Brazil edges toward being next big coronavirus hot spot

April 28, 2020

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil is emerging as potentially the next big hot spot for the coronavirus amid President Jair Bolsonaro’s insistence that it is just a "little flu” and that there is no need for the sharp restrictions that have slowed the infection’s spread in Europe and the U.S.

As some U.S. states and European countries moved gradually Monday to ease their limits on movement and commerce, the intensifying outbreak in Brazil — Latin America's biggest country, with 211 million people — pushed some hospitals to the breaking point, with signs that a growing number of victims are now dying at home.

“We have all the conditions here for the pandemic to become much more serious," said Paulo Brandão, a virologist at the University of Sao Paulo. Brazil officially reported about 4,500 deaths and almost 67,000 confirmed infections. But the true numbers there, as in many other countries, are believed to be vastly higher given the lack of testing and the many people without severe symptoms who haven’t sought hospital care.

Some scientists said over 1 million in Brazil are probably infected. The country is heading into winter, which can worsen respiratory illnesses. Worldwide, the death toll topped 210,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The number of dead in the U.S. surpassed 55,000 — close to the 58,000 U.S. troops killed during the Vietnam War. Italy, Britain, Spain and France accounted for more than 20,000 deaths each.

In other developments:

— U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that deaths in the United States from the coronavirus could reach as high as 70,000, after putting the number at 60,000 several times earlier this month.

— The Trump administration worked to draw up new guidelines for how restaurants, schools, churches and businesses can safely reopen. The administration also unveiled a “blueprint” for states to scale up their virus testing in the coming week. Still, there were doubts from public health experts that the new testing targets were sufficient.

— The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded the list of people to be prioritized for virus testing to include those who show no symptoms but are in high-risk settings such as nursing homes.

— British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work after a bout with the virus and warned strongly against easing his own country’s lockdown too soon: “I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak and huge loss of life."

— New York canceled its Democratic presidential primary, set for June 23, since Bernie Sanders has already conceded the nomination to Joe Biden. In a bit of encouraging news, the state reported 337 deaths for the lowest daily count this month, down from nearly 800 almost three weeks ago.

— Massachusetts recorded its 3,000th known death from the virus. The state is “still in the surge and very much in the fight against COVID-19,” Gov. Charlie Baker said. In Brazil, Bolsonaro has disputed the seriousness of the coronavirus and said people need to resume their lives to prevent an economic meltdown. But most state governors in the country have adopted restrictions to slow the spread and pushed people to stay at home.

In mid-April, Bolsonaro fired his popular health minister after a series of disagreements over efforts to contain the virus, replacing him with an advocate for reopening the economy. Residents protested, leaning out their windows to bang pots and pans.

Medical officials in Rio de Janeiro and at least four other major cities have warned that their hospital systems are on the verge of collapse or too overwhelmed to take any more patients. Officials in Sao Paulo — the largest city in South America, a tightly packed metropolitan area of over 21 million residents, many living in poverty — have issued death certificates over the past two weeks for 236 people who succumbed at home, double the number before the outbreak, according to the SAMU paramedic service.

Manaus, an Amazon city of 1.8 million, recorded 142 deaths on Sunday, the most yet, including 41 who died at home. In the main cemetery, workers have been digging mass graves. Brazil's funeral industry warned last week that the city was running out of coffins and "there could soon be corpses left on corners.”

In the U.S., the governors of Nevada and Colorado announced their states will join California, Oregon and Washington state in coordinating their reopenings. The governors of all five states are Democrats.

In Georgia, where Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has let businesses reopen, restaurants received the go-ahead to resume dine-in service as long as they follow certain restrictions, including keeping tables 6 feet (2 meters) apart.

At Plucked Up Chicken & Biscuits in Columbus, Georgia, eight regulars showed up in the morning to have their coffee and breakfast and “chatted at each other across the room,” manager Alesha Webster said. But only 10 customers could be inside at a time, well below the capacity of 45.

Alex Brounstein, owner of the Atlanta-based chain Grindhouse Killer Burgers, had no plans to reopen right away. “You’re talking about people putting their mouths on things in your restaurant. You now have dirty dishes going back into your kitchen. To me, it’s just completely illogical,” he said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday outlined a slow reopening, allowing restaurants, retailers, movie theaters and malls to start letting customers trickle into their establishments starting Friday. The state has one of the world's largest economies.

