Germany flies in seasonal farm workers amid virus measures

April 09, 2020

BERLIN (AP) — Two planes carrying Eastern European farmhands arrived Thursday in Germany as an ambitious government program to import thousands of seasonal agricultural workers got underway amid strict precautions to protect both the laborers and the country from the new coronavirus.

The flights to Berlin and Duesseldorf were arranged to address a massive labor shortage created when Germany banned most foreign travelers from entering the country last month in response to the virus outbreak.

Seasonal workers caught up in the ban were not available to pick asparagus, which has already sprouted in Germany, and to plant other crops in the fields where some 300,000 such workers were employed last year.

Most came from Eastern European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Hungary, where wages are much lower than in Germany, which is Europe’s largest economy. Mariana Hopulele, 43, waited at the airport in the central Romanian city of Cluj with her 17-year-old son, Valentin, for the flight to Duesseldorf. While farm work in Germany is physically demanding, "there is no way to find work that pays enough to support one's family” in Romania, she said.

“I have worked for 15 years abroad, the last eight in Germany on asparagus farms," Hopulele said. "Our contract says we work eight hours a day, but we actually work 10 to 12 hours, seven days a week. It's very, very tough but we do get compensation for the extra hours.”

Under the new program, workers are flown to Germany in controlled groups — to prevent possible infection en route — and are subject to medical checks upon arrival. They will be required to live and work apart from the farmhands already in Germany for two weeks and wear protective gear.

German Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner described the program as a “pragmatic and goal-oriented solution” that would bring up to 40,000 seasonal workers into the country in April and 40,000 more in May. The government hopes to recruit an additional 20,000 during the two months among people in Germany who are unemployed, students or resident asylum-seekers, the minister said.

“This is important and good news for our farmers,” Kloeckner said. “Because the harvest doesn’t wait, and you can’t delay sowing the fields.” Farmers had brought in some 20,000 workers before virus-related travel bans were imposed, and Germany has extended the time seasonal workers are allowed to stay from 70 days to 115 days, Kloeckner said at a press conference at a Frankfurt-Hahn airport.

The government will work with farmers along the way to determine if more needs to be done, she said. “We will need to always reevaluate the situation and then act, and act quickly,” she said. Ahead of time, interested workers have to register online and have their information checked by federal police. Farmers needing help register online with the airlines contracted to bring the workers in, saying when they’re needed and where.

So far, 9,900 people had registered for April and another 4,300 for May. Flights are then organized to bring in groups, and the first group of workers, 530 people from Romania, arrived on Thursday in Duesseldorf and Berlin, said Eurowings, the airline contracted for the initial group of workers. Further flights were already planned to Duesseldorf, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Nuremberg and Frankfurt.

Nicoleta, another worker waiting to board a plane in Cluj who did not want to give her last name, said she had traveled to Germany every fall for the last seven years to help make Christmas decorations. With everything uncertain due to the pandemic, she said she leapt at the opportunity to work on an asparagus farm instead.

“We are happy we can go work in Germany” she said. "It is an opportunity. I can go there to earn enough to properly raise my two little children. Other countries in Western Europe have taken different approaches, like in France where authorities and the agricultural sector have launched a call for local residents to help in the fields, called “arms for your plate.”

Spain is trying to prevent a critical shortage of workers for its important agriculture industry in its sunny south, which helps feed the nation as well as providing Europe with exported fruit and vegetables.

Earlier this week, the government launched a campaign to try and find 75,000 residents to help, and extended seasonal migrants' work permits. “If we do not harvest this produce, we will see a drop in our ability to supply our markets, and (that) could increase prices,” said Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas.

Kloeckner, the German minister, cautioned that with the additional costs to fly in the seasonal workers, Germany will also likely see an increase in the cost of fruit and vegetables. “We live in very challenging times,” she said.

Raul Stef in Cluj, Romania, Angela Charlton in Paris and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed to this report.

Half billion more people face poverty due to virus - report

April 09, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Around half a billion people could be pushed into poverty as a result of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic unless richer countries take “urgent action” to help developing nations, a leading aid organization warned Thursday.

In the run-up to three key international economic meetings next week, Oxfam has urged richer countries to step up their efforts to help the developing world. Failing to do so, it added, could set back the fight against poverty by a decade and by as much as 30 years in some areas, including Africa and the Middle East.

