applications like Google Maps or TripAdvisor, which help users identify specific data.

Italy’s hardest hit regions in the north are also floating proposals for immunity certificates based on antibody blood tests, which have not yet proved reliable. Virus experts caution that such documents are a long way off.

‘’The blood test only tells us if the person has been in contact with the virus,’’ not if the subject is actually immune, said Andrea Crisanti, an expert at the University of Padova who is helping to coordinate the coronavirus response in the northeastern region of Veneto. Significantly, he said, the tests also don't show whether antibodies are active, their quantity or how long they might last.

‘’On a social level, the blood test would allow us to understand to what extent the virus has spread in various sectors of the population and geographical areas, where we could then test to see if the virus is active,’’ Crisanti said. ‘’We are a very long way from immunity passports.’’

Some regions already require facial masks, though not necessarily surgical-grade ones, which remain in short supply. Lombardy, which has born the brunt of the epidemic, has made masks mandatory for anyone venturing outside their home — but due to the continuing shortage, scarves can be used. Veneto has distributed a basic mask to most households, requiring them to be used in supermarkets and on public transportation.

The mayor of Milan, Europe’s first major metropolis to close because of the virus, is telling citizens that any re-opening could be ‘’stop-and-go,'' and is discussing strategies with other European mayors.

Giuseppe Sala said Milan officials are studying how to guarantee social distancing when more people begin to access public spaces, from public transportation to cinemas. Sala is considering having younger city employees return to work first, since they have generally proven less susceptible to the virus. Remote working, where possible, will continue to be encouraged.

‘’Until we have a vaccine, it will be an anomalous situation,’’ Sala said. Public health officials warn that the easing phase could prove to be the most dangerous. ‘’The fact of pandemics is that they move in waves, and normally the second wave is more dangerous than the first, because the guard has been lowered, you think you can return to normal and a heavier blow arrives,’’ said Ricciardi, the Italian government liaison to WHO. ‘’We need to be careful and not make vain all of the sacrifices that have already been made. ‘’

The good news is that Italians' beloved summer holidays don't appear to be ruled out. ‘’It will be a summer during which we will have to maintain social distance, avoid gatherings and limit movements. There will not be a lot of facility to travel by airplane or train, where it is difficult to maintain a secure distance,'' Ricciardi said.

‘’We need to think of making vacation plans that are more prudent.''

Bunnies to the rescue as virus hits Belgian chocolatiers

April 10, 2020

SINT-PIETERS BRUGGE, Belgium (AP) — Master chocolatier Dominique Persoone stood forlorn on his huge workfloor, a faint smell of cocoa lingering amid the idle machinery — in a mere memory of better times.

Easter Sunday is normally the most important date on the chocolate makers' calendar. But the coronavirus pandemic, with its lockdowns and social distancing, has struck a hard blow to the 5-billion-euro ($5.5-billion) industry that's one of Belgium's most emblematic.

“It's going to be a disaster," Persoone told The Associated Press through a medical mask. He closed his shops as a precautionary measure weeks ago, and says “a lot” of Belgium's hundreds of chocolate-makers, from multinationals to village outlets, will face financial ruin.

For the coronavirus to hit is one thing, but to do it at Easter — when chocolate bunnies and eggs are seemingly everywhere — doubles the damage. Yet amid the general gloom Belgians are allowing themselves some levity for the long Easter weekend.

Some producers, like Persoone's famed The Chocolate Line, offer Easter eggs or bunnies in medical masks, while the country’s top virologist has jokingly granted a lockdown pass to the “essential” furry workers traditionally supposed to bring kids their Easter eggs.

For young and old here, Easter Sunday usually means egg hunts in gardens and parks, sticky brown fingers, the satisfying crack of an amputated chocolate rabbit’s ear before it disappears into a rapt child’s mouth.

“People love their chocolates, the Easter eggs, the filled eggs, the little figures we make,” said chocolatier Marleen Van Volsem in her Praleen shop in Halle, south of Brussels. “This is really something very big for us.”

The country has an annual per capita chocolate consumption of six kilograms (over 13 pounds), much of it scoffed during the peak Easter period. “It is a really big season because if we don’t have this, then we won’t ... be OK for the year,” Van Volsem said.

Persoone makes about 20% of his annual turnover in the single Easter week. This year, reduced to web sales and pick-ups out of his facility in western Belgium while his luxury shops in tourist cities Bruges and Antwerp are closed? “2% maybe, if we are lucky — not even."