Technology is likely to play an important role in helping countries ease their restrictions. Many countries, including Italy, France, Switzerland and Britain, are working on virus-tracking apps and other means of reducing the labor-intensive task of tracing infected people's contacts.

In Australia, with about 80 COVID-19 deaths, 1.1 million of the country's 26 million people downloaded a new contact-tracing app within 12 hours of its becoming available.

Biller and De Sousa reported from Rio de Janeiro and Geller from New York. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

Turkey sends medical equipment to help US fight virus

April 28, 2020

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey has dispatched a planeload of personal protective equipment to support the United States as it grapples with the coronavirus outbreak. A Turkish military cargo carrying the medical equipment took off from an air base near the capital Ankara on Tuesday, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. It was scheduled to land at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington later in the day.

A top official said Turkey is donating 500,000 surgical masks, 4,000 overalls, 2,000 liters (528 gallons) of disinfectant, 1,500 goggles, 400 N-95 masks and 500 face shields. Turkey has sent similar medical equipment aid to a total of 55 countries — including Britain, Italy and Spain — in an apparent attempt to improve its global standing by positioning itself as a provider of humanitarian aid in times of crisis.

“We pledge to help our friends and allies in need to the best of our ability and stand in solidarity with nations around the world at this difficult time,” said Fahrettin Altun, the presidential communications director.

The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield, issued a statement thanking Ankara for the donation. “During times of crisis, like the worldwide effort to combat COVID-19, close coordination among like-minded allies and partners is key to developing a swift and effective response. None of us can do this alone.”

He said: “On behalf of the U.S. Government, I want to thank our NATO Ally Turkey for today’s generous donation of medical supplies and other essential equipment.” Satterfield said the equipment would be “received and managed” by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Virus tamed in New Zealand, while Brazil emerges as hot spot

April 28, 2020

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Surfers in New Zealand hit the waves at dawn, builders returned to construction sites and baristas fired up their espresso machines as the nation eased a strict lockdown Tuesday amid hopeful signs the coronavirus has been all but vanquished Down Under — at least for now.

But elsewhere, Brazil was emerging as a potential new hot spot for infections, and fresh doubts were raised over whether Japan would be able to host the already postponed Olympic Games next year. Europe and some U.S. states were also continuing to gradually ease limits on movement and commerce as they tried to restart their economies.

But in a reminder of the virus's increasing toll, President Donald Trump said the numbers of deaths could reach 70,000 in the U.S., after putting the number at 60,000 several times earlier this month.

With the number of new cases waning, New Zealand's government loosened its lockdown, which for more than a month had shuttered schools and most businesses, and only allowed people to leave their homes for essential work, to get groceries or to exercise.

Most students will continue studying from home and workers are still required to work from home if they can, while everyone is required to maintain social distancing. But restaurants can now reopen for takeaway orders, construction can restart, and golfers and surfers can play.

New Zealand reported just three new infections on Tuesday and the country's health authorities said they’re winning the battle against the virus. Nevertheless they cautioned people not to get complacent and to maintain social distancing.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said people had done an incredible job to break the chain of transmission, but cautioned they needed to remain vigilant. Quoting a microbiologist, Ardern said “there may still be some smoldering ashes out there, and they have the potential to become a wildfire again, if we give them the chance.”

In Australia, authorities reopened Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach to swimmers and surfers on Tuesday and hundreds returned to the water as soon as the restrictions were lifted. People can only use the beach during daylight hours, cannot linger on the sand and are counted to ensure social distancing.

In Japan, a top medical expert said he thinks it will be difficult to hold the Olympics in 2021 without an effective coronavirus vaccine. “I hope vaccines and drugs will be developed as soon as possible,” said Yoshitake Yokokura, the president of the Japan Medical Association.

Japan and the International Olympic Committee agreed to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games until July next year due to the pandemic. Japan is under a monthlong state of emergency amid a rapid increase of infections throughout the country, where hospitals are overburdened.

In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro has insisted COVID-19 is just a “little flu” and that there is no need for the type of restrictions that have slowed the infection’s spread in Europe and the U.S. Brazil has reported 4,600 deaths and 67,000 confirmed infections. But the true numbers are believed to be vastly higher given the lack of testing and the many people without severe symptoms who haven’t sought hospital care.