“The devastating economic fallout of the pandemic is being felt across the globe," said Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International Interim Executive Director. “But for poor people in poor countries who are already struggling to survive there are almost no safety nets to stop them falling into poverty.”

The report, which is based on research at King’s College London and the Australian National University, warns that between 6% and 8% of the global population could be forced into poverty as governments shut down entire sectors of their economies to manage the spread of the virus. As an example of the repercussions of the lockdowns in many Western countries, the report notes that more than a million Bangladeshi garment workers — 80% of whom are women — have already been laid off or sent home without pay after orders were cancelled or suspended.

Oxfam is calling on world leaders to agree on an economic rescue package to keep poor countries and poor communities afloat. Finance ministers from the Group of 20 leading economies are set to meet next week, as are the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Among the measures Oxfam is recommending is the immediate cancellation of $1 trillion worth of developing countries' debt payments due in 2020. It said cancelling Ghana’s external debt payments this year, for example, would enable the government there to give a cash grant of $20 a month to each of the country’s 16 million children, disabled and elderly people for a period of six months.

Oxfam is also recommending a $500 million increase in overseas aid and the creation of $1 trillion of special drawing rights at the IMF, a move that effectively increases the liquidity available for developing countries in the crucial months ahead. This, according to the report, would give the Ethiopian government access to an additional $630 million, which would be enough to increase health spending by 45%.

UK braces for more virus deaths; Johnson reported stable

April 09, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Britons braced Thursday for several more weeks in lockdown as Prime Minister Boris Johnson remained in a London hospital after three nights in intensive care for treatment of his coronavirus infection.

The British government said Wednesday evening that the prime minister was making “steady progress” at St. Thomas’ Hospital and sitting up in bed. He has been receiving oxygen but not on a ventilator since his COVID-19 symptoms worsened and he was admitted to an ICU.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said Thursday that Johnson was stable and “seems to be doing reasonably well.” An update on the prime minister's condition is expected later. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in while Johnson is ill, will chair a meeting of the government’s COBRA crisis committee to discuss whether to extend restrictions on public activity and people's movements imposed March 23 to try to slow the spread of the virus.

The original restrictions were for three weeks, a period that ends Monday. But there is little prospect of the government's stay-home order and business closures being lifted. Restrictions could be strengthened if people flock to parks and outdoor spaces over what is forecast to be a warm, sunny Easter weekend.

More than 7,000 people with the coronavirus have died in British hospitals, according to government figures. While the number of new confirmed cases has begun to plateau, deaths continue to rise. On Wednesday, the U.K. reported 938 deaths, the country's biggest increase to date.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said there was no prospect of the lockdown being “lifted immediately or even imminently.” “I wouldn't expect any change coming out of today's COBRA meeting,” she told Sky News.

Dowden said “the curve (of new cases) is beginning to flatten.” “This is the moment that we need to stick to the path we’ve chosen,” he told Sky News. “The British people have really come behind this. We shouldn’t be giving up this Easter weekend, that is the number one thing.”

UK's Johnson in ICU with coronavirus, condition improving

April 08, 2020

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in intensive care with the coronavirus but is improving and sitting up in bed, a senior government minister said Wednesday, as the U.K. recorded its biggest spike in COVID-19 deaths to date.

Johnson, the first world leader diagnosed with the disease, has spent two nights in the ICU at St. Thomas' Hospital in London. “The latest from the hospital is the prime minister remains in intensive care where his condition is improving,” Sunak said at a news conference. “I can also tell you that he has been sitting up in bed and engaging positively with the clinical team.”

That glimmer of good news came as the number of COVID-19-related deaths in Britain approached the peaks seen in Italy and Spain, the two countries with the greatest number of fatalities. Britain's confirmed death toll reached 7,097 on Wednesday, an increase of 938 from 24 hours earlier. Italy recorded a high of 969 deaths on March 27 and Spain 950 deaths on April 2.

The figures may not be directly comparable, however. Not all the U.K. deaths reported each day occurred in the preceding 24 hours, and the total only includes deaths in hospitals. The government's deputy chief scientific adviser, Angela McLean, said that despite the grim death figures, the number of new cases “is not accelerating out of control ... and that is good news."