Guy Gallet, chief of Belgium’s chocolate federation, expects earnings to be greatly reduced across the board this year. He said companies that sell mainly through supermarkets are doing relatively well but firms depending on sales in tourist locations, restaurants or airport shops “are badly hit.”

Persoone has a firm local base of customers but knows how tourists affect the books of so many chocolatiers. “Of course, we won’t see Japanese people or Americans who come to Belgium for a holiday," he said. "I am afraid if we do not get tourists anymore it will be a disaster, even in the future.”

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild to moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause pneumonia and in some cases death. The immediate challenge is to keep the Easter spirit — and the chocolatiers’ craft — alive in these trying times.

A big part is humor and the use of medical masks made of white chocolate is an obvious one. Persoone puts them on eggs. “It is laughing with a hard thing. And on the other hand, we still have to keep fun, no? It is important to laugh in life."

Genevieve Trepant of the Cocoatree chocolate shop in Lonzee, southeast of Brussels, couldn't agree more. And like Persoone, who donated sanitary gel no longer needed in his factory to a local hospital, Trepant also thought of the needy.

That’s how the Lapinou Solidaire and its partner the Lapinou Confine — the Caring Bunny and the Quarantined Bunny, both adorned with a white mask — were born. Customers are encouraged to gift Trepant’s 12-euro ($13) bunnies to local medical staff to show their support. Part of the proceeds go to charity.

One of the country's top coronavirus experts also knows the medical virtues of laughter. Professor Marc Van Ranst told Belgian children that their Easter treats weren't at risk. Tongue well in cheek, he told public broadcaster VRT that the government had deeply pondered the issue of delivery rabbits' movements in these dangerous times. The rabbits bring — Santa-like — eggs to the gardens of children, roving all over Belgium at a time when it is forbidden for the public at large.

“The decision was unanimous: it is an essential profession. Even the police have been informed that they should not obstruct the Easter bunny in its work,” he said. There was a proviso, though. “Rabbits will deliver to the homes of parents, not grandparents,” who are more at risk from COVID-19, Van Ranst said.

Australia to make Google and Facebook pay for news content

April 20, 2020

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Global digital platforms Google and Facebook will be forced to pay for news content in Australia, the government said Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic causes a collapse in advertising revenue.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would release in late July draft rules for the platforms to pay fair compensation for the journalistic content siphoned from news media.

Frydenberg said he believed that Australia could succeed where other countries, including France and Spain, had failed in making Google and Facebook pay. “We won’t bow to their threats,” Frydenberg told reporters. “We understand the challenge that we face. This is a big mountain to climb. These are big companies that we are dealing with, but there is also so much at stake, so we’re prepared for this fight.”

The ACCC had attempted to negotiate a voluntary code by which the global giants would agree to pay traditional media for their content. But the parties couldn’t agree on “this key issue of payment for content,” Frydenberg said.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said Australia would take a different approach to Europe, relying on competition law rather than copyright law. Google and Facebook said they had been working to the ACCC November deadline to negotiate a voluntary code.

“We’re disappointed by the government’s announcement, especially as we’ve worked hard to meet their agreed deadline,” Facebook Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand Will Easton said in a statement.

“COVID-19 has impacted every business and industry across the country, including publishers, which is why we announced a new, global investment to support news organisations at a time when advertising revenue is declining,” he added, referring to a $100 million investment in the news industry announced in March.

Google said said it had engaged with more than 25 Australian publishers to get their input on a voluntary code. "We have sought to work constructively with industry, the ACCC and government to develop a code of conduct, and we will continue to do so in the revised process set out by the government today,” a Google statement said.

ACCC Chairman Rod Sims played down the prospect of Google shutting down its Australian news platform rather than pay for content as it had done in Spain. “Around 10% of search results are media stories. This will seriously affect the usefulness, for example, of Google Search, so I think we have to understand that there's value both ways here and I think it will be hard for Google and Facebook just to say we won't have any contact with news media at all,” Sims told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Michael Miller, Executive Chairman Australasia of News Corp. Australia, the nation's largest newspaper publisher, said, “We are looking for a fair payment and at the same time a substantial payment.” Frydenberg declined to estimate how much Google and Facebook would pay news media, other than to say it would amount to millions of dollars.

Google was netting 47% of online advertising spending excluding classified ads in Australia, and Facebook was claiming 24%, he said. Media companies have stopped printing dozens of newspaper mastheads across Australia because the pandemic shutdown has caused advertisers to stop spending.