Medical officials in Rio de Janeiro and at least four other major cities have warned that their hospital systems are on the verge of collapse or are too overwhelmed to take any more patients. There are also signs that a growing number of victims are now dying at home. Brazil is Latin America's biggest country, with 211 million people.

“We have all the conditions here for the pandemic to become much more serious,” said Paulo Brandão, a virologist at the University of Sao Paulo. Bolsonaro has disputed the seriousness of the coronavirus and said people need to resume their lives to prevent an economic meltdown. But most state governors in the country have adopted restrictions to slow the spread and pushed people to stay at home.

In other developments, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work after a bout with the virus and warned strongly against easing his own country’s lockdown too soon: “I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak and huge loss of life.”

And New York canceled its Democratic presidential primary, set for June 23, since Bernie Sanders has already conceded the nomination to Joe Biden. The state reported 337 deaths for the lowest daily count this month, down from nearly 800 almost three weeks ago.

The number of confirmed infections in the U.S. has risen to nearly 1 million, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, although the true number is likely much higher because not everybody who contracts the virus is tested.

Worldwide, the death toll topped 210,000. The number of dead in the U.S. surpassed 56,000. Italy, Britain, Spain and France accounted for more than 20,000 deaths each.

Biller reported from Rio de Janeiro. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

Naples' beloved pizza is back after virus shutdown eases

April 28, 2020

NAPLES, Italy (AP) — Wood is burning again in Naples’ pizza ovens, giving a symbolic and savory boost to Neapolitans after two months of lockdown meant an end to their most iconic and favorite food. Pizzerias reopened Monday night in the birthplace of pizza, albeit under restrictions and for home delivery only.

Whereas pizzerias in Rome and elsewhere were allowed to operate for take-out and delivery service, they were banned in Naples out of fears that such a congested, high-density city could fast become a new hot spot for COVID-19 infections.

Campania’s governor, Vincenzo De Luca, enforced strict lockdown measures, knowing that the region’s hospitals couldn’t handle a major influx of sick. In the end, Campania had a relatively manageable outbreak of about 4,300 people infected, half of whom didn’t need to be hospitalized.

With Italy as whole gradually reopening, De Luca lifted bans on pizza deliveries as well as home deliveries from bars, pastry shops and ice-cream parlors and restaurants. “Surely this is a little restart for the entrepreneurs, important for us and for our region, our city and our nation,” said Giovanni Pezzuto, owner of a Neapolitan pizzeria. “This is a symbol of hope for the little firm that slowly can restart.”

It’s not a total reopening, however. Clients can only place orders by phone — not in person — and all business must close at 10 p.m. The pizzerias have to be cleaned regularly and workers must wear gloves and masks.

Vincenzo Capuano, owner of pizzeria Capuano, said even the partial reopening will help Campania’s economy because all his ingredients are sourced locally. “To make pizza I have to buy the local flour from Naples, (local) San Marzano tomatoes, I have to buy the potatoes, the onions,” he said.

Without this support to the local economy, “after the health crisis we could have a much worse economic crisis.” Italy was the first country in the West to be slammed by the outbreak, and its death toll is the highest in Europe and second only to the U.S., which has more than five times the population. Italy's epicenter, however, was based in the north and officials say the south was largely spared because the government locked down the whole country in time.

Nationwide, bars and restaurants are expected to be allowed to reopen in June for in-house service, but only with strict social-distancing and sanitation measures in place.

Nicole Winfield contributed to this report from Rome.

Russian doctors, nurses face more risks as virus cases grow

April 28, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — A patient who had routine surgery at a hospital in St. Petersburg suddenly developed a fever after an operation. Doctors insisted on testing him for coronavirus and results showed that he had it.

And so did the Russian doctors, nurses and other patients who had unwittingly come in contact with him. “It just snowballed from there,” said Dr. Dmitry Ptashnikov, head of the spinal surgery ward at the Vreden Institute for Traumatology and Orthopedics and one of the many medical workers who became infected. More than half of its staff and patients — dozens in all — eventually tested positive for COVID-19.

Reports of infected medical workers are emerging almost daily as Russia copes with the virus. Last week alone, more than 200 doctors in Moscow and St. Petersburg were reported to have it, with some turning to social media to make their plight known.