Johnson, 55, is the most high-profile of more than 60,000 people in Britain who have been confirmed to have the virus. He was diagnosed on March 26 and still had a cough and fever 10 days later. He was admitted to St. Thomas' Hospital Sunday and moved to the ICU on Monday after his condition deteriorated. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is standing in for Johnson while he is hospitalized.

Johnson spokesman James Slack said earlier Wednesday that the prime minister was receiving “standard oxygen treatment” and breathing without any other assistance. Johnson’s illness has unleashed a wave of sympathy for the prime minister, including from his political opponents. It has also heightened public unease about the government’s response to the outbreak, which faced criticism even with the energetic Johnson at the helm.

Britain was slower than many other European nations to close schools, shut businesses and restrict people’s movements in a bid to curb infections, and the government has struggled to meet its goal of dramatically increasing the number of individuals tested for the virus.

Britain initially restricted testing to patients in hospitals with coronavirus symptoms, but has begun testing health care workers and their families. The government has said even broader testing will be part of the country’s exit strategy from the lockdown, and has promised to test 100,000 people a day by the end of April. The current number is about 14,000 a day.

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 death. After a slow start, the government has urged the private sector to get involved. Drug makers GSK and AstraZeneca say they are setting up a lab at Cambridge University capable of performing 30,000 tests a day by the start of May.

Slack defended the government's response. “We took our decisions based on the best available medical and scientific advice,” he said. “We believe we acted with the right measures at the right rime.” In Johnson’s absence, it’s unclear who would decide whether to ease nationwide lockdown measures the British government imposed on March 23 in response to the worldwide pandemic.

The initial three-week period set for the restrictions expires next week, but with cases and deaths still growing, officials say it is too soon to change course. Mark Drakeford, the first minister of Wales, said it was clear “these restrictions will not end” next week.

“We will not throw away the gains we have made and the lives we have saved by abandoning our efforts just as they begin to bear fruit,” he said. Meanwhile, officials are watching anxiously to see whether Britain’s hospitals can cope when the number of seriously ill COVID-19 patients reaches its peak. Before the outbreak, the U.K. had about 5,000 intensive care beds, and the government has been scrambling to increase that capacity.

The Nightingale Hospital -- a temporary facility for coronavirus patients built in nine days at London’s vast ExCel conference center -- admitted its first patients on Wednesday. It can accommodate 4,000 beds, if needed. Several other temporary hospitals are being built around the country, including a facility in Birmingham due to open Friday.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the city, which is the epicenter of Britain’s outbreak, had one-quarter of its existing hospital beds still available, as well as the new Nightingale hospital. Khan was under pressure to do more to keep transit workers safe after 14 London transport staff died from the new coronavirus, including eight bus drivers.

London’s subways and buses have continued to run a reduced service to transport key workers. Khan said buses were being cleaned with antiviral disinfectant and protective screens were being installed between driver and passengers.

Anne Nyack, whose 36-year-old son Emeka Nyack Ihenacho is among the drivers who died, said drivers were still not being protected. “They are at risk, my son was at risk, sadly he died,” she told ITV. “He was given hand sanitizer — he had no mask, no gloves, nothing.”

Wuhan ends lockdown as health workers buckle under strain

April 08, 2020

LONDON (AP) — After 76 days in lockdown, the Chinese city at the heart of the global pandemic reopened Wednesday, and tens of thousands immediately hopped on trains and planes to leave. Elsewhere, the economic, political and psychological toll of fighting the virus grew increasingly clear and more difficult to bear.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a second night in intensive care with his country in the grips of its biggest crisis since World War II. The 55-year-old Johnson, the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19, was stable and responding to treatment, spokesman James Slack said.

Across the Atlantic, New York City endured one of its darkest days yet, with the death toll surging past 4,000, hundreds more than the number killed on 9/11. New York state recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, its biggest one-day jump yet, for a statewide total of nearly 5,500.

“Behind every one of those numbers is an individual. There’s a family, there’s a mother, there’s a father, there’s a sister, there’s a brother. So a lot of pain again today,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Across the U.S., the death toll reached about 13,000, with approximately 400,000 confirmed infections. Some of the deadliest hot spots were Detroit, New Orleans and the New York metropolitan area.

