Masks, travel restrictions, testing as virus cases surge

BANGKOK (AP) — Coronavirus case numbers are rising to dire new levels in several US states and around the world, potentially wiping out two months of progress in fighting the pandemic and prompting governments and businesses to impose new restrictions.

Indonesia exceeded the 50,000 mark for confirmed infections on Thursday as the government allowed businesses to reopen amid increasing economic pressures.

In Melbourne, Australia, health workers planned to go door-to-door to test more than 100,000 residents in a coronavirus hot spot that threatens to undo the nation’s success in battling the virus.

In the Indian capital of New Delhi, which has reported over 70,000 cases, authorities will conduct house-to-house screenings for the virus. With the city’s hospitals overwhelmed, military personnel were providing care at makeshift medical wards fashioned from railroad coaches.

India reported a record 16,922 cases on Thursday, taking the national total to 473,105, with nearly 15,000 deaths.

European nations appeared on track to reopen their shared borders by July 1, and their EU representatives debated criteria for lifting restrictions on visitors from outside Europe.

In Greece, aviation officials were visiting regional airports that are due to open to direct international flights on July 1.

Americans are unlikely to be allowed into EU nations for at least the next few weeks, given how the pandemic is flaring in the US and President Donald Trump’s ban on Europeans entering the United States.

World financial markets were rattled by the setbacks in fighting the pandemic, which clouded prospects for recoveries of economies mired in their worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Asian shares fell Thursday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 700 points overnight for a drop of 2.7% and the broader S&P 500 fell 2.6%.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that the continent’s cases have surged to more than 336,000, up by 10,000 from a day earlier.

The Africa CDC chief said the pandemic on the 54-nation continent “is picking up speed very quickly” while shortages of testing materials and medical equipment remain severe.

Alarmed, some states are moving to ensure more consistent use of face masks and other anti-virus measures.

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