It's unclear how many Russian doctors and nurses overall have been infected. The Health Ministry did not respond to requests for comment but news reports from a dozen regions in the past two weeks suggest at least 450 medical workers have had COVID-19, with 11 doctors and five nurses dying.

The number is likely to be much higher because hospital officials often hide such infections, said Semyon Galperin, head of the Doctors Defense League. “I know of cases of hospital administrations not reporting medics getting infected because it may lead to sealing off the facility for quarantine and halting its operations,” Galperin told The Associated Press.

The number of coronavirus cases in Russia has risen quickly to more than 87,000 with nearly 800 deaths, although some in the West question the accuracy of those reports. Most of Russia's big cities have been locked down since March 30 under measures set to expire Thursday.

Of 285 virus hot spots in the country, medical facilities account for more than half, said Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova. As cases rise, widespread shortages of personal protective equipment and questionable infection control procedures are becoming the biggest challenges in Russia. The Kremlin insists there are only isolated shortages.

“We only had regular surgical gowns, masks, gloves,” Ptashnikov told the AP. “Later we received proper protective equipment, but it was, unfortunately, a bit too late.'' Russia inherited a robust health care network from Soviet times — about 5,300 hospitals and 1.1 million beds, the third largest amount of both in the world, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. That provided a big head start when the outbreak was still in its early stages.

By late March, about 80,000 beds were available. A little over half were occupied as of last week, officials said, and more beds are being prepared. “To Russia’s credit, so far, except in a couple of the most overloaded hospitals in Moscow, we’re not hearing stories of inadequate capacity,” said Judy Twigg, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“We worry a lot about shortages of personal protective equipment, distribution of that equipment to the right places at the right time. And we worry about infection control procedures within health care facilities," she told the AP.

Since the outbreak began, Russian health officials have been dividing hospitals into those treating coronavirus patients and those that aren’t. In Moscow, which has almost 52% of confirmed cases, 29 hospitals out of almost 100 have been repurposed and 24 more are being prepared. In St. Petersburg, 12 hospitals out of more than 30 are being converted.

The hospitals get protective gear, and wards with virus patients are divided into “dirty” and “clean” zones, with patients and staff tested regularly. Yelena Sibikina, head of internal medicine in a coronavirus ward at Moscow's Vinogradov Hospital No. 64, said the staff rehearsed protocols for two weeks before infected patients were admitted. Its 280 beds -- including 36 in the intensive care unit -- filled up in days. It is adequately stocked with protective suits, face masks, goggles, gloves and shoe covers.

But doctors say the hospitals not treating virus patients lack proper procedures or supplies, putting those workers at risk if an infected person is admitted. “There are no protocols in place for dividing patients, there is no special protective equipment for medics. … The chances of getting sick are very high,” Dr. Alexei Erlikh, a Moscow cardiologist, told the AP.

Five wards at Moscow City Hospital No. 29, which is not yet ready for coronavirus patients, had to be shut down for quarantine, Erlikh said. The cardiac ICU he heads was sealed off last week after about a third of its staff got infected.

St. Petersburg's Pokrovsky hospital was initially repurposed for treating pneumonia cases, but staff there immediately complained about needing protective equipment. City officials responded they didn’t need such gear for treating pneumonia - yet four days later, six patients were diagnosed with coronavirus. Only after a series of media appearances and videos sent to the government did workers get what they wanted. Now the hospital officially treats coronavirus patients.

“It was hard. Only us joining forces helped,” Sergey Sayapin, an ICU specialist at the hospital, told the AP. He and four colleagues are being treated for COVID-19 that they caught at work. As more Russian doctors speak out, it is difficult to keep the problem under wraps. Such complaints have grown in recent weeks, with social media filled with messages of outrage and videos of doctors pleading for help.

On Monday, about 50 workers at the Mariinsky hospital in St. Petersburg were reported to have been infected, and workers at two hospitals in the Moscow suburbs lodged complaints last week after dozens of doctors and nurses also got COVID-19.

Ptashnikov’s hospital was quarantined April 9 and many medical workers and patients are still locked inside. “Cynical as this may sound, we should first and foremost take care of doctors and medical personnel, not the patients,” he said, “because if they are out of commission, then no one will be able to treat anyone.”