More pain was seen on the economic front. Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, could contract by a record 25% this quarter, the highest since gross domestic product began to be tracked in 1955. The dismal prediction by two economists said exports are expected to dive 60% in the April-June period.

The Bank of France said the French economy has entered recession, with an estimated 6% drop in the first quarter compared with the previous three months, while Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, is also facing a deep recession. Expert said its economy will shrink 4.2% this year.

European governments have been scrambling to put together hundreds of billions of euros to save lives and prevent bankruptcies. The countries worst hit by the virus are among those that can least afford the costs, like Italy and Spain. But they disagree over how to tackle the challenge.

The finance ministers of countries using the euro failed Wednesday to agree on how to help their nations through the crisis, after marathon all-night talks. They will resume on Thursday. With European health workers toiling round the clock in a desperate bid to save lives, the psychological toll is becoming unbearable.

Weeks into Italy’s outbreak, two nurses have killed themselves and more than 70 doctors and 20 nurses have died from the virus. Hospitals are making therapists available to help staff cope with the effects of seeing so much death. Italy is the hardest-hit country overall, with over 17,000 deaths.

In Spain, nurse Diego Alonso said he and colleagues have been using tranquilizers to cope. “The psychological stress from this time is going to be difficult to forget. It has just been too much,” he said.

Spain’s Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 757 new deaths, bringing the total to more than 14,500, and 6,180 new infections. Both figures were slightly higher than Tuesday’s, when the first increase in five days was explained by a backlog of test results and unreported weekend fatalities.

Spanish authorities have acknowledged that laboratory bottlenecks and a shortage of testing kits are giving an incomplete picture of the disaster. In Wuhan, the Chinese city of 11 million where the pandemic began, residents waved flags and the city staged a light show with skyscrapers and bridges radiating images of health workers helping patients.

Restrictions in the city where most of China’s more than 82,000 virus cases and over 3,300 deaths were reported have been gradually eased in recent weeks as new cases declined. “I haven’t been outside for more than 70 days,” said Tong Zhengkun. “Being indoors for so long drove me crazy.”

In Washington, President Donald Trump threatened to freeze U.S. funding to the World Health Organization, saying the U.N. agency had “missed the call” on the pandemic. He suggested that WHO had gone along with Beijing’s efforts months ago to minimize the severity of the outbreak.

WHO has praised China for its transparency on the virus despite wide skepticism among experts about the country's actual number of infections and deaths. Some African leaders bristled at Trump’s attack on WHO, especially after its head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia, spoke up this week against “racist” comments by two French doctors who said a coronavirus vaccine could be tested in Africa. Tedros condemned the French remarks as showing a “colonial mentality.”

“Surprised to learn of a campaign by the U.S. govt against WHO’s global leadership. The African Union fully supports WHO and Dr. Tedros,” AU chief Moussa Faki Mahamat tweeted. In Europe, Britain and France appeared to be at different stages of the crisis than Italy, where new infections and virus deaths were declining daily. Deaths in Britain reached nearly 6,200 after a one-day increase Tuesday of 786, its highest figure yet, while in France, the number of dead climbed to more than 10,300.

Worldwide, more than 1.4 million people have been confirmed infected and over 80,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. The true numbers are almost certainly much higher, because of limited testing, different rules for counting the dead and deliberate underreporting by some governments.

For most, the virus causes mild to moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. But for some older adults and the infirm, it can cause pneumonia and death. Over 300,000 people have recovered. In Japan, Albert Camus' novel “The Plague” has gone into seven extra printings since February and was so popular that one chain limited customers to one book each to curtail literary hoarding.

The novel, first published in French in 1947, portrays the dilemma of human existence as a North African city gets overtaken by the plague.

Becatoros reported from Athens. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed.

Virus puts UK PM in intensive care; Japan declares emergency

April 07, 2020

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in intensive care Tuesday with the coronavirus, while Japan's leader declared a monthlong state of emergency for Tokyo and six other regions to keep the virus from ravaging the world's oldest population.

The 55-year-old Johnson, the world’s first known head of government to fall ill with the virus, was in stable condition and conscious at a London hospital and was breathing without a ventilator or other assistance, said his spokesman James Slack. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was designated to run the country in the meantime.

“We’re desperately hoping that Boris can make the speediest possible recovery,” said Cabinet minister Michael Gove, who is among scores of British officials in self-isolation. Johnson's pregnant fiancee is recovering from coronavirus symptoms.

Japan’s prime minister made the emergency declaration after a spike in infections in Tokyo, but it was a stay-at-home request — not an order — and violators will not be penalized. Despite having relatively few infections and deaths, Japan is a worrying target for a virus that has been killing the elderly at much higher rates than other age groups.

Deaths in the U.S. reached about 11,000, with about 370,000 confirmed infections. In New York and in some European hot spots, authorities were hoping that plateaus in deaths and new hospitalizations meant that the outbreak was turning a corner.

In Spain, one of the hardest-hit countries, new deaths Tuesday rose to 743 and infections climbed by 1,000 after five days of declines, but the increases were believed to reflect a weekend backlog. Authorities said slowing the contagion will be a long process and were confident in the downward trend.

New coronavirus cases were also slowing in Italy and France, while Portugal reported its lowest daily rise in new infections since the outbreak began. To keep up social distancing, Paris banned daytime jogging just as warm spring weather settled in for a week.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the first, faint signs that the outbreak there may be nearing its peak. But h e cautioned against relaxing social distancing restrictions and warned that the health care system is still under extreme pressure.

“This is a hospital system where we have our foot to the floor and the engine is at red line and you can’t go any faster,” Cuomo said. The state has averaged just under 600 deaths daily for the past four days, a horrific toll that was still seen as a positive sign because it was relatively steady. Cuomo also said the number of new people entering hospitals has dropped, as has the number of critically ill patients needing ventilators.

The U.S. government's top infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was cautiously optimistic, saying that in New York, “what we have been doing has been working.” China, the first country to go into lockdown and among the strictest, reported no new deaths over the past 24 hours for the first time since it began publishing statistics on the virus that emerged in December in the city of Wuhan. Many experts, however, have been skeptical of China's virus figures. The final travel restrictions in Wuhan are being lifted Wednesday.

Denmark planned to reopen schools next week for students up to 11 years old — a development that still felt impossibly distant elsewhere in the world. Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte promised residents that they will soon “reap the fruit of these sacrifices” in personal liberties, though he declined to say when a nationwide lockdown would end. Italy has the world’s highest death toll — over 16,500 — but intensive care units in the north are no longer airlifting patients to other regions.

Worldwide, more than 1.3 million people have been confirmed infected and over 75,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. The true numbers are almost certainly much higher, because of limited testing, different rules for counting the dead and deliberate underreporting by some governments.

For most people, the virus causes mild to moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause pneumonia. Close to 300,000 people have recovered worldwide.

Global shares were up Tuesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained nearly 8% on Monday on hopes that the epidemic could be slowing. One of the main models on the outbreak, from the University of Washington, is now projecting about 82,000 U.S. deaths through early August, or 12% fewer than previously forecast, with the highest number of daily deaths occurring on April 16.

One lockdown exception in the U.S. was Wisconsin, which asked hundreds of thousands of voters to ignore a stay-at-home order to participate in its presidential primary Tuesday. China and Russia decided to close their land border and river port near the far eastern city of Vladivostok following the discovery of 59 confirmed cases.

As effective as the lockdowns may be, they come at a steep toll, especially for the poor. In a housing complex in the Moroccan city of Sale, over 900 people live in crowded rooms without running water or incomes. While the North African country entered total lockdown in mid-March, self-isolation and social distancing are a luxury that few families in this complex can afford.

In Sale, children hang around the communal courtyard and run through narrow alleys. Families share one room and fill buckets of water at public fountains. “I am scared for my children. I have to lock them indoors and stay with them, but how am I supposed to feed them?” asked Warda, a mother of three.

Other nations also feared food shortages, with Cambodia banning exports of rice and fish. Medical workers around the world worry they are not being protected well enough against the virus, with doctors in Pakistan and Greece protesting Tuesday against a lack of resources.

To boost spirits, New Zealand's leader clarified the definition of who are considered essential workers. “You will be pleased to know that we do consider both the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny to be essential workers,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said just a few days before Easter.

Hinnant reported from Paris. Associated Press writers around the world contributed.