Back at work, Boris Johnson urges patience over UK lockdown

April 27, 2020

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged his lockdown-weary nation to be patient Monday, arguing that easing social and economic restrictions too soon would create a second deadly spike of coronavirus infections.

On his first day back at work in three weeks after a bout of COVID-19 that left him dangerously ill, Johnson said Britain had reached the moment of “maximum risk” in its outbreak. Speaking outside his 10 Downing St. office, Johnson said the country was reaching “the end of the first phase of this conflict” but warned that a quick end to a lockdown due to last at least until May 7 was not in sight.

“I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak and huge loss of life and the overwhelming of the (health system),” said Johnson. The 55-year-old leader appeared thinner but better-rested than when he was last seen in public early this month.

As of Monday, Britain had recorded 21,092 deaths among people hospitalized with COVID-19, the fifth country in the world to surpass 20,000 deaths. Thousands more are thought to have died in nursing homes during the pandemic.

Despite the death toll, Johnson’s government is under mounting pressure to set out a blueprint for easing the lockdown that has sharply curtailed business and daily life since March 23. The government is paying 80% of the salaries of almost 4 million people who have been furloughed by their employers, more than 1.5 million Britons have applied for welfare benefits in the past month, and the government’s economic watchdog says the economy could shrink by 35% by June 1.

In signs the country may be experiencing lockdown fatigue, the volume of road traffic has begun to creep up, and businesses including construction sites and home-supply stores have begun to reopen after introducing social distancing measures.

As other European countries begin to reopen businesses and schools, Johnson said he shared Britons' impatience to get back to normality. But he said “we simply cannot spell out now how fast or slow or even when those changes will be made.”

Johnson indicated that any loosening of the lockdown would happen in stages, as authorities “begin gradually to refine the economic and social restrictions and one by one to fire up the engines of this vast U.K. economy.”

Johnson spent a week in St. Thomas’ Hospital in London earlier this month, including three nights in intensive care. When he was discharged on April 13, he thanked medical workers at the hospital for saving his life, saying his condition “could have gone either way.”

During his absence, Johnson’s Conservative government has struggled to counter criticism over shortages of protective equipment for medical workers and a lack of testing for the virus. The government has promised to conduct 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month — which arrives Thursday — but remains far off that target, conducting 37,024 tests on Sunday.

The government can point to some successes. The National Health Service has been stretched but not overwhelmed by coronavirus cases, and several temporary hospitals built to take an overflow of patients have barely been used.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that medical services put on hold during the outbreak would be re-started from Tuesday, beginning with cancer and mental health treatments. Countering claims that the government has been secretive in its handling of the crisis, Johnson promised decisions about ending the lockdown would be made “with the maximum possible transparency” and in consultation with businesses, regional authorities and opposition parties.

Facing disaster, Russian businesses find Kremlin aid lacking

April 27, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Desperate business owners in Russia have been pleading with the Kremlin for help in the pandemic shutdown. The response, however, has been slow and largely focused on big industries, leaving most smaller companies to fend for themselves and raising the prospect of massive unemployment and social unrest.

The Kremlin’s anti-crisis measures reflect both its long-held emphasis on state-controlled companies and a fear of opening state coffers at a time when government revenue is drying up due to a plunge in oil prices and economic slump.

When President Vladimir Putin ordered most Russians to stay home through April 30 to contain the coronavirus, he said employees must continue to be paid. A joke soon went viral online: “Putin walks into a bar and declares: ‘Beer for everyone. It’s on the house!’”

Weeks later, the president promised subsidies and loans for private-sector companies to help them pay wages. But businesses paralyzed by the lockdowns imposed by the majority of Russia’s 85 regions see the Kremlin’s support as sorely insufficient.

“The situation is catastrophic,” said Dmitry Nesvetov, the owner of a dry cleaning chain and a leading member at the Opora Russia business association. “The measures that have been announced are not enough to deal with it.”

Nesvetov said the state subsidies - about $160 per employee per month, the equivalent of minimum wage - are too small and deferments on taxes and social security payments don’t address the underlying problems. “It’s a ‘die another day’ logic,” he said, adding that the inefficient state bureaucracy can’t properly manage even those limited support measures.

Retail shops, restaurants and cafes, gyms, beauty parlors and other small and medium-sized companies in the services sector, which employs about a third of the nation’s workforce, have been shut, and a great number of them may not outlive the pandemic. According to one forecast, over 40% of restaurants won't reopen.

Experts say the number of unemployed could rise from about 3.5 million in 2019 to 9 million, or a 12% jobless rate. “It looks like helping small and medium-sized business isn’t a top priority,” Nesvetov said.

While the non-food retail and services sector ground to a halt, big state-controlled companies and industrial plants have kept operating. Putin has promised subsidies to airlines, car and aircraft plants, and defense manufacturers, among others.

The Kremlin’s approach contrasts with that of the United States and many EU nations, which provided more generous subsidies to workers and businesses. With tears in her eyes, cafe chain owner Anastasia Tatulova told Putin during a recent meeting with business managers that more support is needed quickly. She urged the Kremlin to temporarily waive taxes instead of offering tax deferments and to provide more subsidies.

Putin promised help, but Tatulova said authorities have since stonewalled most of her proposals. “We don’t count on anyone. We are struggling to survive on our own,” Tatulova told the AP. “What’s happening is very sad.”

She says authorities failed to consult businesses when drafting rescue measures, meaning many ended up being useless. In one example, businesses will have to pay taxes on bank loans intended to help pay wages.

“It’s a duty of the state to ensure normal operations in a time of crisis, and it just didn’t work,” she said. Tatulova noted that Moscow authorities offered some real help, waiving rental payments on city property and automatically extending licenses. Governors in some regions slashed taxes, offered subsidies and allowed some businesses to reopen.

Oleg Zinov, who co-owns a chain of dental clinics, said some of the relief measures have been put into action and he was able to get loans to help pay wages. “We can’t say that the steps that have been taken are sufficient,” he added.

As the pandemic swept through Russia, Putin refrained from declaring a nationwide state of emergency, noting that the situation varied widely across the vast country. He has given regional governors the authority to manage their lockdowns and decide what industries can continue working - a strategy seen by Kremlin critics as an attempt to shift blame for the spread of contagion and the economic fallout.

Alexei Navalny, a leading opposition figure, has launched an online campaign to urge the Kremlin to pay at least 20,000 rubles (about $260) to every worker and launch a bailout program that would cover all types of business. He pointed to the billions of dollars in Russia’s rainy-day funds.

“We have accumulated those reserves for use during the hard times,” Navalny said. “No one has any doubt that those times have come. The question is if we use those reserves to ease the burden for the people and the business or stupidly hand them out to state companies and the oligarchs.”

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, dismissed Navalny’s proposals as incompetent and populist. Amid a ban on public gatherings, many Russians have taken to the internet to vent their frustration. In several big cities, people used a popular navigation app allowing drivers to post comments about traffic to criticize the Kremlin in what became a string of virtual rallies.

And in the province of North Ossetia in the North Caucasus mountains, hundreds took to the streets demanding to end the lockdown and scuffling with police. Several dozen were arrested for up to 15 days.

Putin has insisted that the nation’s hard currency reserves, worth $563 billion, and other funds accumulated from oil and gas revenue would allow the country to survive the crisis. His top economic advisers have warned against big cash infusions now, arguing they could fuel inflation and because the situation's uncertainty requires a careful use of reserves.

But a group of leading Russian economic experts has criticized the government’s response as too rigid, calling for bigger subsidies to businesses and consumers, a hike in pensions and a decrease in utility bills. They warned in a recent report that the failure to offer cash to consumers and businesses would drive up poverty and ruin any hope for a quick economic recovery.

“Restrictions of economic activity are compulsory and the state must take responsibility for its costs, otherwise the already limited trust in the government will be increasingly undermined,” they said.

Virus lockdown raises tensions in France's poorest areas

April 26, 2020

CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS, France (AP) — Joining more than 1,000 others, Djemba Diatite stood for hours in line to feed her growing family, grateful for handouts of fruits, vegetables and soap. It was her first time accepting charity, but she had no choice. The coronavirus pandemic has turned her world upside down.

With open air markets closed around Paris, supermarket prices skyrocketing, an out-of-work husband, two children to feed and another on the way, Diatite said even tomatoes were now too expensive. “This is my only solution,” she said, relieved that a local group in her Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois stepped in with help.