Virus pain easing in Spain, Italy; UK braces for bleak days

April 06, 2020

MADRID (AP) — A week ago, emergency rooms and intensive care wards in Spain and Italy were overflowing with woozy, coughing coronavirus patients and literally buzzing with breathing machines. So many died that Barcelona crematories have a waiting list of up to two years, forcing some people to bury loved ones temporarily in cemeteries with the expectation of exhuming them for cremation later on.

But now the two countries that have suffered more virus deaths than anywhere else in Europe are starting to see their crisis ease, while Britain, where the prime minister was hospitalized in intensive care Monday, seems headed in the opposite direction.

Between them, Italy and Spain saw nearly 30,000 deaths and 265,000 confirmed infections in the pandemic. They, and other European countries that locked down weeks ago and ramped up testing, are now seeing the benefits.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte promised Italians Monday that they will soon ‘’reap the fruit of these sacrifices’’ in personal liberties made to fight the coronavirus. Conte declined during a press conference to say when the nationwide lockdown, now in its fifth week, would be lifted. The current measures expire April 13, but how and when Italy will enter a next phase of ‘’co-existing’’ with the virus will depend on a technical panel of experts. The country's business lobby is also eager to restart production, which also has been significantly blocked by the lockdown.

Britain’s outbreak was headed in the opposite direction as the country reported more than 600 deaths Sunday, surpassing Italy’s daily increase for the second day in a row. “I think that we are just a week away from the surge of this," the deputy chief executive of Britain's NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, told Sky News.

In Spain, deaths and new infections dropped again on Monday. The health ministry reported 637 new fatalities, the lowest toll in 13 days, for a total of over 13,000 dead. New recorded infections were the lowest in two weeks.

Emergency rooms in the hard-hit Madrid region of 6.6 million were returning almost to normal a week after scenes of patients sleeping on floors and in chairs. Patients awaiting treatment in Madrid-area ERs went down Monday to 390 cases, one-tenth of the arrivals last week, the regional government said. The number of people being treated for coronavirus in intensive care stabilized at about 1,500 for five straight days.

Transport, Mobility and Urban Affairs Minister José Luis Ábalos said the figures show Spain is entering “a new phase of the battle.” “This new phase does not mean we can let down our guard. We are assessing the measures that we will need to adopt,” Ábalos said.

At the San Carlos Clinic Hospital in Madrid, nearly 15% of the hospital’s 1,400-strong staff contracted the coronavirus, in line with the national average, “Our priority at the moment is to bring health workers back to work," said Dr. Julio Mayol, the facility’s medical director.

Still, there are fears for a new outbreak as Spanish authorities begin talking about loosening the grip on mandatory confinement, and the strain on hospitalizations will still be seen for another week while that in intensive care units for another two weeks, Mayol said.

Italy still has, by far, the world’s highest coronavirus death toll — almost 16,000 — but the pressure on northern Italy’s ICUs has eased so much that Lombardy is no longer airlifting patients to other regions.

In the northern city of Bergamo, one of Europe's virus epicenters, hospital staff were still pulling long, difficult shifts even if the numbers of new patients had eased a bit. “There has been no reduction in the work,” said Maria Berardelli, a nursing coordinator at Pope John XXIII hospital. “There have been fewer admissions to the emergency room, but our intensive care units are still full, so the activity hasn’t been reduced.”

Illness has been compounded by shocking economic pain as all the world’s largest economies have ground to a halt, including in Italy and Spain. In France, which slightly trails its two neighbors to the south in deaths and infections, the government shut the country down two days after Italy — and has also seen a slight easing.

The U.K. initially resisted taking some of the tough measures seen in other European countries, which banned large events, shut schools and closed their borders to slow the spread of the COVID-19 illness.

The government’s first advice was that people should wash their hands frequently. As the number of cases soared, the response escalated to include the closure of schools, bars, restaurants and non-essential shops and a nationwide order for everyone but key workers to stay home.

Now, Austria and the Czech Republic are openly discussing how to ease some of the crippling restrictions. Austria’s chancellor said the plan is to let small shops and garden centers reopen next week, with limits on the number of customers inside, and the rest on May 1. The Czech government is proposing an end to the ban on travel abroad as of April 14 and the reopening of small stores.

AP reporters Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Colleen Barry in Milan, Italy and Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this report.