Clichy-sous-Bois — where fiery nationwide riots started in 2005 — is just 23 kilometers (14 miles) northeast of the French capital, but with its rows of housing projects, restless youth and residents teetering on the poverty line, it feels light years away.

The town mayor, seeing a looming crisis triggered by food shortages, sounded the alarm, and with scattered unrest simmering in impoverished suburbs, the French government announced 39 million euros (nearly $42.1 million) for communities in need.

Providing food aid might be the most fixable of the longstanding problems in the heavily immigrant housing projects ringing France’s large cities. Leader after leader has tried and failed to find remedies for often-dilapidated and cramped housing, chronic delinquency, a thriving drug trade and, above all, the entrenched discrimination against minorities that limits their job prospects in France.

Some residents say they felt confined years before France imposed strict coronavirus lockdown measures on March 17. “I feel the social crisis is growing with confinement,” said Clichy-Sous-Bois Mayor Olivier Klein.

“We see numerous people in need, urgently, in a way we’ve never seen,” he told France Info radio. “In these tense neighborhoods, the smallest spark can trigger still more tension.” Alongside the food crisis, there has been scattered violence, with youths targeting French police in confrontations that end in clouds of tear gas, including in Clichy-sous-Bois. The town is where filmmaker Ladj Ly shot his Oscar-nominated modern police drama “Les Misérables.”

A call for calm came from an unlikely person, a 30-year-old man with a long criminal record who crashed his motorcycle into the open door of a police car in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, northwest of Paris. As claims that police were at fault spread across the internet, the man from his hospital bed implored gangs to “go home,” in a video released by his lawyer.

Clichy-sous-Bois was the spark for nationwide rioting 15 years ago. Nightly TV images of the destruction awakened many in France to large swaths of a population they barely knew existed. The lockdown is again shining a spotlight on those who struggle even in the best of times.

The town is in the poorest region of mainland France, Seine-Saint-Denis, where the overall mortality rate has more than doubled since March 1, when the country began counting virus deaths, according to national statistics agency Insee.

Experts have blamed the density of the population, the difficulty of social distancing in large families and the fact that those in poorer areas often have jobs with a higher risk of infection. “This crisis is simply making (the problems) much more visible,” said Mohamed Mechmache, who heads the group ACLeFeu, or Enough Fire, which grew out of the riots and is distributing food in Clichy-sous-Bois.

Thousands now line up twice a week for the distribution, organized after the coronavirus lockdown began. Diatite is typical of many. Her husband drives a bus at Paris’ Orly Airport, which closed last month due to the lull in air traffic, putting him out of work. Their growing family lives in a 26-square-meter (less than 280-square foot) apartment.

“There is a very large accumulation of inequalities that often increase” in a crisis, said sociologist Marie-Helene Bacque. “We’re moving toward a large social crisis.” About 70% of Clichy-sous-Bois is of immigrant origin, she noted, typical of similar suburban towns.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said since the start of the lockdown, police have carried out checks on 220,000 people in Seine-Saint-Denis to ensure confinement rules are respected, more than double the national average.

Some police attribute scattered violence to the squeeze on drug dealers during the lockdown. “Traffickers want to eliminate all police presence,” tweeted Linda Kebbab, an official with the police union SGP-FO.

Bachir Ghouinem, who helps ACLeFeu distribute food, dismissed the violence as just “another problem” among the many facing France's poor suburbs. But he predicted a worst-case scenario should the food distributions stop.

“Rioting and pillaging. We’re afraid of that,” he said. “If it happens here, it happens everywhere.” Mechmache, the leader of the ACLeFeu, took a longer view. “I dare to hope that there will be an awareness at the end of this lockdown to tackle the problems of inequality, which have existed for more than 30 years,” he told The Associated Press.

For Bacque, the sociologist, "it’s the moment to return to the fundamental challenge, more equality.” But she says she doubts that kind of political investment will happen, adding that “an explosion is not to be excluded.”

A tram that allows Clichy-sous-Bois residents to connect more easily with Paris — and jobs — opened in December. In the nearby housing project known as Les Bosquets, dilapidated high rises used by drug dealers were razed several years ago, fulfilling a government promise after the 2005 riots.

“But you don’t transform the social dimension by fixing ... architectural problems,” Bacque said.

Ganley reported from Paris.

"Green light! Ants!" Spain’s kids get freedom from lockdown

April 26, 2020

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — After six weeks cooped up with 3-year-old twins, mother Susana Sabaté was finally able to release her energy-filled boys onto Spain’s sunny streets. Spain’s government lifted a home confinement rule for children under 14 years old after 44 days on Sunday, ending one of the most restrictive measures of its national lockdown to rein in a coronavirus outbreak that has claimed over 22,000 lives in the European country. Even Italy, with more deaths than Spain, has not kept its youngsters completely secluded.

“This is wonderful! I can’t believe it has been six weeks,” the 44-year-old Sabaté said in Barcelona. “My boys are very active. Today when they saw the front door and we gave them their scooters, they were thrilled.”

Sabaté’s sons wore child-size face masks as they went out. She said they were used to seeing both their parents wear them when they went out, so she believed that made it easier to convince them to put them on.

“We will see how long they last!” she said. Gustavo Tapia, Sabaté husband, said that taking sons Tomás and Zacarías for a stroll in the neighborhood was a joy. “It was as if we had rediscovered the street,” Tapia said. “They were really excited to see things that they had grown accustomed to seeing before. For example, when they saw a streetlight they started shouting ‘Green! Green!’ They also loved seeing ants and other insects.”

Spain’s 5.8 million children under 14 years old are now allowed to take walks once a day, accompanied by a parent for up to one hour and within a kilometer of home. Many children took out their bikes and scooters.

Kids can take one toy with them, but they are not to play with other children. They can accompany a parent on shopping outings for food, medicine or a newspaper. Parks remain closed in Barcelona and Madrid. Authorities recommend that both parents and children wash their hands before and after outings.

Authorities had resisted calls from some parents to let children outside until now, citing concerns that they could be a source of contagion even though children appear to rarely fall ill from the new virus.

The ban was lifted at 9 a.m. After a few early risers trickled out to otherwise deserted streets, many could not resist the draw of Barcelona’s beach promenade, the closest they could get to the sand that remains off-limits. Benches with views of the Mediterranean were packed with people, some of who, but not all, wore masks. Police told an Associated Press photographer that they were having difficulties enforcing the social distancing rules that families should stay a minimum of a meter apart.

Health Minister Salvador Illa said that the information he managed indicated that “the restrictions have generally been followed,” but that “we will evaluate the situation and take steps if necessary.”

Some local authorities, however, did single out rule breakers. Valencia’s lieutenant mayor Sandra Gómez posted a video on her Twitter account showing a group of children kicking a ball together in a park, with more people huddled in the background.

“Responsibility. We have opened the parks for people to walk in pleasant areas not for soccer,” Gómez wrote. “Imagine what those (owners of) closed restaurants and shops who are making an enormous economic effort will think you are doing. Warning: what doesn't work will be taken back.”

Spain has one of the world’s strictest lockdowns as it fights to contain one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks that has infected over 200,000 people. Since the start of Spain’s state of emergency on March 14, adults can only leave home for essential shopping or to make unavoidable commutes to work.

The measures have helped reduce a daily contagion rate that was raging over 20% a month ago to under 1% by Sunday. That has reduced the intense pressure on hospitals that were on the brink of collapse.

Authorities have insisted that a further loosening of restrictions will depend on maintaining the positive tendency. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Saturday that he plans to permit adults to go out for exercise next week.

“It is important that we carry out this step (of letting children out) with a strict compliance of the rules,” Sánchez said. “We must not underestimate the enemy we face ... Each family must act responsibly; as they have until now. If the outings are carried out according to the rules and we can confirm there are no more infections, this first relief measure will be accompanied by another one the following week.”

Parents still have no indication when schools will reopen. Only factory and construction workers are back on the job after a two-week stoppage of all industry. All non-essential retail stores are shuttered.

“It has been difficult because they have had classes online from 9 to 1 in the morning,” David Terrón, father of two boys, said on the streets of Madrid. “My wife and I are working from home and it has been very difficult to coordinate and look after them and pay attention to the clients and the boss and colleagues.”

For Terrón’s 10-year-old son Alberto, taking a walk is nice, but something is missing. “I want this confinement to be over so we can back to school with my friends,” Alberto said.

Iain Sullivan contributed to this report from Madrid.